A NEW mum has hit out at Thames Water after she was left with no running water and unable to wash her baby’s clothes.
Thousands of people in Surrey are still without water after Storm Ciaran wreaked havoc across Britain.
This has forced 14 schools to close on Monday following a major incident being declared by Surrey County Council the previous day.
Thames Water has apologised for the problems in areas including Guildford and Godalming, saying that the storm had created issues at the Shalford water treatment works.
That has been cold comfort though to Courtney Mackillop, from Godalming, who is trying to cope with a 14-week-old daughter.
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She told The Sun Online: “It has been very stressful as I am formula feeding and all the bottles have to be made up with water.
“I’m having to boil the bottled water before mixing it with the formula which is really time consuming.
“It’s a real nightmare and we’ve not been able to wash any baby clothes or bibs either.
“The communication with the water company has not been very good and we have no idea when we will have water again.”
Many other locals have been lining up to complain about the situation.
Estate agents Shane Bray and Alex Mann, who work at Bourne Estate Agents in Godalming, said: “There are 10 of us in the office but it’s been very difficult with no working toilets or drinking water.
“A lot of businesses haven’t been able to open today.”
Richard Rossall, from Godalming, said: “I think we’ll be one of the last to get our water back because of where we live.
“My wife has cancer and is having chemo so it has been very hard. It’s awful not being able to flush the toilet.”
Carl Newman, also from Godalming, said: ”It’s been hard as I have two daughters and they’ve not been able to shower and wash their hair.
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“One went to a friend’s house last night to make it easier. We’ve been using a lot of hand gel.”
One person who didn’t want to be named, said: “It looks like they are running out of water here and we have no idea when our water will be back.”
Ted Ostler, from Milford, said: “We’re managing ok but not being able to flush the loo is hard.”
We have a little bit of water coming through now but you can’t drink it
Armando Batoon
One man, who did not want to be named, said: “it’s a joke, I’ve got four kids and we go through a lot of water. It’s worse for people who can’t drive to pick up water.”
One woman, from Busbridge, who did not want to be named, said: “The communication has been awful.
“My children went to school today but got sent home as the water stopped working, it’s really hard for parents who have to work.
"It’s very stressful and not the first time we’ve had no water.”
Jeremy Martin, from Milford, said: “It was shocking as we only found out we had no water from our neighbour and we quickly filled up as many pans as we could.
“We’ve also been collecting rainwater which we’ve used to keep the heating going.”
Armando Batoon, from Godalming, said: ”We went to London yesterday and brought back some water to use to flush the toilet. We have a little bit of water coming through now but you can’t drink it.”
We have seven kids in the house so it’s hellish with no water
Toran Nicoll
Adrian Crucefix, from Milford, who runs a tennis academy, said: “We have an indoor tennis centre and had to close it today as the toilets don’t work but I’m picking up some water so we can hopefully open tomorrow.”
Toran Nicoll, from Godalming, said: “We have seven kids in the house so it’s hellish with no water, particularly as we can’t wash or flush the toilet. It’s dire and we don’t know when we’ll be getting water again.”
A Thames Water spokesperson told The Sun Online: "Shalford water treatment works is now back online, following issues caused by Storm Ciaran.
“Pressure is continuing to build in our pipe system, with around half of homes originally affected back in supply. We expect to see further customer supplies return overnight and tomorrow morning.
“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience during this time and we’re very sorry to residents who are still experiencing no water or low pressure.
“Tankers remain in the area to pump water into the local supply network and we continue to deliver bottled water to customers who are on our priority services register.
"Our bottled water stations at the following sites will be open till 9pm tonight and we expect to open them again tomorrow:
- Sainsbury’s, Clay Lane, Guildford GU4 7JU
- Artington Park and Ride, Old Portsmouth Rd, Guildford GU3 1LP
- Crown Court Car Park, The Burys, Godalming GU7 1HR.
