South west London homes left without water as Thames Water tackles low-pressure outage

Published at 8:55am

This is a developing story — this page will be updated as new information arrives.

Thousands of homes across south west London and northern Surrey have woken up to a dribble from their taps — or nothing at all — after a fault on the Thames Water network sent water pressure plummeting this morning.

The water company confirmed the problem in the early hours of Monday, warning that customers in Merton, Kingston upon Thames, Wandsworth and Richmond upon Thames could be left with low pressure or no water at all, alongside households in Elmbridge and Spelthorne across the Surrey border.

Engineers are on site working to restore supplies, with a further update promised at 9.45am as the repair effort continues.

Which areas are affected?

Thames Water says the low-pressure zone covers parts of the CR4, KT, SM4, SW and TW postcode districts. The boroughs named so far are:

• Merton – including Mitcham and Morden
• Kingston upon Thames
• Wandsworth
• Richmond upon Thames – where visitors have also been urged to steer clear of stags as the autumn deer rut gets under way
• Elmbridge (Surrey)
• Spelthorne (Surrey)

Not every street in those postcode areas will be affected — pressure problems can vary widely even between neighbouring roads — but anyone with no water or a weak flow should assume they are inside the incident zone until supplies stabilise.

What is causing the outage?

Thames Water has described the issue only as a fault affecting supplies, and has not yet said what triggered the pressure drop or how long repairs will take. A sudden loss of pressure across a wide area is often the sign of a major trunk main failure or a problem at a pumping station, with engineers needing to isolate the damaged section before pressure can build back up.

The company says its teams reached the site in the early hours and are working to get water flowing normally again. This article will be updated when the 9.45am update is released.

Timeline: how the morning has unfolded

• 7.29am – Thames Water confirms a fault is affecting water supplies across several south west London boroughs and parts of Surrey.
• 7.29am – the affected areas are named: customers in Merton, Kingston, Wandsworth, Richmond, Elmbridge and Spelthorne may face outages, across parts of the CR4, KT, SM4, SW and TW postcode areas. Engineers are on site.
• 7.30am – live coverage begins, with residents asked to share how they are affected.
• 9.45am – the next update from Thames Water is expected.

What to do if your water is off

• Check it is not just your property – ask neighbours or check Thames Water’s website for incident updates before reporting a problem.
• Store what you can – fill bottles, pans or the bath while you still have a trickle, and hold off running washing machines or dishwashers until pressure returns.
• Look in on vulnerable neighbours – older residents and anyone with medical needs can contact Thames Water about its Priority Services Register for extra help during outages.
• When the water comes back, run the cold tap – supplies can look cloudy or discoloured after repairs; running the kitchen cold tap for a few minutes usually clears it. If it does not clear, contact the company.
• Use the cold tap for drinking – once supply is restored, use cold, mains-fed taps for drinking and cooking as normal.

Second Thames Water incident in days

The disruption comes days after a burst Thames Water main left Redbridge homes facing days of repairs — a separate incident on the opposite side of the capital, but one that will sharpen scrutiny of the company’s ageing network.

It also caps a bruising weekend for London’s infrastructure: London Victoria was shut after a track fire brought every train to a standstill, leaving commuters across the south of the city facing major disruption.

This is a developing story. Check back through the morning for updates as Thames Water releases more information.