Broken pipes cause ‘dirty water’ to run from taps in thousands of South London homes – as engineers urgently battle to fix problem
- Londoners from at least six different postcodes noticed the yellow-tinged water
- Several locals shared pictures of their ‘dirty’ sinks and glasses online today
- Thames Water said discolouration was caused by iron sediment entering supply
- Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan tweeted picture of the water she poured today
Broken pipes have caused ‘dirty’ yellow and brown water to run from taps in thousands of South London homes.
Horrified Londoners from at least six different postcodes noticed the water this morning – with some sharing pictures of yellow-tinged sinks, baths and glasses online.
Thames Water said the discolouration was caused by iron sediment entering the water supply during maintenance work – and insisted it is ‘not contaminated’.
The firm apologised and confirmed their engineers are urgently battling to fix the problem.
Complaints have been reported by residents in Croydon, Mitcham, Morden, Tooting, Wimbledon and Raynes Park.
Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan tweeted a picture of a discoloured glass she poured this morning – and urged others to share their postcodes with Thames Water.
Broken pipes have caused ‘dirty’ yellow and brown water (some pictured) to run from taps in thousands of South London homes
Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan tweeted a picture of a discoloured glass she poured this morning – and urged others to share their postcodes with Thames Water
Issues were reported from as early as 8.30am, with some sharing pictures of brown water in their kettles and discoloured sinks.
Labour MP Dr Allin-Khan said: ‘Local people in SW17 are reporting dirty water coming out of their taps this morning. I have contacted Thames Water and asked them to investigate.’
Thames Water said customers from the postcode areas SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, CR0, CR4 complained about discoloured water.
A spokesman said: ‘The odourless discolouration was caused by maintenance work.
Thames Water said the discolouration (pictured) was caused by iron sediment entering the water supply during maintenance work – and insisted it is ‘not contaminated’
Thames Water said customers from the postcode areas SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, CR0, CR4 complained about discoloured water (a bath, pictured)
‘To be clear it is not contaminated water.
‘We’re really sorry for the inconvenience and worry.
‘We have a team of engineers in the SW17 area, who’ve identified the cause of the discoloured water this morning.
‘They’re currently flushing this water from our pipe system, and we’re already seeing the water returning to normal.
The firm apologised and confirmed their engineers are urgently battling to fix the problem. Complaints (some dirty water, pictured) have been reported by residents in Croydon, Mitcham, Morden, Tooting, Wimbledon and Raynes Park
‘The odourless discolouration was caused by maintenance work, which disturbed some naturally occurring sediments within the pipes and although drinking the water would be harmless, we know it looks unpleasant and wouldn’t expect people to drink it until supplies are clear again.
‘Many customers are already reporting clear water and we expect all supplies to be clear within the next few hours.
‘To be clear the water is not contaminated or harmful to health and it’s certainly not sewage. The sewage and drinking water systems are completely separate.’
Dr Allin-Khan later tweeted her thanks to Thames water for their quick response in fixing the issue