Water supply outages have occurred regularly in Cranleigh and villages to the west of the borough for many years, but a more serious outage at the start of November left around 13,500 residents in the Godalming area without water for several days and in some cases, up to a week.
The council welcomed residents from across the borough to a public meeting on Friday 8 December 2023 to discuss issues relating to water and sewage infrastructure. It was a chance for residents to share their thoughts on the water supply issues and how Thames Water could improve when it comes to emergency planning and response.
At the meeting, which took place in the Council Chamber and online via Zoom, residents raised concerns about poor maintenance and a lack of investment into the water network, a lack of support for vulnerable people and poor communication from Thames Water. Residents also took issue sewage being discharged into waterways and Thames Water paying less in compensation than originally stated.
Thames Water is responsible for the supply of clean water and the removal of wastewater in Waverley. The Leader of the council is requesting:
- A detailed report of the cause of the disruption to water supply and the steps taken to resolve the matter and mitigate the impact.
- A detailed report on the instances and quantity of raw sewage discharges into the river network and at CSOs over the past four years and the investment plans to resolve this.
- Assurances that residents and businesses will receive timely and full compensation for the disruption to water supply and sewage spills.
- An improved communications plan for informing the local community should a similar disruption to water supply occur again.
- A reassessment of Thames Water’s processes, procedure and criteria for ensuring the vulnerable, or those unable to queue, are able to access alternative supplies of water in the event of disruption.
Councillor Victoria Kiehl, Waverley Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Organisational Development and Governance said:
“We’ve heard directly from residents that they feel let down by Thames Water over these water supply issues, and they have every right to feel that way. Everyone has the right to essential utilities like clean drinking water, and the level of service provided by Thames Water to our residents is simply not acceptable.
“The communication from Thames Water during the five-day outage in November was nothing short of atrocious and it took far too long for water stations to be set up to support the residents who had been cut off, and for those on the Priority Services Register to receive water.
“We’re calling for a detailed report into the incident, so Thames Water can take meaningful steps towards making our water supplies more resilient and reliable in the future.”
Councillor Liz Townsend, Waverley Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Planning, Regeneration and Economic Development added:
“The incident in November was one of the biggest in recent years but it’s far from a one-off. Our borough has suffered with persistent and ongoing water problems for years and they stem from a clear lack of investment in the underlying infrastructure.
“Something needs to change, and the question remains, what is Thames Water going to do to ensure that they are able to provide a consistent and reliable water supply for our residents and prevent raw sewage spillages that blight the lives of our residents and the environment?
“Action by Thames Water is long overdue, but we need to continue to insist that they are held to account and to push for change so that these issues do not reoccur in the future.”
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