Woman Found Parched in Shere as Village Left Without Water

Published on: 13 Aug, 2022
Updated on: 15 Aug, 2022

By Martin Giles

A woman was found “parched and in distress” by Lib Dem campaigners in Shere today because of problems with the water supply during a Met Office amber alert for high temperatures.

Catherine Houston

Catherine Houston Lib Dem chair said: “Our campaign team, led by our parliamentary candidate Zoe Franklin, happened to be canvassing in Shere this morning and found the village with no water.

“One of our team rushed to buy water for one lady whose door we knocked on who was parched and in distress while Zoe contacted our GBC team were very helpful via phone getting help to the vulnerable.”

Zoe Franklin said later: “People we met in Shere were angry that this “no water” situation has happened once again and that the collection point for bottled water was either Cranleigh or Dorking which are miles away from Shere. Both Thames Water and the government need to get a grip of this situation, especially in a drought.”

GBC leader Joss Bigmore told The Dragon that the borough’s local resilience team are involved working together with Surrey County Council and Thames Water to help residents and resolve the issue.

Angela Richardson MP

Angela Richardson tweeted: “Grateful to Tom Horwood, Chief Exec of GBC and Waverley Bough Council for update this morning. As Jeremy says Surrey County Council are the lead authority working with Thames Water to resolve the water issue. I will monitor the situation closely.”

It is understood that there has been some frustration with Thames Water’s speed of response. The problem is also believed to be affecting residents in Gomshall and Cranleigh.

See also: Drought Declared in Surrey

SCC, GBC and WBC are each contacting their own known vulnerable residents to check on their welfare and will escalate issues that arise with Thames Water and other agencies.

Thames Water received from local authorities lists of known vulnerable residents, which they have collated with their own data. The water company has been delivering water to those listed.

A statement on the Thames Water website says: “We’re very sorry if you have no water or low pressure due to the technical issues at Netley Mill Water Treatment Works. Fixing this hasn’t been straightforward, but our engineers are working hard and making progress.

“Some customers are starting to see their water supplies return. When supplies do begin to return, we are asking customers to try to use this just for essential use initially. This will help us return supplies to everyone quicker. You can find useful information on what to expect when supplies return here.

“There are temporary bottled water stations open in the following locations:

“The bottled water stations will remain open until 9pm tonight so you can collect the supplies that you need. If needed, we will reopen them again tomorrow.”

The statement continued: “This bottled water is for essential use, like drinking, cooking and hand washing. Please be considerate and don’t take more than you need. If you have a neighbour who’s unable to get to a water station, please let us know and we’ll do our best to make sure our limited supplies are fairly handed out.

“Thank you for your patience while we do all we can to get your taps running again. We know how worrying and inconvenient it is to have no water, especially in this hot weather. We’ll post updates here once we have further information.”

Responses to Woman Found Parched in Shere as Village Left Without Water

Dave Fielding Reply

August 13, 2022 at 7:06 pm

Earlier today our Guildford MP re-tweeted Rishi Sunak saying “I have announced my plan to deal with drought, hold water companies to account etc”

Now she is saying she will be asking for a full report of what’s gone wrong.

My starter for 10 – lack of investment. Thames Water, is part-owned by an Aussie investment company. Apart from profits, I suspect they have little to zero interest in supply issues.