Engineers are battling to restore water to thousands of east Londoners who have suffered supplies issues for four days.
Around 10,000 customers in east London and Essex have been left without water or facing low pressure after “multiple” water main bursts at the weekend.
Fourteen postcodes across east London and Essex have been affected after pipes broke on Chigwell Road and Daisy Lane in South Woodford.
The affected areas are E10, E11, E17, E18, E4, IG10, IG2, IG4, IG5, IG6, IG7, IG8, IG9 and RM4.
Bottled water stations have been opened for affected customers.
In an update on Wednesday morning, Thames Water said one of the pipes had been fixed overnight.
“One of multiple bursts in the area has been successfully repaired overnight and work continues this morning to bring the damaged pipe on Daisy Lane back into supply and are currently working on fitting the encapsulation collar,” it said.
“Additional clean water tankers continue supporting the affected area by pumping water into the network.”
There are currently two bottled water stations open in the area: Fairlop Ice Kingdom, Fairlop Road, Ilford; and New City College, Borders Lane, Loughton.
Residents told The Standard on Tuesday how they waited for several hours for water amid London’s record-breaking hot and dry summer.
Adam Shah, 44, an IT professional from Gants Hill, queued for almost two hours in his car for water at Fairlop Waters Country Park.
He said: “I've got elderly parents at home with medical conditions. We have no water. I can't brush my teeth or take a shower. You realise how much we use water when you don't have it.
“Thames Water has just been a joke. This has been the third burst pipe in this area recently. There was one at Charlie Brown's Roundabout, one at Daisy Lane and there was another in Walthamstow.
“The communication has not been great either. They said this water station would stay open until 9pm yesterday but they shut it early at 8pm.”
Mr Shah voiced annoyance that the water shortage had occurred on the same day that it was revealed Thames Water paid its finance chief Steve Buck a £1 million signing-on fee in July.
Fatima, a 45-year-old supply planning manager, said the Army should be called in to help alleviate the wait for water in what she called “tough conditions”.
She said her road in Ilford had been without running water since the early hours of Sunday morning, with residents writing to Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North and Defence Secretary, to request his assistance.
“Residents are crying,” she said. “There are elderly people with no water who are not being prioritised.
“They should deploy the military - we pay our taxes, we pay so much. There's five of us at home, I've got three kids - we've been struggling to get water.”
Redbridge Council officials were deployed by late morning to help manage the traffic building up outside the country park. As well as queuing in cars for hours, families could be seen arriving with trolleys to load up with water bottles from the Thames Water station before dragging it home over playing fields.
Alison Flockhart, who queued for an hour and 15 minutes for water, said: “I'm a gardener at a big property near here where they keep animals, including a couple of horses. I've got the van so I said do a run for them.
“Everyone in the queue is being patient about it but there are a few who keep blocking off the roundabout. Luckily, my home is not affected as I'm just over the border into Essex.”
Others who were not so lucky included Redbridge resident Nick Webb. The professional gardener complained that it was the second time in recent weeks that Thames Water had left him with no running water at his home.
“Two weeks ago for three days there was no water - they shut it off completely in the flats where I live,” he said.
Mr Webb said fetching water cost money both in fuel when queuing for bottled supplies and when buying water from shops.
“I've got no water whatsoever. The other day I bought six bottles of water, which doesn't go anywhere, and that cost me £7. Now you imagine doing that every single day.”
Engineers worked through the night to repair the burst main, with crews still on site on Monday evening carrying out excavation work and fitting replacement pipework on Daisy Road.
A crew was still on site at 3pm on Wednesday when the Standard visited, with water gushing out of the road and into the drains. Sandbags were being used to protect houses and a Salvation Army centre located adjacent to the leak.
Thames Water said its teams were also delivering bottled water directly to vulnerable customers' homes who are registered on its Priority Services Register.
The company has apologised for the disruption and warned that even when supplies return, customers could initially experience lower-than-normal water pressure while the network recovers.
