Delayed repairs at Sussex reservoir leave tens of thousands facing water cuts
The Weir Wood reservoir in Sussex remains offline because its treatment plant is still under repair, putting nearly 100,000 homes at risk of supply cuts as drought persists.
A faulty treatment plant has kept the large Weir Wood reservoir in Sussex idle for seven years, and a revised schedule now expects repairs to finish no earlier than 2030 following a funding clash between Southern Water and Ofwat. The plant was shut after a 2018 bacterial contamination, and despite the reservoir being 85% full, regional water availability is strained as national storage sits at 58% and nine reservoirs are classified as exceptionally low.
South East Water, which supplies almost 100,000 homes in the area, says the shortage could force scheduled water shut-offs this winter, especially as nearby Ardingly reservoir has dropped to roughly 30% capacity. The water company has applied for a drought permit to relax environmental rules, while a proposed 13-km pipeline from Weir Wood to Ardingly awaits approval. Past outages, including a January incident that left 20,000 homes in East Grinstead without water, have already caused significant economic losses.
