Power cut at reservoir turns off water supplies

HUNDREDS of homes were left without water after a power cut at a reservoir yesterday.

The power failure at Blacksdown reservoir near Haslemere, Surrey, caused water pressure to drop.

As Britain sweltered, Thames Water had to hand out water bottles and pump water into the network to keep the pressure up. The firm stressed the power cut was not due to the heatwave. Severn Trent has warned that households in the Midlands are using water faster than its treatment works allow.