Evening Standard
· collected 2026-09-28 · by Niva Yadav and Nicholas Cecil
Thames Water announced a major water supply issue affecting thousands of homes in five London boroughs—Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and Wandsworth—as well as parts of Surrey. The company reported that the leak is discharging at a rate of 750 liters per second and has caused some local schools to close due to water issues. Thames Water dispatched a specialist team to address the problem and restore supply as quickly as possible.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-28,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Thames Water is warning of a major supply issue affecting homes across a huge swathe of London.
asserted
Water → warn → London
In a statement on Monday morning, the utility company said it is “aware of an issue” affecting customers in postcodes across five boroughs in south-west London.
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it → say → London
The Surrey districts of Elmbridge and Spelthorne are also affected.
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districts → affect → Elmbridge
“Our specialist team is on the way to investigate and work to restore your water supply as soon as possible,” Thames Water said.
asserted
Water → investigate → supply
It said the following postcodes may be affected: CR4, KT1, KT10, KT12, KT2, KT3, KT5, KT6, KT7, KT8, SM4, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, TW10, TW16.
uncertain
postcodes → say → CR4
Thames Water
Thames Water has apologised for the outage which is impacting five boroughs in south London and parts of Surrey.
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which → apologise → Surrey
The water company published a statement on its website as it works to rectify the issue.
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it → publish → issue
The statement reads: “We’re sorry if your tap water isn’t running at the moment.
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water → read → moment
We’re aware of an issue in the area that's affecting the customers in KT, SW and TW postal code areas and some customers in CR4 & SM4 areas.
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that → ’re → areas
“Our specialist team is the way to investigate and work to restore your water supply as soon as possible.
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team → investigate → supply
“We know how disruptive it is if you lose your water supply, so we’ll work hard to get things back to normal as soon as we can.
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we → know → supply
“If you or someone you know needs a little extra support, our free Priority Services Register can help us to understand your situation so we can take it into account as best we can.
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we → know → account
“Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this.”
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we → thank → this
The statement added that another update would be provided by 9.45am.
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update → add → 9.45am
Thames Water working to reduce impact of leak
Thames Water is reported to be working on its network to reduce the immediate impact of the leak as quickly as possible.
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Water → work → leak
It can divert water around its system to try and boost supplies to affected households.
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It → divert → households
The water company said a specialist team has been dispatched to restore water supply in the area as soon as possible.
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team → say → area
Another update is expected by 9.45am.
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update → expect → 9.45am
Local schools forced to shut amid water outage
Some schools in parts of south west London and Surrey have been forced to close amid the water outage, the BBC has reported.
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BBC → force → outage
Long Ditton Infant and Nursery School and Thames Ditton Infant School have been forced to close due to issues with water in the area.
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School → force → area
London MP pushes for ‘urgent response’ to ‘big burst’
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MP → push → burst
The MP for Esher and Walton has pushed for an “urgent response” following the water outage across five boroughs in south London.
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MP → push → London
In a post on X, Liberal Democrat Monica Harding said she understood the incident was “a big burst” leaking at a rate of 750 litres of water per second.
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incident → say → second
Five boroughs in south London left without water
Homes in five boroughs across south London have been left with no water or low water pressure this morning.
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Homes → leave → water
Thames Water is reporting that postcode areas across Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and Wandsworth are all affected.
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areas → report → Thames
Specialists have now been dispatched to restore water supply, according to the water company.
uncertain
Specialists → dispatch → company
The following postcodes are expected to be impacted: CR4, KT1, KT10, KT12, KT2, KT3, KT5, KT6, KT7, KT8, SM4, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, TW10, TW16.
asserted
postcodes → expect → ?
The Aporia
