Anglian Water blunders after burst main hit Dereham homes

The incident happened on Sunday, May 24 and involved a burst main and flooding on Girling Road.

Many homes were left with low pressure or no running water as temperatures reached highs of 31C.

Water supply was restored to properties on May 26 after multiple repairs, but frustration remained among locals.

Water was seen flooding the road following the incident (Image: Facebook)

Among the concerns included the delivery of bottled water to vulnerable residents and care homes.

Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian Water, has now sent an email apologising for the chaos and admitted a catalogue of blunders, including not prioritising care homes affected by the outage and poor customer care.

said: "I want to be clear that our handling of alternative water supplies and support for customers in vulnerable circumstances was not good enough.

"The total duration of the incident, from initial loss of supply to full restoration, was approximately 15 hours, which falls within the regulatory 24-hour requirement for provision of alternative supplies.

"However, this does not reflect the standard of service we aim to provide, particularly in such extreme weather conditions."

In an email shared online, the company admitted that Priority Service Register (PSR) customers were not prioritised and it did not proactively identify and contact care homes to understand and support their needs.

Mark Thurston, the chief executive of Anglian Water (Image: Anglian Water)

Concerns were also raised regarding communication and customer contact - with call volumes increasingly significantly during the incident.

Other issues included long wait times, the lack of clear and timely updates, and promised call-backs not being completed.

The company said it will be undertaking "a full and detailed review" focused on "identifying clear, practical improvements."

Mr Thurston said: "We did not get this right, and I take full responsibility for ensuring we learn from this and improve."

"Please be assured that we are committed to putting things right, both in terms of compensation and, more importantly, in strengthening how we respond, communicate, and support our communities in future."

He added that Anglian Water was reviewing compensation for affected customers - with £100 payments currently being processed for those in Tier 1 Priority Service.

Alison Webb, conservative councillor for Dereham, said residents deserved better (Image: Alison Webb)

Alison Webb, Conservative councillor for Dereham, said: "I am pleased that Anglian Water has recognised the distress that this event caused for our residents.

"They deserve better and I think I got my point over. However, I wait to be convinced if things are being changed, which no doubt will be challenged in time."

Harry Clarke, who represents the Withburga ward on Breckland Council, added: "As chairman of Breckland's Overview and Scrutiny Committee and as a resident also affected, I raised this as part of our future agenda.

"The commission members agreed with my proposal that they attend in September."

THE E-MAIL SENT OUT IN FULL:

Dear Councillor Webb

Thank you again for your email and for setting out your concerns in such clear and direct terms regarding the disruption to water supplies in Dereham over the recent bank holiday weekend.

I want to begin by offering my sincere and unreserved apologies, to you personally, and to the residents you represent.

I am deeply sorry for the distress caused, particularly to those customers in vulnerable circumstances, care homes, and families, during a period of exceptionally hot weather when access to water is critical.

I am also very sorry for the poor experience you had when contacting our teams, and for the failure to follow up your formal complaint. That is unacceptable, and I fully understand why this has left you with a lack of confidence in our service.

I recognise that, despite our planning for periods of high demand, our performance in Dereham fell well below the standards we expect of ourselves, and that our customers rightly expect.

Context and demand pressures

The late May bank holiday weekend coincided with exceptionally hot weather, with temperatures significantly above seasonal norms. This led to a sharp and sustained increase in demand across our network.

 To give context:

• Water demand in Dereham on Tuesday 19th May was approximately 2.1 megalitres per day.
• By Monday 25th May, this had risen to 3.6 megalitres per day, an increase of over 70pc.

We had anticipated increased demand and had put additional operational staff on standby, however, the combination of extreme demand and infrastructure failures meant that our response was not sufficient in this instance. I am very sorry that this resulted in the level of disruption experienced.

Summary of the incident

 On 24th May at approximately 12:25, two separate but concurrent issues occurred:

• A burst main on Humbletoft Road (NR19 2RT)
• A loss of forward pumped flows, which reduced system pressure

These events initially affected around 784 properties, rising to approximately 1,757 properties by 15:15, as demand remained high and system pressures dropped.

Our technicians were deployed to both locations and were on site within around 90 minutes.

While we were able to begin managing the network, the burst could not be fully repaired on the 24th and was scheduled for completion the following morning.

To mitigate the impact, we:

• Undertook rezoning activity, bringing water in from neighbouring parts of the network
• Deployed water tankers to help maintain system pressure

Supply was largely restored by around 23:00 on 24th May, although I recognise that, for many customers, this was not clear due to limited communication.

Unfortunately, at approximately 03:00 on 25th May, further complications occurred when pumps tripped, leading to another drop in pressure. Although pumps were restored ahead of peak morning demand, system resilience remained fragile during continued high usage.

At 18:00 on 25th May, the original repair to the burst main was completed, however, the main failed again upon recharging. A further repair was required, with supply fully stabilised by approximately 20:52.

I fully acknowledge that, from a customer perspective, this sequence of events resulted in prolonged uncertainty and disruption, and I am very sorry for that.

Alternative water supplies and customers in vulnerable circumstances

I want to be clear that our handling of alternative water supplies and support for customers in vulnerable circumstances was not good enough.

The total duration of the incident, from initial loss of supply to full restoration, was approximately 15 hours, which falls within the regulatory 24-hour requirement for provision of alternative supplies.

However, this does not reflect the standard of service we aim to provide, particularly in such extreme weather conditions.

During the incident:

• Bottled water was distributed to approximately 1,001 properties
• Decisions were taken to provide bottled water across the wider area as a precautionary measure, rather than prioritising based on vulnerability

This approach, although in good faith at the time, was wrongly applied. As a result:

• Priority Services Register (PSR) customers were not prioritised as they should have been
• We did not meet our 12-hour commitment to Tier 1 medically dependent customers
• We failed to proactively identify and contact care homes to understand and support their needs

Our records show that:

• We have approximately 182 medically dependent (Tier 1) customers in the area

I want to apologise unreservedly for these failings. Those customers should always be prioritised, and on this occasion we did not meet that obligation.

Customer contact and communication

I am also very sorry for the experience you had when contacting our customer service teams.

We are aware that:

• Call volumes increased significantly during the incident
• Customers experienced extended wait times
• Our teams were often unable to provide clear or consistent information
• Promised call-backs were not completed, including in relation to your formal complaint

While our review shows that staff handled calls courteously, that is clearly not enough. The inability to provide timely, accurate information and to follow through on commitments, represents a serious failure in our communication processes.

More broadly, our external communications during the incident were insufficient. We did not provide:

• Clear, consistent updates across channels
• Timely information on the nature of the issue
• Effective engagement with councillors and local partners

I fully recognise that this made it significantly more difficult for you to support residents, and I am very sorry for the additional pressure this placed on you.

Compensation

Customers affected will be assessed in line with our Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS).

• Any Tier 1 Priority Services customers who were impacted will be eligible for payments of £100 each. These are currently being processed
• We are reviewing the wider group of affected customers to ensure compensation is applied appropriately in line with regulatory requirements

 Lessons learned and next steps

 We are undertaking a full and detailed review, covering:

• Operational resilience and incident response under extreme demand
• Decision-making on bottled water deployment and prioritisation
• Identification and support of vulnerable customers and care settings
• Contact centre performance, escalation, and complaint handling
• Communication with customers, councillors, and local resilience partners

This review is focused on identifying clear, practical improvements, which we will implement ahead of the peak summer period.

Working with you and local partners

I would also like to apologise for the impact this incident has had on your role as an elected representative.

We are meeting with Breckland Council’s Resilience Team tomorrow to review the incident in detail and agree improvements, particularly around coordination and communication during future events.

I am genuinely sorry for the experience of your residents and for the shortcomings in our response on this occasion. We did not get this right, and I take full responsibility for ensuring we learn from this and improve.

Please be assured that we are committed to putting things right, both in terms of compensation and, more importantly, in strengthening how we respond, communicate, and support our communities in future.

If you have any questions on this or any other matter, please do let me know.

Yours sincerely

Mark Thurston.