A major water main burst in West Molesey, Surrey, on Monday 28 September 2026 left thousands of homes, schools and businesses without supply or facing severely reduced pressure across seven London and Surrey boroughs. The rupture was reportedly discharging 750 litres of water per second, forcing educational institutions to close and prompting emergency water deliveries to vulnerable residents.
Thames Water reported that approximately 6,000 properties across five south London boroughs—Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth—and two Surrey boroughs, Elmbridge and Spelthorne, were affected by the outage. According to local reporting, the initial impact was even more severe, with up to 15,000 properties initially affected before the number fell to 6,000 as water was rerouted around the area.
The disruption began around 5am on Monday morning. A spokesperson for Thames Water stated:
Our specialist team is now on site and working to stop the water flooding from the broken pipe.The company later confirmed that the burst in West Molesey was likely to take some time to repair, with customers in Surbiton expected to see supply return gradually, though pressure would remain lower than normal during the repair work.
Which schools and businesses were forced to close?
Multiple educational institutions across the affected areas shut their doors on Monday. Esher College, a sixth form college serving 2,000 students, was among the first to announce closure. The college stated:
Due to a major water outage effecting the KT10 area and our campus we are closed on Monday 28 September.
Kingston Grammar School also closed, as did Long Ditton Infant and Nursery School, Thames Ditton Infant School, and Hollyfield School and Sixth Form Centre in Surbiton. Parents at Hollyfield received a message explaining the situation:
There is a significant issue with water supply in the local area … Whilst we have water at the moment it is not replenishing at the same rate it is being used and so our supply will run out at lunchtime. This means that it is unsafe for students to remain on site.
Local businesses also faced disruption. Helen Ryder, who runs a flower shop in Thames Ditton, described the challenge:
Our priority is to make sure staff have water, but we need to make sure the flowers do too. Hopefully we have enough water, but people come before flowers.
What caused the burst?
Some reports indicated that a contractor operating a digger had struck the water pipe, causing a 4-foot rupture in the Walton section. Monica Harding, the Liberal Democrat MP for Esher and Walton, Surrey, confirmed her understanding that the main burst early on Monday morning, with water leaking at 750 litres per second from the damaged pipe.
What response has Thames Water put in place?
Thames Water apologised for the outage and activated emergency support measures. The company said it would deliver water to customers registered on its priority services register and open bottled water stations later on Monday afternoon, though specific locations were to be confirmed. According to Thames Water's statement, customers could also for SMS and text updates during the incident.
A spokesperson for Thames Water said:
Our engineers are making progress on repairing the burst in Molesey but it is likely to take some time to complete. We are rerouting water in the area to reduce the impact on customers while we work to fix the burst. Water deliveries are being made to customers who are on our priority services register. We will be opening bottled water stations this afternoon and will provide their locations once confirmed. The number of properties affected has now been reduced to less than 6,000. We again would like to say sorry to our customers and reassure those who are still affected that we are working to restore their water supply as quickly as possible.
The affected postcodes included CR4, KT1, KT10, KT12, KT2, KT3, KT5, KT6, KT7, KT8, SM4, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, TW10 and TW16. Customers requiring assistance were advised to call 0800 316 9800.
What have elected representatives said?
Monica Harding described the situation as unacceptable, stating:
We need an urgent response from Thames Water to get water supplies back on as soon as possible and to protect vulnerable communities.She added:
My worry is that decades of underinvestment in our infrastructure and poor regulation may be causing incidences like this. Right now, however, the priority must be getting water back in our taps.
Paul Kohler, the Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, contacted Thames Water for information after reports of outages across Wimbledon, New Malden, Raynes Park and Morden in south London, and said he would share updates as he received them.
What happens next?
Thames Water said it expected to provide another update by 11.30am on Monday 28 September 2026. The company committed to posting the latest updates on its website and urged affected customers to monitor those channels for information on restoration progress and the opening times and locations of bottled water stations.
Key Facts
- A burst water main in West Molesey, Surrey, on 28 September 2026 left approximately 6,000 properties without water or with severely reduced pressure, though up to 15,000 were initially affected.
- The rupture was reportedly discharging 750 litres of water per second and caused closures at multiple schools including Esher College, Kingston Grammar School, and several primary schools across the affected boroughs.
- Thames Water activated emergency measures including water deliveries to priority customers and the opening of bottled water stations, with engineers working to repair the burst which was expected to take considerable time.
- The outage affected postcodes across Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth in London, and Elmbridge and Spelthorne in Surrey.
- Elected representatives called for urgent action, with concerns raised about decades of underinvestment in water infrastructure contributing to such incidents.
