Southern Water has acknowledged shortcomings in its bottled water provisions on Isle of Wight to address a problem with loss of supply and low water pressure in Ryde on Sunday, saying it had "taken on board the concerns that we did not have water available quickly enough."

The water company received its first call regarding loss of water supply at 11.45am and were on site by 12noon - its investigation found a burst on both a 10 and 12 inch mains. During the incident Southern Water worked to rezone supplies to restore water to affected properties and arranged for bottled water to be made available for affected customers.

Water supply was restored by around 10pm with water restored for the majority of customers in Ryde by 11pm. In the meantime the water company continued to deliver water to vulnerable customers directly.

Southern Water said it had managed to secure more than 5500 bottles of water (the equivalent of 11000 litres) and bought them onto the Island. The first delivery of water was provided to customers on the  vulnerable list and members of the public with specific requirements within four hours of losing water.

A bowser was also deployed through the utility’s Water Direct partners, although by the time it reached the Island water was restored to all properties.

Southern Water commented:

“We have taken on board the concerns that we did not have water available quickly enough and so we have a further 12500 bottles of water on the way over to the Isle of Wight today to ensure there are adequate supplies for the future.”

“We were restricted as to the location of the water drop as we needed to have somewhere central to the incident, accessible by our lorry and could safely host a large number of people without endangering the public. The initial location of Ashey Road was chosen for this reason. “

The water company said it had to prioritise those most in need, or at risk, in the early stage due to the large number of people who attended the initial pick up. This was initially limited to people with medical conditions that required constant water use and children under one years old. Due the large crowd who had arrived on scene, water supplies ran out quickly.

Southern Water said it had listened to customers who felt one drop off point was not sufficient and managed to secure a  safe and appropriate second site  - however this had taken “more time than we would have liked.”

The water company said it had put all the information across via its own social media channels and worked alongside the media to try and get the messages out to as many customers as possible.  “However, we completely understand that with so many people affected, it was not possible to get these vital messages to everyone affected.”