Water returns for thousands after disruption

Water has returned to thousands of homes in West Sussex after a leak caused supply issues and shut roads over the weekend.

Roads were closed near the Southgate Roundabout in Crawley, while as many as 9,000 customers were left without water at the height of the outage.

A Southern Water spokesperson confirmed on Monday morning that the burst pipe had been repaired overnight, and that water had been restored to all customers.

Supplies had first been affected on Sunday morning, and a bottled water station opened at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley for affected customers.

The County Mall shopping centre in the town has been temporarily closed due to the water issues, but has since confirmed that it will reopen today.

Southern Water says that now supply has been restored, water may at first be discoloured or have bubbles in it.

The company says this is normal and discolouration usually clears once the network settles.

If the water is cloudy and white, customers are urged to leave it in a glass for a few minutes to see if it clears, as it could be trapped air.

If the water if brown or black, people are told to run their tap for a few minutes and it should clear, and to try again after 20 minutes if it does not work the first time.

Southern Water says it is fine to use supplies as normal once it runs clear.

The company said a chlorine smell or taste was also "perfectly normal" and came from small amounts that remained in supplies.

Customers are also being urged to run their taps for a short amount of time to help bring through water, as there could be air locks in pipes.

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