Bottled water is being distributed to homes in the Ventnor area as the town’s water supply is sacrificed to keep the rest of the Isle of Wight’s taps running. As first reported by Island Echo, Southern Water has been struggling to treat water at its Testwood Water Treatment Works on the mainland, resulting in almost 20,000 properties losing water in the Southampton and New Forest areas. Southern Water is now recharging the network as it frantically works to resolve the critical situation, which it hopes to get a firm hold of by the end of the weekend. But this means that around 4,600 properties in the Ventnor area – which includes St Lawrence, Whitwell and Niton – could now lose water completely, or experience low pressure. Island Echo understands that the decision has been taken to sacrifice the supply in the South Wight town in order to keep the majority of the Island in supply. The Testwood WSW feeds reservoirs in northern parts of the Isle of Wight, but the way water is moved around the system means Ventnor has drawn the short straw. Bottled water has been distributed to doorsteps overnight and it’s understood a emergency water distribution point is being set up at Dudley Road Car Park and another at Amazon World near Newchurch – although these collection points are not yet operational. Water tankers are also being used in the Ventnor area to support the network. 
Although the lack of water supply to homes and businesses is an obvious concern, there is also risks to firefighting efforts as a lack of water will leave hydrants dry. However, by chance, Ventnor Fire Station does host 1 of 2 water carriers on the Island. A spokesperson for Southern Water has said:
“We are experiencing further adverse weather today, but our plans are working at present. This must be done carefully and slowly to prevent bursts, airlocks and discoloured water and takes at least 24 hours to get back to normal”.
So far 5,300 customers in the Waterside, New Forest area have been brought back on supply, but Southern Water is still working to restore fresh water to 13,000 remaining customers. This latest threat to a basic human right is just days after 31,000 properties across the Island almost lost fresh water supply. Thankfully, the situation was quickly improved and no homes or businesses lost water in the end. However, it is known that a similar emergency quietly arose during the early hours of Monday morning, which also threatened the fresh water supply to the Island. Again, things got close but the situation was resolved at the 11th hour without Islanders being any the wiser.
