Households across Reading left without water for three days after burst mains

Thames Water struggled to rebuild pressure to homes after an incident at Pangbourne treatment works

Households across Reading, the UK’s biggest town, have been without water for three days after water mains burst in the cold weather.

An incident at the Pangbourne water treatment works meant that water pressure dropped across the town on Saturday. Thames Water, which has its headquarters in Reading, said that subsequent pipe bursts then made it impossible to increase water pressure to homes, meaning some people have been without water for days. Emergency bottled water stations have been set up in the affected areas. On Monday, some schools and offices were forced to close as the low water pressure meant it was unsafe to stay open.