This weekend, ten years ago, Hailsham found itself in the midst of an unexpected crisis when a major water main burst, leaving thousands of residents without water for several days.
May 11th 2015, began as a routine day, but swiftly turned into a logistical and humanitarian challenge, as homes, schools, and businesses were suddenly cut off from the essential supply.
Yet amid the inconvenience and uncertainty, something remarkable emerged — a strong and united community spirit that saw neighbours, volunteers, and local organisations band together to support one another through the disruption.
Ultimately, it also led to the launch of this very newspaper, as the incident highlighted a lack of community information and communication to residents.
THE BREAK
The incident occurred on the morning of Friday, May 15, when a 24-inch trunk main ruptured beneath a road near Bushy Wood, on the outskirts of the town.
The burst, caused by ageing infrastructure and exacerbated by unseasonably dry weather conditions, sent thousands of gallons of water gushing into surrounding fields and disrupted supply to much of the town and nearby villages.
South East Water, the utility responsible for the infrastructure, described the break as ‘significant’ and warned residents of an extended outage, while emergency crews worked to access and repair the pipe, located several metres underground. By midday, taps had run dry across large areas of the town.
“We understand how disruptive this is,” said a spokesperson for the company at the time. “We’re doing everything we can to restore supplies as quickly and safely as possible.”
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
The effects were immediate and widespread. With the mains supply shut off, thousands of households were left without running water for drinking, cooking, washing, or flushing toilets. Schools sent students home early, and care homes raised the alarm over the welfare of vulnerable residents.
Local shops reported panic buying of bottled water, with shelves emptied within hours. Businesses, particularly those in the food and hospitality sector, were forced to close temporarily.
THE VOLUNTEER RESPONSE
As the town reeled, a grassroots effort quickly sprang into action. Volunteers from all walks of life, parents, community groups and even teenagers came forward to help distribute water and assist the elderly and vulnerable.
South East Water, working with Wealden District Council and East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, established several emergency water collection points throughout Hailsham, including at the Freedom Leisure Centre, the car park at Vicarage Field, and outside the town council offices. Tankers were dispatched to supply hospitals and care homes directly.
Volunteer teams helped manage queues at these points, handed out bottled water, and delivered supplies door-to-door to residents who were housebound or lacked transportation.
One group of young volunteers from Hailsham Community College set up a rota system to ensure elderly residents in nearby sheltered housing complexes received regular water deliveries.
Initially, information for residents was poor as thousands wanted to know when the pipe would be repaired and water restored, but had no initial information from the authorities. This led to resident Sam Imber setting up a group on Facebook called Hailsham News and Talk, which residents joined to share information.
The group remains extremely active to this day with now more than 21,000 members.
East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service played a critical role, not only in supporting logistical efforts but also by ensuring public safety and continuity of essential services. Fire engines transported water to key locations, and staff assisted with coordinating the emergency response.
Wealden District Council set up an incident response team, working with public health officials to issue guidance on hygiene and sanitation during the outage. Regular updates were shared via social media, local radio, and the town notice boards, urging calm and advising residents on safe water use.
“Hailsham showed its best side during a difficult time,” said then- Councillor Nigel Coltman. “This was a real test of resilience, and the response from the public and our emergency partners was outstanding.”
RESTORING THE FLOW
After nearly four days of round-the-clock repair efforts, South East Water announced late on Monday, May 18, that water supplies had been fully restored.
Engineers had to excavate and replace a large section of the damaged main, which involved complex and delicate work due to the pipe’s depth and surrounding utilities.
Residents were advised to run their taps for several minutes to flush out any discoloured water and were urged to continue conserving water while the network re-pressurised.
While the immediate crisis was over, questions remained about the long-term reliability of the region’s water infrastructure.
South East Water committed to reviewing its infrastructure in the area and pledged to improve its emergency response protocols. Although a burst to this extent has not happened since, Hailsham News has reported on a large number of outages since the 2015 incident.
REFLECTION AND LEGACY
In the weeks following the incident, many in Hailsham reflected on the experience not just as an inconvenience, but as a revealing moment of unity and resilience.
The incident also sparked an initiative to gather volunteers who had various skills and create a group to help during future community incidents. 4×4 Assist was created which has been helping residents in various situations since.
The water main burst of 2015 remains a powerful example of how communities can rally in the face of adversity. In the words of one resident: ‘When the water stopped flowing, Hailsham’s spirit didn’t. In fact, it poured out stronger than ever.’
