SHOPOWNERS are charging £8 for a bottle of water as taps continue to run dry in thousands of homes.
Residents spotted the rip-off prices in corner stores cashing in on the crisis.
PR boss Mark Sands, who was shopping in Streatham, South London, said: “Day four with no running water and retailers selling five-litre bottles for £8 last night.
PA:Press Association It’s hugely annoying.” A five-litre bottle can sell for as little as £1 in supermarkets.
But one defiant shopkeeper defended the hike.
He added: “I’ve had to pay £20 to go in a taxi to get bottles from wholesalers, it sells out so fast.
People are desperate and that money has to come from somewhere.” Homes began running dry at the weekend when the thaw from the big freeze burst pipes across the South.
Yesterday water firms were warned they face a multi-million-pound compensation bill.
Industry regulator OFWAT said the companies had failed customers and ordered an urgent probe.
Thames Water, South East Water, Southern Water and South West Water were all criticised.

Hawaii to close large cesspools in Pahala and Naalehu.
In a separate action, EPA reached an agreement with Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. requiring the company to pay a civil penalty of $57,500 for its operation of an LCC at its Aloha Island Mart convenience store and gas station in Captain Cook on the Big Island.
Aloha Petroleum has since closed the non-compliant cesspool and replaced it with an approved wastewater system.
LCCs were banned under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in April 2005.
The agreement with the County of Hawaii requires the closure of two LCCs serving the Pahala community, three LCCs serving the Naalehu community, and two LCCs serving the Pahala Elderly Apartments.
"EPA and the County of Hawaii are taking important steps to close these banned cesspools and replace them with modern wastewater treatment systems," said Alexis Strauss, EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.
Newly-constructed secondary wastewater treatment facilities and updated collection systems will come online in 2021 for Pahala and in 2022 for Naalehu.
Cesspools serving the Pahala Elderly Apartments will be closed by September 2018 and replaced with septic systems.
The agreement also includes specific reporting requirements and allows for stipulated penalties should the county fail to meet agreed-upon deadlines.
Cesspools are used more widely in Hawaii than in any other state, despite the fact that 95 percent of all drinking water in Hawaii comes from groundwater sources.

Why is Trader Joe’s Wine Cheaper Than Bottled Water?.
Shoppers have tried to guess whether their store brand mac and cheese is actually made by a major food label going incognito.
But the biggest mystery of Trader Joe’s may be in their liquor section, where their store-endorsed line of Charles Shaw wine sells for as little as $1.99 a bottle in some markets.
The Charles Shaw label came to represent quality among wine aficionados, and his business grew to include 115 acres by the late 1980s.
With his business bankrupt, Shaw submitted to an auction of the winery’s assets.
The trade name was purchased by Fred Fanzia, owner of the Bronco Wine Company.
Bronco sells more than 80 different wine labels at varying price points.
His line of Charles Shaw wines debuted in Trader Joe’s stores in 2002 and sold for $1.99 a bottle in many markets, which quickly earned it the nickname “Two Buck Chuck.” Wine connoisseurs debated the practicality of offering quality wine at such a low price; college students filled up grocery carts with them.
Most importantly, the grapes are machine-harvested, which keeps costs down but might result in a more sugar-laden wine.
Bronco also keeps shipping costs low by using lightweight bottles.