Southern Water said it was working to restore supplies to up to 5,000 homes in Sittingbourne, Kent, urging customers to "only use the water you absolutely must".
These problems are likely to continue over the next few days.” But it has now emerged that households affected could be owed as little as £20 in compensation.
Can I claim compensation for my water shortage?
If your water supply is interrupted by an emergency, such as a burst main water pipe, the firm has 12 hours to restore it.
If the supplier fails to resolve the issue within the above time frames, the Water Services Regulation Authority, Ofwat, says households are entitled to £20 (for the first 24 hour outage), plus £10 for every further day they are without water.
If you don’t receive this payment within 20 working days, you’re entitled to a further £20 payment.
What your supplier HAS to do During the water outage, your supplier must let you know about: Any alternative supplies Plans to restore it and A telephone number for information and updates If the cut lasts more than 12 hours, you should be given alternative water – this could be from a tanker on the street.
The water crisis may be the subject of discussion right now, but last week, during the storm itself, thousands of homes were also without power.
"If the outage was due to a storm or other poor weather conditions, households may receive £70 if they were without power for 24 hours, and £70 for each additional 12 hour period.
Likewise, if you’ve been living in below zero weather for seven days or more, you may be able to claim a Cold Weather Payment to help cover your winter bills.