Overview
- Thames Water said the broken pipe was fixed on Thursday evening and teams spent Friday recharging the system, with some homes still seeing low pressure, outages or temporary discolouration.
- The failure of an 800mm main by Oxford Road in Eynsham cut the feed to reservoirs serving OX7, OX18, OX28, OX29 and GL7, leaving thousands with little or no supply.
- Thirteen schools confirmed closures on Friday, with up to 15 reported overall, as local authorities and MPs managed updates and plans for reopening.
- Bottled water stations operated in Witney and Carterton, deliveries continued for Priority Services customers, and tankers were deployed to bolster supplies.
- Engineers faced excessive groundwater and a large sinkhole, used a diver to locate the rupture, and installed bespoke fittings with a new pipe section; MPs praised the operation yet questioned long‑term resilience.