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Case Study
December 28, 2023
In June 2019, a burst pipe at a water treatment works in the south-west of London saw 100,000 households and businesses suddenly with little or no water supply. The incident saw supermarket shelves quickly stripped of bottled water supplies and resulted in the closure of many schools and businesses. But Castle Water knew that closure wasn’t an option for all its customers.
As a responsible water retailer, Castle Water proactively identified and contacted 250 sensitive customers who could be most impacted by this water outage. This included hospitals, medical centres and veterinary surgeries, who would all require water to maintain hygiene, undertake procedures and for the general safety of patients, animals and staff. For these customers, the consequences of a lack of water supply could be life-threatening. To those who requested it, Castle Water offered emergency water supplies free of charge.
To provide its customers with the emergency water supplies, Castle Water immediately contacted Water Direct – its emergency water supply partner. Together, they arranged urgent water deliveries to various customer sites across Greater London. Working with expedience, Water Direct delivered emergency water supplies to the first prioritised site in Twickenham within two hours of the order being placed.
Over the next few hours, some 9,000 litres of bottled water were delivered to numerous customers throughout the area, ensuring that vets and medical centres had access to a crucial alternative water supply.
“It was fantastic to work with Castle Water to deliver emergency water services on this important occasion. This sort of rapid response is our bread and butter and we’re optimistic that occasions like this, where we are working in partnership with Castle Water on a large scale, will help set the standard in terms of non-household customer service.”
Water Direct’s Senior Sales & Marketing Manager, Sven Parris
“This was a high-profile incident that required immediate and coordinated action. Collectively, this was a sterling effort by Castle Water and Water Direct to help our customers stay in operation in a difficult situation.”
Castle Water’s Commercial Director, Gary Hinks
Through Castle Water and Water Direct’s partnership, Castle Water’s customers around the UK have access to emergency water supplies whenever they need them most.
Castle Water can support its customers to create water contingency plans, ensuring preparedness for water supply outages and unexpected interruptions. A site visit and water audit can evaluate current usage, assess mitigation measures and confirm necessary supplies required in the event of a sudden and/or prolonged outage.
Along with prioritised deliveries for unexpected water outages, customers can also rely on Castle Water and Water Direct for temporary water supplies for events, assured response contracts and advanced-notice maintenance water supply services.
Castle Water’s efficiency experts can even help your business highlight areas of water inefficiency to improve water usage, cut costs and become more sustainable.
“We work hard to deliver high service standards while achieving real cost savings for our customers. We see our customers as individuals and our people go the extra mile to recognise each customer’s needs and provide the tailored service they deserve and expect.”
John Reynolds, Castle Water CEO
Visit castlewater.co.uk/specialistservices today to discover our full range of Specialist Water Services.
