Emergency water supplies to the hospital are now being provided by tankers parked outside but some routine operations have been cancelled, reports James Cracknell
The water crisis in Enfield borough is now impacting Chase Farm Hospital, the Dispatch can confirm.
With supplies being heavily impacted in the area around The Ridgeway, the hospital is currently relying on tankers brought in by Thames Water to keep the taps flowing.
At one point earlier today (Wednesday 19th), the Dispatch understands that the hospital’s water supply was cut off.
Chase Farm does not have an accident and emergency department but does carry out many operations for people living across North London, and some due to take place today have had to be cancelled.
A spokesperson for Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Chase Farm Hospital, said: “Back-up tanks are on site at Chase Farm Hospital and the water supply is expected to return to normal this afternoon.
“Our urgent treatment centre remains open and the service continues as normal. Routine operations have been postponed until the water supply returns to our theatres and we would like to thank patients for their understanding.
“The disruption is due to repair work carried out in Enfield by Thames Water. ”
Operations at Chase Farm are due to fully resume tomorrow (Thursday 20th) and Royal Free London is advising all patients to attend their appointments unless told otherwise by the hospital.
As reported earlier, Thames Water has been struggling to restore normal supplies to hundreds of homes following the burst water main in Bramley Road which first began leaking on Sunday (16th).
In its latest online update, the privately-owned utility company said supplies would likely not be fully restored until Friday (21st) at the earliest.
This is because an entire section of the water main needs to be fully replaced.
In its update at 1pm today, Thames Water said: “At this stage, we remain on track to restore normal service by Friday, although this remains dependent on the repair and recommissioning process progressing as planned.”
However, the Dispatch can also now confirm that the repair work is not confined to a single location. This afternoon, Thames Water arrived in Enfield Town centre to dig up the major junction connecting London Road, Church Street, Silver Street and Southbury Road.
The emergency roadworks are currently causing widespread traffic chaos going into the evening rush hour.
Affected properties are spread across the N14, N21, EN1 and EN2 postcode areas, although this does not mean that all homes have lost water, as the impact appears to be patchy.
Free bottled water is available for anyone to pick up from two Thames Water stations at Tesco Extra in Ponders End High Street and at Highlands School in World’s End Lane.
An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “We understand the current situation with the water shortage caused by a burst water main is causing tremendous difficulties for our residents, businesses and local services in some areas of Enfield.
“Engineers at Thames Water are working around the clock to ensure the damage is being repaired as safely and quickly as possible. Thames Water have assured us that they are on track to restore normal service by Friday.
“Enfield Council has been in constant communication with Thames Water from the outset. We have supported Thames Water to promptly set up bottled water stations and have instructed them to support vulnerable residents in our communities to have water delivered directly to their homes.
“The council will continue to liaise with Thames Water to ensure our residents are prioritised and updated promptly on any further announcements. We would like to thank our residents for their patience while Thames Water resolves the situation.”
In its 2023/24 annual report Thames Water – owned by a consortium including a Chinese sovereign wealth fund and a Canadian pension fund – confirmed it loses an average of around 570.4 million litres per day through leakages.
Last month, the company announced a hosepipe ban, which continues to be in effect as London endures record-breaking drought and heatwaves this summer.
A Thames Water information page about the leak is being updated regularly:
Visit thameswater.co.uk/network-latest/2026/aug/n14-bramley-road
Update (5.30pm):
Regarding the roadworks in Enfield Town, a Thames Water spokesperson said: “This is part of our ongoing water network management to ensure that we minimise customer impact as much as we can. This often will include traffic management being required as we work to re-route the network as best we can, to resolve the issues as soon as we can.
“Our teams are working round the clock to get this fixed and we will provide further updates on our website.”
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