No water for 3 whole days? That's what happened to approximately 20,000 buildings according to Thames Water from the 4th to 6th March in the SW16, SW17 and SW18 postcodes, leaving many houses and schools without water.

The issue was due to a number of burst pipes in the area, and required repair teams to work for hours on end in order to fix. The lack of water required those affected to find a new temporary source, but luckily for them, instead of having to buy dozens of bottles of water, Lambeth Council were kind enough to distribute some emergency rations, meaning everyone had enough.

Without water, many schools had to be temporarily closed until the problem was fixed, including Dunraven Secondary School (located in SW16). Dunraven was closed on Monday 5th March and Tuesday 6th March, while Thames Water fixed the issue, but fortunately the school had water again on Wednesday 7th March, so students only missed two days of learning, which was quickly made up for.

There were many different opinions on the issue. We asked Mia Cooper, a year 10 student of Dunraven School on what she thought of it all. She told us, “It was hard, as we had to go out and buy lots of water, and Thames Water took a long time in fixing the issue.” However, it wasn't all bad news, according to Mia, as she went on to tell us, “I was relieved that school was closed for two days, as the break from homework allowed me to relax for a bit and relieve stress.”

Overall, it was a hard time for those who were affected, but perhaps we can use this experience to learn not to take resources for granted and to be grateful for what we are lucky enough to have.

By Manuela Goodman, Dunraven Secondary School