Richmond residents are fearing water shortages as pictures of bare supermarket shelves emerged after a burst pipe cut off supply.
Thousands of people across the borough are without water after the incident at Hampton waterworks.
Thames Water say will be making bottled water available in affected areas "within the next few hours," but worried customers have already been stock-piling supplies from supermarkets.
A large Sainsbury's in Hampton Hill was completely cleaned out, even after staff gathered extra products from storage.
Richmond resident Anna Mumme said: "I managed to buy some flavoured water but not much.
"A mum with two small children here, trying not to panic!"
A team of engineers is current working to resolve the issue, which began at around 9am, closing schools across the borough.
Thames Water is unable to say how long is will take for normal service to resume.
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