{"id":26992,"date":"2026-02-26T08:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/burst-pipes-supply-outages-and-disease-outbreaks-can-the-uk-still-rely-on-safe-water\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:07:07","slug":"burst-pipes-supply-outages-and-disease-outbreaks-can-the-uk-still-rely-on-safe-water","status":"publish","type":"the-bmj-article","link":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/burst-pipes-supply-outages-and-disease-outbreaks-can-the-uk-still-rely-on-safe-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Burst pipes, supply outages, and disease outbreaks: Can the UK still rely on safe water?"},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"content_type":[32],"editorial_panel":[],"channel_page":[43],"class_list":["post-26992","the-bmj-article","type-the-bmj-article","status-publish","hentry","article-type-news","channel-page-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"meta_box":{"the_bmj_article-url":"\/content\/392\/bmj.s378","the_bmj_article-description":"With the UK\u2019s ageing water infrastructure creaking, Emma Wilkinson examines whether we are at risk of losing a cornerstone of public health","the_bmj_article-the_bmj_article_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"file":"2026\/02\/Thames_water_free_water_2T5Y6NX-copy.jpg","filesize":146240,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"Thames_water_free_water_2T5Y6NX-copy-300x194.jpg","width":300,"height":194,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":43706,"url":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/Thames_water_free_water_2T5Y6NX-copy-300x194.jpg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"Thames_water_free_water_2T5Y6NX-copy-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":31274,"url":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/Thames_water_free_water_2T5Y6NX-copy-150x150.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"Alamy Stock Photo","camera":"","caption":"2T5Y6NX Artlington, Guildford, UK. 7th November 2023. Thames Water were handing up supplies of drinking water to residents in Surrey today at the Artlington Park and Ride in Artlington, Guildford, Surrey. Up to 12,000 people in Guildford remain without water following a major Thames Water supply issue. Some households and businesses have been without water since Thursday evening last week. Customers have been affected in postcodes including: GU1, GU2, GU3, GU5, GU6, GU7 and GU8. Jeremy Hunt, Tory MP for South West Surrey, has reportedly said the disruption has been a hammer blow for the area.","created_timestamp":"1699315200","copyright":"Credit: Maureen McLean \/ Alamy Stock Photo","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Artlington, Guildford, UK. 7th November 2023. Thames Water were handing up supplies of drinking water to residents in Surrey today at the Artlington Park and Ride in Artlington, Guildford, Surrey. 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Thames Water were handing up supplies of drinking water to residents in Surrey today at the Artlington Park and Ride in Artlington, Guildford, Surrey. Up to 12,000 people in Guildford remain without water foll","caption":"2T5Y6NX Artlington, Guildford, UK. 7th November 2023. Thames Water were handing up supplies of drinking water to residents in Surrey today at the Artlington Park and Ride in Artlington, Guildford, Surrey. Up to 12,000 people in Guildford remain without water following a major Thames Water supply issue. Some households and businesses have been without water since Thursday evening last week. Customers have been affected in postcodes including: GU1, GU2, GU3, GU5, GU6, GU7 and GU8. Jeremy Hunt, Tory MP for South West Surrey, has reportedly said the disruption has been a hammer blow for the area.","description":"","alt":"Thames Water hand out supplies of drinking water after residents were without water following a major Thames Water supply issue","srcset":false}],"the_bmj_article-related_articles":[{"article_type":"Opinion","related_article_title":"What will it take for a new sanitary revolution in the UK?","related_article_url":"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/385\/bmj.q974"}],"the_bmj_article-journal_name":""},"head_tags":[{"tag":"title","content":"Burst pipes, supply outages, and disease outbreaks: Can the UK still rely on safe water? | The BMJ"},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"robots","content":"max-image-preview:large"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"canonical","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/burst-pipes-supply-outages-and-disease-outbreaks-can-the-uk-still-rely-on-safe-water\/"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"generator","content":"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.6.2"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:locale","content":"en_GB"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:site_name","content":"The BMJ | The BMJ: leading general medical journal. 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