Around 31,000 properties were left without water in St Leonards and parts of Hastings after a main burst.
Southern Water said it “worked through the night” to try to resolve the problem, which left homes in the East Sussex cities without supply since Thursday afternoon.
The company said it could take the entire weekend to fix, but that it was “working as quickly as possible” and making “good progress.”
Water is being delivered to vulnerable people and bottled water stations have been installed.
The three stations are at Asda and Tesco in St Leonards and at Sea Road in Hastings.
However, Southern Water said it was trying to resolve “unforeseen issues” at the latter site on Saturday.
Hastings & Rye Labor candidate Helena Dollimore said more than 50,000 people needed water as she urged the company to do more to replenish communities.
Photo: Água do Sul
Some schools and businesses, including the White Rock Theater and Summerfields leisure centre, had to close on Friday due to a lack of water.
One person posted on X that her mother, who has mobility issues, received 12 bottles, but six of them were stolen from her door.
Another resident asked the water company to open a filling station in the city center “as we have been asking all day.”
A third local, posting on X, said: “Dear Southern Water – surely you have a responsibility to get water to people – not wait for people to come to you.
“People without transport are unable to collect any quantity. Why not throw water on the affected streets?
However, some praised the company’s response, with one person on social media thanking them for the “brilliant service provided so promptly to my disabled brother”.
Southern Water said: “We are supplying more than 6,000 vulnerable customers who are on our priority service register in the affected area and will investigate any issues where people who are on our list to receive water have not done so.”
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A fourth bottled water station was scheduled to open on Saturday, but so far no details have been released.
A Southern Water spokesman said repairs were complicated by the location of the burst pipe.
It is in deep woodland close to the A21, forcing the company to cut down 50 trees to gain access, Tim McMahon told BBC Radio 4.
“It’s by far the hardest place I’ve ever seen,” he said.
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