Around 30,000 homes across Sussex and Kent are experiencing a lack of water, resulting in Kent County Council declaring a “major incident” – as MPs say the man in charge of South East Water should be sacked.
Ten postcodes, including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone, are still experiencing problems after a weekend of disruption, according to warnings issued by the water company.
South East Water said a number of issues were to blame for the water pressure problems, including rain from Storm Goretti, burst water mains and power outages at its pumping plant.
The water company explained that the storm affected its ability to treat water at the normal rate, and this, combined with an outbreak of water mains bursting due to freezing conditions across Kent and Sussex, caused drinking water levels to drop.
But ministers from around the affected area asked the government to remove the company’s chief executive, David Hinton, from his post.
Mims Davies, Conservative MP for East Grinstead, Uckfield and the Villages, who raised the issue in the House, said the water bottle stations were “poorly organised”.
She added: “With multiple and repeated serious shortages of South East Water in the last five years alone, does the minister agree with me that this water company urgently needs new management capable of properly addressing emergency situations?”
Water Minister Emma Hardy offered no support for SEW’s chief executive, saying the situation at the company “beggars belief”. “She is right to also raise problems around this company,” she said.
Some customers have been told their supply may not return until Tuesday, and bottled water stations will close at 10pm today. These are located at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club (TN2 5LS), Headcorn Aerodrome (TN27 9HX), East Grinstead Sports Club (RH19 4JU) and Queensway Car Park (RH19 1BG).
Ten postcodes including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone, are experiencing water shortages (PA)
In a post on X/Twitter, Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: “A major incident has now been declared in Kent on the basis that more homes and settings have been affected in the last 24 hours and we are putting additional arrangements in place to prepare for further potential disruption.”
Water supply issues affected many schools in Kent and Sussex, along with public libraries in East Grinstead, which also closed for the day.
The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has also been forced to make some appointments virtually. Water tankers are delivering extra supplies, and measures are being taken to ensure that essential services at the hospital continue.
A spokesman said: “The safety and wellbeing of our patients and staff remains our priority. We have had a water tank on site since Saturday to maintain our supply and our teams are working tirelessly behind the scenes to minimize any disruption to care.
“We have been able to continue our essential services and continue to review the situation while the water issues remain. We would like to assure patients that appointments and operations are still taking place and if anything needs to change we will contact you.”
“Our drinking water storage tanks across the counties are running low after an outbreak of leaks and burst water mains following the recent cold weather,” South East Water said in a Facebook post.
“As a result, around 30,000 properties across parts of Kent and Sussex may be experiencing no water, intermittent supply or low pressure.
“This includes 16,500 properties in East Grinstead, with the remainder spread across parts of Kent, including Tunbridge Wells, Headcorn and intermittently across our Maidstone system.
“We are sorry for the impact this has caused and we know how disruptive it is to your daily life. We are doing everything we can to try to balance our network and restore supplies to as many customers as possible.”
It comes after 24,000 customers across Tunbridge Wells, Pembury, Frant and Eridge experienced a loss of water or low pressure in December following “water quality issues”.