Around 30,000 homes in Sussex and Kent are facing water shortages, with Kent County Council declaring it a “major incident” – and councilors saying the head of South East Water should be sacked.
Ten postcodes including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone are still experiencing problems following disruptions over the weekend, according to an alert from the water company.
Southeast Water said the water pressure issues were caused by a number of factors, including the impact of Storm Goretti, burst pipes and outages at pumping plants.
The water company explained that the storm affected its ability to properly treat water, which combined with burst pipes caused by ice in Kent and Sussex counties, caused drinking water levels to drop.
But ministers in affected areas called on the government to sack the company’s chief executive, David Hinton.
Mims Davies, the Conservative MP for East Grinstead, Uckfield and Villages, raised the issue in the House, saying the water bottle stations were “poorly organised”.
She added: “Southeast Water has made serious mistakes on a number of occasions over the past five years. Does the minister agree with me that the water company urgently needs new leadership to properly address the emergency?”
Water Minister Emma Hardy offered no support for the SEW chief executive, calling the company’s situation “unbelievable”. “She’s very right to raise issues around this company,” she said.
Some customers have been told their supply may not be restored until Tuesday and bottled water stations will close at 10pm today. They are located at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Club (TN2 5LS), Headcorn Airport (TN27 9HX), East Grinstead Sports Club (RH19 4JU) and Queensway Car Park (RH19 1BG).
10 postcodes including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone are facing water shortages (PA)
Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said in a post on X/Twitter: “A major incident has now been declared in Kent as more homes and environments have been affected in the past 24 hours and we are putting in place additional arrangements to prepare for further potential disruption.”
Water supply issues affected several schools in Kent and Sussex, as well as the public library in East Grinstead, which was also closed for the day.
The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has also been forced to conduct some appointments virtually. Water tankers are delivering additional supplies and measures are being taken to ensure essential hospital services continue.
A spokesman said: “The safety and wellbeing of patients and staff remains our priority. We have had a water tanker on site since Saturday to maintain our supply and our teams are working tirelessly behind the scenes to minimize disruption to care.
“While water issues remain, we have been able to continue to provide essential services and continue to review the situation. We would like to reassure patients that appointments and surgeries are still ongoing and we will contact you if any changes are required.”
“Recent cold weather has caused leaks and burst water pipes, and our counties are running low on drinking water storage tanks,” Southeast Water said in a Facebook post.
“As a result, around 30,000 properties in parts of Kent and Sussex may experience water outages, 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 the intermittent Maidstone system.
“We deeply apologize for the impact this has caused and know how disruptive this is to your daily lives. We are doing everything we can to balance our network and restore supply to as many customers as possible.”
It comes after 24,000 customers in Tunbridge Wells, Pembury, Frant and Eridge experienced water cuts or low pressure due to “water quality issues” in December.