About 30,000 homes across Sussex and Kent are experiencing water shortages, resulting in Kent County Council declaring a “major incident”.
Ten postcodes, including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone, are still experiencing issues following a weekend of disruption, according to alerts issued by South East Water.
The water company has said a number of issues are to blame for the water pressure problems, including the fallout from Storm Goretti, burst water mains and a power cut at its pumping plant.
South East Water explained Storm Goretti affected its ability to treat water at the normal rate, and this, coupled with an outbreak of burst water mains due to freezing conditions across Kent and Sussex, has caused drinking water levels to run low.
Collection points for bottled water have been set up, and although the water company is working to maintain supplies, some customers have been told their supply may not return until Tuesday.
South East Water said bottled water stations will close today at 10pm, and 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).
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 households and settings have been impacted in the last 24 hrs and because we are putting additional arrangements in place to prepare for further potential disruption.”
The water supply issues have affected several schools in Kent and Sussex, along with public libraries in East Grinstead, which have also closed for the day.
The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has also been forced to carry out some appointments virtually, the BBC reported. Water tankers are delivering extra supplies, and measures are being taken to ensure essential services at the hospital continue.
“Our drinking water storage tanks across the counties are running low following an outbreak of leaks and burst water mains after the recent cold weather,” South East Water said in a post on Facebook.
“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’re sorry for the impact caused by this and know how disruptive it is to your daily lives. We’re doing all we can to try and 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”.
