Thousands in Kent Face Second Day of Water Supply Issues from South East Water
نظرة سريعة
- Up to 7,000 households and businesses in Kent, particularly Tunbridge Wells, are experiencing low water pressure or no supply for a second day due to a temporary instrument failure at a South East Water treatment works.
- The company has opened bottled water stations and apologized amid customer criticism.
ملخص مُنشأ بالذكاء الاصطناعي
لماذا يهم
Thousands of households and businesses in Kent are experiencing water supply issues for a second day, caused by a temporary instrument failure at South East Water's Tunbridge Wells treatment works. The company has faced criticism for multiple supply failures recently.
Thousands of households and businesses in Kent are experiencing water supply issues for a second day.
South East Water (SEW) said on Sunday that up to 7,000 properties face low pressure, no water, or intermittent supply due to a temporary instrument failure at its Tunbridge Wells water treatment works.
The company, which has been heavily criticised for multiple supply failures in recent months, apologised to customers and said two bottled water stations were open in the town for a second day.
Lance Miles, who lives in Tunbridge Wells and is registered disabled, described SEW as "incompetently useless".
"Yet again we are without water," he told the BBC.
"We're not customers, because customers have a choice. We don't have a choice.
"If there was another company, at the drop of a hat I would go with that company."
The company said on Saturday that supplies would not return until Sunday evening "at the earliest", however, previous outages have continued for longer than predicted.
Steven Benton, SEW incident manager, said on Sunday that the water treatment works were "now stable".
He added: "Low storage levels from this disruption and high demand mean we cannot pump water to some areas, particularly on higher ground.
"To ensure a stable, continuous flow, we must allow tanks to replenish."
He added that the company was continuing to deliver bottled water to customers from the priority services register, a free support scheme for people who need extra help.
Two bottled water stations reopened earlier on Sunday at Tesco Superstore on Pembury Road and Tunbridge Wells Rugby Club.
A third opened later at the Odeon cinema car park in Knights Way.
They will stay open until 20:00 BST, SEW said.
The rugby club station closed briefly on Sunday morning while bottled water was restocked, but has since reopened.
أسئلة مفتوحة
- When will full water supply be restored to all affected areas?
- What caused the temporary instrument failure?
- What long-term measures will SEW take to prevent future outages?
