Thousands of Kent homes face second day of water supply problems
South East Water apologises for 'complete lack of water' in some areas, expects supplies to return Sunday evening.
Quick Look
- Thousands of homes and businesses in Kent, particularly Tunbridge Wells, are experiencing a second day of water supply issues due to an instrument failure at a South East Water treatment works.
- The company, facing financial uncertainty, expects supplies to return Sunday evening and has opened bottled water stations.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
South East Water is experiencing a second day of water supply problems in Kent, affecting 7,000 properties, due to an instrument failure at a treatment works, following a year of financial difficulties and regulatory fines.
Thousands of homes and businesses in Kent are facing water supply problems for a second day, including a “complete lack of water” in some cases, South East Water said.
About 7,000 properties in the Tunbridge Wells area could face low pressure, intermittent supply or no water, after an “instrument failure” at a nearby water treatment works, SEW said.
On Sunday morning the company said it was “on target” for supplies to return that evening “at the earliest” and apologised to those affected. Bottled water stations were open in the town for a second day.
Apologising to customers, the SEW incident manager, Steve Benton, said: “We are genuinely sorry to all customers currently experiencing low pressure, intermittent supply, or a complete lack of water today (Sunday 19 July).
“This is not the service we aim to provide, and is not the service our customers deserve.”
He added: “The levels in our drinking water storage tanks are improving. However, we want to ensure that once supplies return to customers, this will be a stable, continuous flow.
“To do this, we need to allow our storage tanks to replenish to a higher level than they currently are, we are still on target to see water supplies return later this evening at the earliest.”
The company said bottled water stations would be open until 8pm on Sunday at the Tesco superstore on Pembury Road in Tunbridge Wells, and at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club at St Mark’s recreation ground.
SEW is using tankers to increase drinking water storage levels to support the affected areas and delivering bottled water to customers on its priority services register.
On Friday the company, which supplies water to about 2.3 million customers in south-east England, warned there was “material uncertainty” over its survival, after a disastrous year in which the loss-making company paid millions of pounds in fines and its chief executive was forced out.
Its annual report said it needed to secure fresh financing to stay afloat after taking a £55m hit from outages over the winter. It was in discussions with lenders to agree a new loan facility.
It has enough cash to keep going until July 2027 but said that “shortly after” it would need to secure more financing.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Water supplies will return to affected customers later Sunday evening at the earliest.
Likely · Within hours
South East Water will need to secure more financing shortly after July 2027.
Very likely · Within years
Open Questions
- What caused the specific instrument failure?
- What are the long-term solutions for SEW's financial stability?
- What is the exact timeline for full service restoration?
