The tankers were again there today
Residents of Tunbridge Wells have been flabbergasted to see convoys of tankers bringing in water to the area. Householders are recovering after their nightmare before Christmas – being without water and then having to boil water from their taps for 10 days.
Up to 24,000 homes were hit by water problems at the peak of the crisis, which began on November 29 and came to end with the boil notice being lifted on Friday, December 12. It had started with water treatment at Pembury automatically shutting down because the water was too cloudy.
More on the issues later, as KentLive asked South East Water for a more detailed run down on the issue which caused disruption to supply. And David Hinton, South East Water’s boss, told ITV yesterday, the company’s earlier indication the issue was a “bad batch of chemicals” in the water treatment process turned out to be incorrect.
But the sight of lorries heading up and down Blackhurst Lane carrying huge loads of water has seen social media flooded with views about what’s going on – and if the area is in for yet another supply crisis.
These photos were taken at the entrance of Blackhurst Lane on Wednesday at 5.30pm and “they’ve been there ever since pumping water into the reservoir. They’re there now,” a resident told us on Friday.
One resident said: “Still a consistent steam of water direct lorries arriving at Blackhurst Lane. Total lack of transparency. Should we be prepared for a Xmas shortage I wonder?”
Another on social networking site Nextdoor said: “I also saw these trucks on Blackhurst Lane this evening- Wednesday 17th. So SEW please be honest and explain precisely why fresh water is being transported into the Blackhurst facility by trucks.”
One person said: “They truck water in to top up reservoirs?? I didn’t know they did that, seems bonkers?!”
A spokesperson for South East Water told KentLive: “On the subject of the tankers at Pembury, we’re currently using tankers to pump additional water into our Blackhurst drinking water storage tank. Our Pembury Water Treatment Works continues to produce top quality drinking water as normal.”
KentLive has gone back to South East Water and asked for what reason water is having to be brought in by lorry and pumped into the Blackhurst Lane facility.
However, a representative for South East Water on its Facebook page, told a customer this: “The tankers were brought in as a precaution to ensure that there is more than enough water during the holiday period to ensure there are no incidents.”
One person asked South East Water on its Facebook page, “with all this wet weather, can you not harvest that for the water storage tanks?”
A representative replied: “We actually do harvest as much rainwater as possible through our surface reservoirs, like Ardingly and Arlington. However, most of our water—about 75%—comes from deep underground sources called aquifers. It takes a long time, often many months, for rain to soak through the ground and refill these levels.
“While the recent wet weather is a huge help, we really need consistent rainfall over the autumn and winter to fully recover from a dry year.
“To help secure our future supply, we are also investing in new storage solutions, like the planned Broad Oak reservoir, so we can capture and store even more water for our communities.”
As we previously reported, South East Water is being investigated by the DWI for the crisis. The public water regulator said it would scrutinise SEW’s actions before, during and after the event. The company will also be called to give answers to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee at a public evidence session on January 6. The committee will grill the water company about “planning, resilience, capacity and communications”.
And the company gave the following statement to us today (Friday, December 19) on the reason behind the water crisi
South East Water’s statement on water crisis
The problem was caused by repeated water quality challenges at our water treatment works in Pembury on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November. The water that was produced was too cloudy (turbid) for the final disinfection process to have worked with absolute certainty, so the treated water did not meet the strict regulatory standards for consumption.
As a result, our systems picked this up and automatically shut down the treatment process, preventing non-compliant water from entering the public water supply. Initially, we expected the problem to be resolved quickly. However, it ultimately proved more complex to fix.
The water treatment works shutting down meant the level of compliant, treated water already in the network fell critically low across parts of Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas, and customers experienced loss of supply or low pressure.
We moved water around the network from other areas and used our fleet of tankers to try to keep as many customers in supply as possible. However, with Pembury Water Treatment Works off for an extended period, it was not possible to restore supplies to every household and business.
Due to the extended period customers had been without supply for, and the difficulties this was causing homes and businesses, on Wednesday 3 December we took the decision to restart Pembury Water Treatment Works and pump water to customers, with the instruction to boil it before drinking, preparing food, or washing dishes. This decision was made so customers could flush toilets and carry out other day-to-day tasks.
While the boil water notice has been in place, the water has been chemically safe. Our comprehensive water sampling to date has shown no bacteria has been detected in your area. The boil water notice has been in place as a precaution.
Raw (untreated) water treated at our Pembury Water Treatment Works is taken from springs and wells in the surrounding area. This water is then stored in a reservoir before being treated.
The water treatment process at Pembury has been consistently stable for a long period of time. However, for reasons we are continuing to investigate, the make-up of the raw water changed suddenly. It is very unusual for this to happen. It meant the way in which the raw water was treated had to change and we tested a variety of solutions and consulted with industry and supply chain experts to come up with the best resolution.
By Thursday 4 December the treatment process was adjusted successfully. This ensured that water produced in the process consistently met all regulatory standards.
Get more news from KentLive straight to your inbox for free HERE.
