Water has returned to thousands of properties today.
It comes as homes and businesses across Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Maidstone and Sevenoaks were left without stable supplies this week.
Around 6,500 properties in Tunbridge Wells that had been left without water have now had their supplies restored, says South East Water.
Incident Manager Matthew Dean said: “Some customers may be experiencing low pressure as the water levels continue to build this morning throughout the area’s pipeline network.
“Continuous supplies have been restored to the town after we implemented our recovery plan, which involved keeping local booster pumps switched off for 36 hours so our drinking water storage tank could fill.
“We are very sorry to every single one of our customers who have been affected. We know and understand how difficult going without water for such a long period of time is and how difficult it makes everyday life.”
Yesterday, a power outage also caused fresh supply issues for households across Tonbridge, Upper Haysden and Bidborough.
As a result, Tonbridge Grammar School was closed because of no water supply and had to reschedule mock International Baccalaureate (IB) exams for another day.
As of the evening, SEW said the issue, which was initially affecting 2,000 properties, had been resolved for about 1,000 properties.
Mr Dean said: “Tankers are continuing to inject water into the pipeline network in the Bidborough area to keep water flowing to 320 properties which are affected by low water levels within our drinking water storage tank in the area.
“Tankers are still being used to inject water into storage tanks across Kent to finalise balancing the network over the coming days.
“Our leak repair teams are working around the clock to fix the leaks and bursts across Kent and Sussex, with extra resources available to help carry out repairs.”
Though it seems supplies are finally returning to the affected areas, according to SEW’s works and outage site, customers in Detling, Maidstone and Bayleys Hill, Sevenoaks are with no or little pressure due to issues at its site, which means they are unable to pump the water.
Properties in Penshurst Road, Tonbridge, are also without supplies today due to a burst main.
In an update at 9.30am SEW said: “This is proving to be quite complex, and our teams continue to work today to resolve this.”
This afternoon, the utility company confirmed customers in Farmcombe Road, Tunbridge Wells may also be experiencing low water pressure due to a burst main.
And, flats at Calverey House in Tunbridge Wells are experiencing issues, but SEW says this area is supplied by private booster pumps.
Those affected are asked to report the issue to their management agency.
Some schools also remain closed today, including St. Peters CofE Primary School in Tunbridge Wells. To check for others, people are encouraged to visit their school’s website or use this Kent County Council link.
Bottled water sites will be open between 9am and 10pm in Tunbridge Wells at Odeon Cinema car park, Knights Way, TN2 3UW and RCP Car Park, Major York’s Road, TN2 5TP, as well as Sovereign Way Mid Car Park, Tonbridge, TN9 1RL.
SEW says it is continuing to deliver bottled water to vulnerable customers without supplies who are on its Priority Services Register – a free service you can register for here.
The full list of postal areas facing ongoing water interruption according to South East Water’s website includes Bayleys Hill in Sevenoaks, Bidborough, Tunbridge Wells, Penshurst Road in Tonbridge, Broader Lane in Detling, Sutton Road in Maidstone and Whitstable.
The latest developments comes after Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin called for South East Water’s owners to sack its leadership or risk losing their investments.
In a letter to stakeholders of the utility company he highlights how shareholders who have profited from “years of underinvestment” now risk the company being shut down by the government.
Mr Martin said “Enough is enough.
“Persistent attempts by me and my colleagues to raise our concerns about this failing company and its CEO with the Board have fallen on deaf ears.
“I am now appealing directly to SEW’s owners to sack its leadership and bring in a turnaround team who can restore our water supply.
“The government’s decision yesterday to begin the process to strip South East Water of its licence means they risk losing their entire investment unless they act now”.
Yesterday, water regulator Ofwat announced it had opened an investigation into SEW following the major water outage in Kent.
The watchdog will look at whether the utility company has complied with its obligation to provide high standards of customer service and support for users since widespread issues began in November.
Meanwhile, it was also revealed CEO of the utility company David Hinton is in line for a £400,000 bonus despite calls to resign over his terrible handling of the water chaos.
If the chief executive manages to hold on to his job until July 2030, he’ll be rewarded a staggering £400,000, regardless of his performance, due to a long-term “service award”.
The payment, which was disclosed in the company’s annual report, is not performance-related, meaning that as long as he remains, Hinton will receive it whatever the company’s record on water supplies or pollution, the Guardian reports.
