And yesterday some 4,500 properties in the county were hit by the supply issues in Maidstone, and Bidborough near Tunbridge Wells
Kent water supply problems continue with burst water pipe and power cut blamed(Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
A burst water pipe in the early hours of today (Monday, January 19) is the latest incident in Kent’s South East Water crisis. Homes in Leeds Road in Langley, and Ashford Road in Harrietsham, both near Maidstone had little or no water from the early hours, due to the mains breaking.
Yesterday some 4,500 properties in the county were hit by the supply issues in Maidstone, and Bidborough near Tunbridge Wells. How many people are still without water has not yet been confirmed by South East Water.
KentLive contacted the water company first thing for an update into the crisis, which people had hoped was behind them after a 36-hour turning off of the water pumps at the end of last week, so tanks could refill properly.
The water company said early this morning, those in Leeds Road should get water back as soon as the repairs were done. While another burst water main on Sunday hit water supply for those in Ashford Road in Broomfield, also in Maidstone.
People were told just before 8am today (Monday), their water would be returning “in a controlled way” and they shouldn’t be waiting “too much longer”.
In the Bidborough area, exasperated customers still had only little water, or on-off water late last night, after a miserable week of no water.
South East Water said this was down to a power cut. Tankers have been used all week up until yesterday. The latest update from South East Water last night said water should be returning.
But while water might be flowing once more, the story isn’t over for SEW as MPs in Kent have called for its boss to resign, with Mike Martin MP for Tunbridge Wells, calling on the three owning companies of SEW to “sack the board”.
He told KentLive the water outage had moved out of the “crisis phase” and “once again into the accountability phase”. “And there are several irons in the fire,” he said, saying SEW was under investigation by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI); Ofwat; the Consumer Council for Water; and the environment secretary, who has called for its licence to be reviewed.
South East Water’s incident manager Matthew Dean said at 11.33am on Monday: “Water has now returned to the final 500 properties in the Harrietsham area after a leaking water main on Ashford Road was repaired last night. Our teams were recharging the network this morning after this repair and we now expect all customers to have water flowing as normal.
“As a precaution, a bottled water station is still in operation this morning at Mote Park Leisure Centre, Mote Park, Maidstone, ME15 7RN. In addition, a walk-in bottled water collection point is also open as a precaution at Harrietsham Village Hall, Church Road, Harrietsham, Maidstone ME17 1AP.”
South East Water has confirmed Bidborough’s water has also been restored.
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