South East Water says supply back at ‘final 500 properties’ in Kent after Sunday’s outage

Despite the return of water, tankers are still being used to pump water into storage tanks across Kent

South East Water said the “final 500 homes” have water restored after Sunday’s outage due to a leaking water main. It said customers in the village of Harrietsham should have water “flowing as normal” after the leak in Ashford Road was repaired last night.

But as a precaution, two bottle water stations remained this morning. The water company confirmed to KentLive earlier today that Bidborough village also had its water restored.

Yesterday some 4,500 properties in Kent were hit by supply issues in Maidstone, and Bidborough, which is near Tunbridge Wells, where exasperated customers have been affected since last Monday (January 12). Last night, they had only little water, or on-off water, due to a power cut, said South East Water. It was returned this morning in a controlled way to protect the pipes.

Tankers are still being used to pump water into storage tanks across Kent in order to “continue balancing the network”. While leak repair teams are still “working around the clock” to fix leaks and bursts of pipes. South East Water said it was putting extra resources into repair work.

And in a message that will be only too familiar to many customers across Kent, the water company again shared information about water discolouration, with incident manager Matthew Dean saying: “For customers who have experienced no water, as tap water returns to their taps, it’s common for water to look cloudy or brown.”

“Discolouration is caused by naturally occurring iron and manganese deposits in our pipes. These deposits are harmless, but they can sometimes get stirred up when there’s a change in water pressure, like after a burst pipe or supply interruption. If water is discoloured, run your cold tap until it runs clear. It’s then safe to use for drinking, washing, and cooking.”

As we reported, Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin has accused South East Water of acting “like a bit of a gangster” as tens of thousands of homes across Kent and Sussex were left without water. The MP told KentLive he had written to the company’s investors, warning them their reputations and investments were at risk unless the board intervened to resolve repeated outages.

KentLive has contacted South East Water about Mr Martin’s comments. The company has previously said of chief executive Mr Hinton: “David Hinton, chief executive, remains committed to resolving the immediate issues facing customers in both Kent and Sussex, whilst continuing to seek to obtain the investment to deliver the much needed improvements in resilience to the South East Water network, detailed in the company’s business plan.”

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