Nearly 2,000 homes are experiencing little or no water due to a technical issue at a treatment works.
Those living in the Lamberhurst and Horsmonden areas are being impacted by the outage, with South East Water (SEW) carrying out “unexpected” emergency repairs.
The water company says it is has been experiencing a technical issue at at its Bewl Water Treatment Works since around 4am.
This has meant that water levels within its drinking water storage tank which serves part of the Horsmonden and Lamberhurst area has dropped to a low level.
As a result, people living in these areas are experiencing no water or low water pressure.
SEW says it has a team “working hard” to get the site operating again as soon as possible.
In an update at 7.22am, it added: “To restore supplies to as many properties as we can, we will soon be changing the way water flows through the area’s pipeline network.
“It is normal to see some slight discolouration in the water that comes out of the taps after this process takes place.
“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, customers should run their cold tap until it runs clear.”
At around 8.45am, SEW’s head of water supply in Kent, Nick Bell added: “Drinking water supplies are being restored to the 1,700 properties in the Horsmonden and Lamberhurst areas which experienced low pressure or no water earlier this morning.
“It’s after a technical failure at our Bewl Water Treatment Works resulted in the drinking water storage tank which serves the area dropping to a low level.
“Our teams are working tirelessly to bring our customers back in supply and we expect all supplies to be restored by mid-morning today. We are very sorry to all our customers who have been affected.”
The Tunbridge Wells MP, Mike Martin, says he is aware of the outages and is seeking further information from SEW.
It comes after 24,000 households in Tunbridge Wells were left without access to drinking water for 14 days after problems started at Pembury Treatment Works on November 29.
Then, less than a month later, on January 6, a second major water outage began, lasting until January 16, when water was finally restored to the remaining 6,500 properties that had been affected.
