A power outage has caused more water problems in Kent.
This morning, South East Water confirmed thousands of people were still without water after an electrical fault caused an issue for villages near Tunbridge Wells and in Ulcombe and Loddington Lane, Maidstone.
The ‘courtesy water collection point’ at Mote Park Leisure Centre
Now, a power outage is causing problems in Tenterden and pressure issues at a site is leaving those in Cranbrook with little to no water.
A spokesman said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and reassure customers that we are working hard to fix the issue as quickly as possible.”
This comes after 4,500 people living in Headcorn, Kingswood, Coxheath, Harrietsham and the surrounding villages woke up to low or no water at all this morning.
More water stations are being set up as the issues continue
It is hoped the supplies will return today.
South East Water’s Incident Manager, Matthew Dean, said: “We’re sorry to customers currently impacted by the water supply interruptions across our network in Kent.
“An electrical fault at a treatment works has caused water supply issues in several villages around Maidstone, and is affecting around 4,500 properties. We have resolved this issue, and are refilling the pipes slowly and carefully.
Bottled water stations opened at 9am at:
Mote Park Leisure Centre, Mote Park, Maidstone, ME15 7RN
Headcorn Aerodrome, Shenley Rd, Ashford TN27 9HX
Thousands of people are now again relying on bottled water
A walk-in bottled water collection point is available at:
Harrietsham Village Hall, Church Road, Harrietsham, Maidstone ME17 1AP
Meanwhile, another 320 people are having water problems in Bidborough and will have to wait until tomorrow for it to be restored.
Mr Dean added: “We also have around 320 properties in the Bidborough area of Tunbridge Wells currently with intermittent supplies and low pressure. We expect supplies here to return to normal tomorrow morning (Monday 19 January).
A walk-in bottled water collection point is available at:
Bidborough Village Hall, Bidborough Ride, Bidborough, TN3 0XD (walk in local community hub)
A bottled water station at Mote Park Leisure Centre, in Mote Park, Maidstone
The issue would not normally cause an interruption, but they admitted lower-than-normal storage levels, following what it describes as a high number of leaks and bursts in recent days, mean supplies cannot be maintained.
Yesterday, KentOnline spoke to angry customers who had arrived at the water station at Maidstone Leisure Centre in Maidstone.
Taxi driver Ruben Syed, from Harrietsham, believes the boss of South East Water should lose his job
Taxi driver Ruben Syed, from Harrietsham, lost his water supply at 1.30pm. It also went off last Saturday.
He was at the station collecting for himself and two neighbours, aged 71 and 74.
“It’s very difficult for me, but especially for them. This shouldn’t keep happening,” he told KentOnline.
“The boss of South East Water should jolly well lose his job.”
The continuing disruption has intensified calls for accountability at the top of South East Water, with pressure now coming from both politicians and regulators.
Kent MPs Helen Whately, Helen Grant, Rosie Duffield, and Mims Davies have all called for the CEO of South East Water, David Hinton, to resign.
MPs Mims Davies, Rosie Duffield, Helen Whately and Helen Grant have called for South East Water boss David Hinton to resign
Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin has called on the company’s owners to sack its leadership or risk losing their investments altogether.
The intervention came a day after regulator Ofwat confirmed it had opened an investigation into South East Water following the major outages in Kent.
The watchdog said it would examine whether the company has met its obligation to provide high standards of customer service and support since widespread problems began in November.
Meanwhile, further anger has been fuelled by revelations that under-fire Mr Hinton is in line for a £400,000 bonus despite growing calls for him to resign over the handling of the crisis.
If he remains in post until July 2030, he will receive the payment under a long-term “service award”, regardless of performance.
Two further water bottle stations have opened this evening – the one at Mote Park Leisure Centre in Mote Park, Maidstone, ME15 7RN, and at Headcorn Aerodrome, Shenley Road, Headcorn, TN27 9HX. They will stay open until 10pm.