Third day of water disruption in Kent and Sussex
Water supply problems in Kent and Sussex continued for a third day as temperatures continued to rise.
South East Water customers in three Kent villages – Charing, Challock and Molash – began facing outages on Saturday morning. The problems came to a head on Sunday, with nearly 800 homes affected.
The update, made just after 1pm on Monday, said water or pressure had been restored to three villages.
A water company spokesman had previously said it was struggling to pump water to higher elevations due to “increased demand for potable water in hot weather”.
Incident manager Steve Benton previously said the problems were thought to have affected around 250 homes, with further problems occurring in Broomfield Gate and Whitstable overnight.
In total, around 500 homes in Kent and East Sussex were thought to be affected.
Other villages across the city reportedly facing problems include Anvil Green, Waltham and Elmsted.
‘Demand has increased’
Challock resident Robert Frampton-Fell said the water cuts were “having a huge impact on life”.
“It’s not just about drinking water; the worst thing is having to use the toilet.”
he said BBC Radio City He did not think South East Water could solve the water supply problems facing the region.
“It seems to me that there hasn’t been the necessary reinvestment in what needs to be done,” he said.
Around 168 homes in Eastbourne, East Sussex, were also thought to be affected by the outages on Sunday afternoon.
Temperatures recorded in parts of Kent on Saturday made it the hottest day of the year so far, according to the Met Office.
Bottled water stations remain open in Challock for those affected.
Benton added: “As warm weather and increased demand for drinking water continues, we are working hard to maintain water supply to customers across our network.
“However, some customers in higher elevations may experience low water pressure or intermittent water supply during peak hours.”
[BBC]
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