Having no water is causing misery and threatening businesses, say Kent householders

People whose water supplies have been cut off say they are angry at water companies, desperate for updates and worried about their businesses collapsing.

Thousands of households in Kent experienced water cuts during the record-breaking heatwave, leaving them unable to relieve themselves, wash their hands, shower or wash their dishes.

Approximately 800 homes in the villages of Charing, Challock and Molash experienced power outages over the public holiday weekend.

Water cuts got worse on Thursday, with nearly 8,000 homes in the seaside town of Whitstable in north Kent having their water supplies cut off for 24 hours.

Cafes, bars and restaurants were forced to close at the start of the tourist season, raising fears for the future of businesses.

Queues formed at bottled water collection points in Whitstable and nearby Herne Bay, resulting in people taking time off work and long queues in traffic.

A doctor’s surgery in Herne Bay, where thousands of homes were hit, was forced to close and move appointments elsewhere. An entertainment center also had to close.

South East Water has warned around 6,500 customers in the town that it will experience intermittent supply again on Thursday.

Richard Torble, from Whitstable, said he had to queue for an hour to buy bottled water when he was supposed to be at work, and his 10-year-old son was desperate for a shower after a football camp in high temperatures.

He said: “Hundreds of cars were lined up and I saw an elderly gentleman walking down the two-way highway by himself carrying six bottles of three-litre water, which made a huge impact.

“But the problem isn’t so troubling that it’s absolutely terrible – it’s the appalling lack of communication from the water company.

“You’ll get a text message telling you to visit the website, but the website says, ‘You don’t have water.’ I know you don’t.

“Everybody’s asking, ‘When is it going to start again?’ he asks. and their answer was ‘We don’t know.’ People are in need of information.”

He said communication was poor during the last water outage. “You would think they would have learned, but obviously they didn’t,” he added.

“The town of Whitstable is full of cafes, bars and restaurants and they’re all closed; the whole high street is closed so they’re losing money hand over fist when they should be doing good business at this time of year.”

Mr Torble, a software developer, said fixing the problem showed a “lack of urgency” and that repeated water cuts were one of several problems in the UK that could one day prompt him to move abroad.

Another Whitstable resident, Julie Friel, said: “We can’t wash, we can’t drink. It’s totally unacceptable for this to happen in the first week of hot weather.”

The Old Neptune pub on Whitstable seaside was forced to turn away customers because it had no water or flush toilets.

Hosted by Darren Wilton he told KentOnline: “Unacceptable. We had a rainy winter. I remember February; it was raining every day. Where did all the water go? I’ll tell you where it went; they don’t fix all the leaks on the road.”

Labor councilors at Canterbury City Council called on the government to intervene, writing in a letter saying: “This situation is unacceptable in modern Britain and is causing serious hardship for families, elderly people, vulnerable people and local businesses.

“Lack of water supply also has major negative impacts on our farmers and rural communities, both in terms of animal welfare and agricultural productivity.”

They said South East Water needed to provide “a robust and robust infrastructure delivery plan outlining how they will address these issues in the short and long term”.

“The urgency of this cannot be overstated,” they added.

South East Water says exceptionally high temperatures have created very high demand.

It urges residents to use water “for essential purposes only” such as drinking, washing and cooking, as demand outstrips the rate at which water can be treated and pumped into homes. Homeowners are also asked to restrict children’s use of the paddling pool.

Incident manager Steve Benton apologized and said he expected water in Whitstable to return later on Thursday but it could be “intermittent throughout the weekend”.

South East Water’s director of customer services, Tanya Sephton, said they were truly sorry for the impact the situation had on residents and businesses and the company would compensate customers and businesses fairly.

“Our priority in the short term remains to reduce leakage. We spend more than £63 million a year finding and fixing leaks and assets across our network,” he said.

Water resources officer Nick Price said the raw springs were in a “healthy position” but added: “When a whole neighborhood uses water at the same time, water is withdrawn from local pipes so quickly that pressure drops. As a result, families at the far end of the network or on higher ground may find their taps running completely dry.”