Water finally restored to some of 30,000 customers hit by week of disruption
Water supplies have largely been restored to homes in Kent and Sussex, ending almost a week of disruption.
South East Water (SEW) blamed the outage, which started last Saturday, on burst pipes and power outages caused by Storm Goretti. During the peak period, 30,000 customers in two counties were without water or experienced low pressure.
The beleaguered utility has faced intense criticism from MPs and the public, particularly as this incident follows a similar incident in Tunbridge Wells last month, when 24,000 people were left without drinking water for two weeks.
On Friday, SEW’s incident manager Mathew Dean said: “Water supplies to 6,500 properties in the Tunbridge Wells area have now been restored.
“Some customers may be experiencing low pressure this morning as water levels continue to rise along the pipeline network in the area.
“Continuous water supply to the town was restored after implementing our recovery plan, which included shutting off local booster pumps for 36 hours so that our drinking water storage tank could be filled.
“We are very sorry to all our customers affected.
“We know and understand how difficult it is to be without water for such a long time and how difficult it makes daily life.”
Ofwat announced on Thursday that it had launched an investigation into whether the supplier breached its license terms by failing to comply with its customer service standards obligations and provide appropriate support to affected customers during supply disruptions.
If the regulator decides that South East Water (SEW) has breached the conditions and its license should be cancelled, the supplier may remain subject to a special administration regime until a new buyer is found.
If Ofwat finds that the supplier is in breach but does not revoke the licence, penalties can include fines of up to 10% of the firm’s annual turnover.
Around 320 properties in Bidborough are still affected by low water levels so tankers are being used to assist the area.
The company said its bottled water facilities in Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Bidborough would remain open today “as a precaution”.
