Major incident is declared in Kent and Sussex as thousands of homes are left without water
- Does your house have no water? Email Freya.barnes@dailymail.co.uk
A major incident has been declared in Kent and Sussex, with thousands of homes still without water due to intermittent water supply or low pressure.
According to South East Water’s (SEW) website, 10 postcodes in the East Grinstead, Frant and Tunbridge Wells areas are still experiencing problems after the problems began last week.
About 30,000 homes were affected, the company said in its latest statement on Sunday afternoon.
Some customers were warned that their water supply would not be restored until Tuesday.
SEW blamed the problems at East Grinstead on Storm Goretti, which it said affected its ability to treat raw water at the normal rate, and burst pipes caused by freezing weather.
He said the problems in Eastbourne were caused by ‘fundamental network changes’ and blamed the outages in Hollingbourne on the ‘inability of neighboring water companies to supply us with bulk treated water as they normally do’.
He said leak repair teams are working around the clock to fix leaks and bursts in the two counties, and extra resources have been allocated to help carry out repairs.
SEW apologized to customers who spoke about road congestion when approaching bottled water stations.
A worker distributes bottled water at Tunbridge Wells Sports Center on December 3
Motorists queue to collect water at the Upper Pantiles car park in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on December 1
A woman collects bottled water from the Upper Pantiles car park in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on December 1
Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said in a post on
Bottled water collection points have been set up for affected households at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club, Headcorn Aerodrome, East Grinstead Sports Club and Queensway Car Park.
Footage shows long queues of vehicles where people wait for hours to collect bottled water.
Meanwhile, many schools in Kent and Sussex were forced to close for the day and the town’s Queen Victoria Hospital had to hold some appointments virtually.
Mike Martin, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, told the BBC that the chairman of South East Water ‘needs to call the board together and figure out what’s going on’.
He said we are in a ‘strange situation’ where water is privatized and no one is held accountable.
In a Facebook post last night, Maidstone and Malling Conservative MP Helen Grant said: ‘I have just finished a meeting with DEFRA Ministers, MPs and South East Water (SEW) and frankly I am absolutely appalled by SEW’s response to this urgent crisis.
‘I put forward the need for bottled water stations to be installed in Loose, Kings Hill and Mallings. I have been told that a water station has been installed for Loose and details will be announced this afternoon, and that a station for West Malling is currently being considered by DEFRA.
‘I was told the root causes had been fixed, but no definitive timeline was provided.
‘SEW has stated that supply could return to Loose overnight, but this remains uncertain. I also hear that materials are starting to be repaired again in the West Malling area.
DEFRA Minister, Mary Creagh MP, has made clear that SEW’s communication is completely unacceptable and has instructed them to publish updates at least every two hours by midnight tonight.
‘My priority is to ensure vulnerable residents have water and that water is restored as quickly as possible. I will be attending another meeting this evening and will share updates as soon as I receive them.’
