‘Bad chemical batch’ leaves 24,000 without water in UK town | UK | News
Nearly 24,000 customers left without water in one town City. South East Water (SEW) apologized after the incident Tunbridge Wells and the area surrounding it lost access to water or experienced low pressure.
The company estimated that the issue would be resolved by 6 a.m. on Monday, December 1. SEW’s Head of Operations Control, Matthew Dean, said a “bad mix of chemicals” caused the Pembury Water Treatment Works to stop working.
he said BBC A new batch of chemicals was received on Sunday, November 30th.
SEW incident manager Marc Sims told the broadcaster that the company knew of approximately 24,000 customers affected by the incident.
He said staff moved water around and “tankered” to the grid to bring supplies back.
Bottled water supply stations have been set up at Tunbridge Wells Sports Center in the town and at Sovereign Way East Car Park near Tonbridge.
Tunbridge Wells’ Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin wrote on X that he was one of those affected and was in contact with SEW’s managing director.
Mr Martin said he had told the CEO to open more bottled water stations because of concerns from local residents that the one in Tonbridge was not enough.
He wrote about X: “For those unaware, the problem comes from bad amounts of coagulant chemicals.
“A new range of chemicals has been supplied and the team has been working through the night to clean up the Pembury Treatment Works.”
Black Horse landlady Teresa Barrett said her bar had to close because it had been without water since midnight.
Ms Barrett said she could not afford to close given the current trading environment and the accommodation was losing an inordinate amount of money due to the disruption.
In an update published at 2.40pm on Sunday, SEW said it would close the bottled water station at Sovereign Way East Car Park for the winter festival and was considering relocating the station.
The company said: “We are very sorry to customers in the Tunbridge Wells area who had no water or low pressure this afternoon.”
South East Water said its staff were delivering bottled water to customers on the priority services list.
