South East Water supply disruption hits thousands of properties in Kent

Thousands of homes and businesses in Kent are grappling with water supply issues for a second consecutive day, with some areas experiencing a complete lack of water. South East Water (SEW) reported that approximately 7,000 properties in the Tunbridge Wells area are facing low pressure, intermittent supply, or no water following an "instrument failure" at a local treatment works. The company stated Sunday morning that it was "on target" for supplies to resume that evening, at the earliest, and offered apologies to those affected. Bottled water stations were operational for a second day in Tunbridge Wells. SEW incident manager Steve Benton expressed sincere apologies, acknowledging the disruption is not the standard of service they aim to provide. He noted that while water levels in storage tanks are improving, they need to reach a higher level to ensure a stable and continuous flow once restored. The company is utilizing tankers to boost drinking water storage and delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers. This incident occurs as SEW faces financial challenges, having warned of "material uncertainty" over its survival after significant financial hits from previous outages and a substantial penalty from regulators.

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We are genuinely sorry to all customers currently experiencing low pressure, intermittent supply, or a complete lack of water today (Sunday 19 July). This is not the service we aim to provide, and is not the service our customers deserve.