Water Crisis Continues

Pressure is growing for South East Water to be stripped of it's licence as the water crisis continues.

South East Water have admitted their plan to increase the amount of water in the local storage tank, that serves the south of Tunbridge Wells, parts of Pembury and surrounding areas including Frant, has not worked as quickly as they thought. They had expected the system to be stable by Tuesday, however, the refill is happening slower than they had hoped due to wider issues and further supply interruptions across their Kent and Sussex networks.

They have now developed a new plan that will allow them to refill the storage tank to a much higher level. This will mean keeping the booster pumps off for a further 36 hours. This is so they can work to increase the levels to a point where customers have a consistent water supply from Friday morning.

The company is now delivering water to the door of 6000 homes in the affected area in the south of Tunbridge Wells. They are launching a major operation to deliver supplies directly to every affected home. They will be delivering bottled drinking water to your household. Deliveries will take place from Wednesday evening and overnight into Thursday. Customers do not need to be at home to receive this; they will leave it on your doorstep. If they can't access your front door (e.g., gated communities or blocks of flats), they will leave the delivery in the safest accessible place.

If you have told the company you are unable to physically move heavy bottles of water, they will ensure their Customer Care Team is in the area on Thursday morning to assist bringing it inside for you. You can also call them on 0800 952 4000 from 8am if you need support with this.

Toilet flushing grab bags are also being delivered to every home. Please do not drink the water that is provided in the grab bags. These are heavy duty bags with non-drinking water inside to use for flushing your toilet. They will be delivered full. You can refill these with non-drinking water from your garden water butts, ponds or other external sources, and pour them into your toilet bowl or cistern to flush it. Please do not drink water from these grab bags.

Deliveries have started immediately (you may have already received yours). If you need more bottled water, the bottled water stations remain open 9am to 10pm during this ongoing incident. South East Water are doing everything they can to keep them fully stocked. They are at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club, St. Marks Recreation Ground, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5LS and Odeon Cinema car park, Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 3UW - A Third bottled water station has now been set up at Sovereign Way Car Park in Tonbridge.

For customers in other parts of Tunbridge Wells and nearby villages including Langton and Speldhurst, South East Water says that the majority of customers now have water however those on higher ground may have intermittent supply at peak times when more water is being used. The company is sorry if you are being affected but claim they are working as quickly as we can to stabilise the network.

There are 2 bottled water stations which are open on Thursday at St. Marks Recreation Ground, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5LS and in the Car Park at Odeon Cinema, Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW.

For customers in the South Tonbridge and Bidborough area the news is not so good as the company is currently unable to pump the water due to a power outage and low levels at the reservoir. The company says they are working hard to fix the issues as quickly as possible using tankers to support the areas recovery. A bottled water station has been opened at Sovereign Way Car Park in Tonbridge

Customers in impacted areas who are on the Priority Services Register are having bottled water delivered to them by the Customer Care Team.

For further information you can visit: https://www.southeastwater.co.uk/help/works-and-outages/

Meanwhile Mike Martin the local MP for Tunbridge Wells has been visiting the bottled water station at the Rugby Club along with the Secretary of State, she’s said she will ask Ofwat to assess whether SE Water have breached their licence. Which could lead to a fine or potentially having their licence removed.

UPDATE - FRIDAY 16TH

South East Water are very pleased to confirm that water has returned overnight to the affected properties in the area. Some customers may be experiencing low pressure as the water levels continue to build this morning throughout the area's pipeline network. They are very sorry to every single one of their customers who have been affected.

SEW know and understand how difficult going without water for such a long period of time is and how difficult it makes everyday life. As water is returning to properties, customers may see some discolouration in their water. The discolouration is caused by naturally occurring iron and manganese deposits in our pipes. These deposits are harmless, but they can sometimes get stirred up when there's a change in water pressure, like after a supply interruption. This can make the water look cloudy or brown. If water is discoloured, we recommend you run the cold tap until it runs clear before you use it.

As a precautionary measure, just whilst the network settles and returns to normal, they are reopening the bottled water stations from 9am today. These are located at: Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club, St. Marks Recreation Ground, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5LS, Odeon Cinema, Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW and RCP Car park - Major York's Rd, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5TP

Residents in Bidborough may still be suffering a loss of water or low pressure and bottled water is available from Bidborough Village Hall (Walk-in only), Bidborough Ridge, Tunbridge Wells, TN3 0XD