Around 24,000 customers have been left without water in a town in Kent. South East Water (SEW) apologised after people in Tunbridge Wells and an area surrounding it lost access to water or experienced low pressure.
The company estimated it would have the issue fixed by 6am on Monday (December 1). Matthew Dean, SEW’s Head of Operations Control, said a “bad chemical batch” had caused Pembury Water Treatment Works to stop working.
He told the BBC a new batch of the chemical had been received on Sunday (November 30).
SEW incident manager, Marc Sims, told the broadcaster the company knew of about 24,000 customers affected by the incident.
He said staff were moving water around and “tankering” into the network to bring supplies back.
Stations to supply bottled water were set up in Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre in the town and at Sovereign Way East Car Park in nearby Tonbridge.
Tunbridge Wells’ Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin wrote on X that he was one of those affected and he was in touch with SEW’s chief executive.
Mr Martin said he had told the CEO to open more bottled water stations amid concerns form locals that one in Tonbridge wasn’t enough.
He wrote on X: “For those who are not aware, the problem has been caused by a bad batch of coagulant chemicals.
“A new set of chemicals have been procured and the team have been working through the night to clean out Pembury Treatment Works.”
Teresa Barrett, landlady of the Black Horse, said she had to close as her pub was without water since midnight.
Ms Barrett said she couldn’t afford to be closed given the current trading environment and hospitality was losing an extreme amount of money because of the disruption.
In an update issued at 2.40pm on Sunday, SEW said it would close the bottled water station at Sovereign Way East Car Park due to a winter festival and it was looking to relocate the station.
The company said: “We are very sorry to customers in the Tunbridge Wells area who have no water or low pressure this afternoon.”
South East Water said its staff were delivering bottled water to customers on its priority services register.
