Kent water disruption posing 'hygiene risks'
BBCResidents have expressed anger as thousands of homes in Kent experience water supply disruption for a second day.
South East Water (SEW) said on Saturday parts of the Tonbridge area had no water or low pressure after a "large pipe" burst on Shipbourne Road, which caused water to gush out onto the street.
It said on Sunday afternoon that some 2,500 homes were impacted, down from 7,600 at the peak.
Ted Barker, who has been affected by the outage, described SEW's communication as "slow, poor, brief and [with] no detailed information.
"We are unable to use our toilets," he told the BBC. "We can't shower, and it is now posing hygiene risks.
"We can't even wash our hands," Barker continued.
SEW incident manager, Rob Hall, apologised to those impacted.
He added: "We're anticipating supplies for the remaining affected properties will return tomorrow morning, about "breakfast time".
"I fully understand how frustrating this ongoing disruption is, and I want to reassure the community that our teams are working as quickly and safely as possible."
There were further "ongoing interruptions" in other parts of Kent, including Maidstone and Sevenoaks, and in Wadhurst, in East Sussex.
The issues come amid a period of prolonged hot and dry weather, alongside a hosepipe ban for 2.4 million SEW customers.
The firm earlier this week urged people across Kent and Sussex to not use water other than when necessary, as there was a shortage of supplies.
SEW said repairs in Tonbridge had proved complex due to an overnight equipment failure and the presence of high-voltage electrical cables near the burst main.
It added that supplies had been restored to around 320 properties in Bidborough, which experienced interruptions earlier on Sunday.
However, residents in 1,812 properties in Bidborough have been warned supplies could drop at about 21:00 BST on Sunday evening due to low supply in the drinking storage water tank.
The tanker will be topped up overnight to ensure supply is back in the morning, said SEW.
Two bottled water stations have been set up at Sovereign Way East Car Park and Tonbridge Farm Sports Centre.
They were both open from 07:00 BST on Sunday.
The water company added that all 2,564 properties without water in Tonbridge are receiving bottled water deliveries directly to their door and all customers listed on the company's priority services register in Bidborough are also receiving deliveries.
SEW has come under fire in recent months after multiple water supply failures in Kent and Sussex.
Some 24,000 SEW customers had no water supply or low pressure between November and December - just weeks later up to 30,000 households faced days of water misery.
Recent data from the watchdog Ofwat found SEW was wasting more than 100 million litres of water per day through leakages.
The firm's new boss John Halsall has said he faces a "huge challenge" in improving SEW's performance and reputation.
He took over from David Hinton, who earned £400,000 and was awarded a £115,000 bonus in 2024.
Ofwat also recently proposed fining the firm £22m over issues affecting 286,000 people in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023.
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