South East Water has warned approximately 6,000 customers in the town of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, that widespread water supply issues and low pressure, which began on Saturday, are not expected to be fully resolved until 18:00 GMT on Sunday. The mass disruption stemmed from a failure at the Pembury Water Treatment Works, which ceased operations due to a "bad chemical batch" (a coagulant). The company had initially estimated the problem would be fixed by 06:00 Sunday, but the timeline was pushed back. Matthew Dean, head of operations control at South East Water, confirmed that a new batch of the chemical had been received on Sunday, reports The WP Times with reference to BBC.
South East Water apologized to those affected and stated it was conducting flow and pressure testing to ascertain the exact number of consumers still experiencing outages. The company emphasized that it had diverted water from other network areas to maintain supply to as many customers as possible. Importantly, any water currently in the supply system is safe and does not require boiling. To mitigate the crisis, bottled water stations were opened: one on Sovereign Road in Tonbridge and a second, opened Sunday, at the Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre on St John's Road.
Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin, who was also without water, confirmed he had spoken to the South East Water CEO and that crews were working through the night to clean out the treatment works. Local resident Nicola Hodgson criticized the decision to open the first water station in "an entirely different town," noting that her family, including two young children (aged five and seven), had been forced to relocate to their grandmother's house to access drinking water and working toilets.
Teresa Barrett, landlady of The Black Horse pub on Camden Road, reported the establishment had been without running water since midnight, making it illegal to open. She described the loss of a day’s trading as "extremely damaging" for the hospitality business in the current economic climate, particularly stressing the impact on staff wages despite the closure.
Read about the life of Westminster and Pimlico district, London and the world. 24/7 news with fresh and useful updates on culture, business, technology and city life: UK Immigration Shake-up Risks Betraying Hong Kong Refugees, Warns Exiled Politician Nathan Law
Photo: BBC