We are pleased to confirm that drinking water has returned for all customers impacted by the water supply interruptions in Kent caused by exceptionally high demand in the period of hot weather.
However, we are aware of a burst on Millstrood Road in Whitstable which is causing some customers in the immediate area to lose supply or have low pressure. A technician will be on site shortly to assess and repair the burst.
This burst is also affecting The Whitstable School and our alternative water team has been in touch with them to establish a plan to fill their water tanks to make sure it can open as normal.
Across Kent there are still around 2,220 customers experiencing intermittent supplies while we continue to stabilise the network. However, we expect this number to drop throughout the day. Details of these areas can be found below.
Our network is continuing to recover, however levels of drinking water in our storage tanks across the region remain extremely low.
Despite the weather cooling, we are asking customers to use water for essential purposes only – drinking, cooking, and hygiene, to aid the recovery of levels in our drinking water storage tanks.
We are still using our fleet of tankers to support the network and aid recovery further.
We would like to say again how deeply sorry we are to our customers for any disruption to their water supply and know how frustrating it is, especially in the recent hot weather.
We know there are customers still experiencing intermittent issues with their water supply, and we apologise unreservedly for the inconvenience this continues to cause. This is not the service our customers expect, nor is it the service we aim to provide.
We have also had reports of our teams in Kent being subject to abuse and threats. This is unacceptable and we would urge you all to highlight this to your communities.
The latest situation
Drinking water has returned for all customers impacted by the water supply interruptions in Kent caused by exceptionally high demand following the period of hot weather.
Work to repair a burst water main in Millstrood Road, Whitstable will start shortly and we hope to see impacted customers return to supply soon.
Experiencing an intermittent supply
Currently, 2,220 customers are still experiencing an intermittent drinking water supply or low pressure. This means water may go on and off at peak times as our drinking water storage tanks continue to recover due to increased demand following the hot weather last week.
This means they may have no water or low pressure at peak demand times, particularly between 7am to 9am and 4pm to 7pm.
These are as follows:
Coxheath – Around 1,100 customers in the area may experience intermittent supplies this afternoon and evening.
Headcorn and Ulcombe areas – Around 1,120 customers will have intermittent supply, with those on higher ground most likely to be impacted.
We are continuing to deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register in areas without water or experiencing an intermittent supply throughout today.
Monitoring closely
In other parts of our supply region, customers on higher ground, or at the far end of our networks, may also have low pressure, no water or have an intermittent supply.
This is as a result of the low levels in our storage tanks following the exceptionally high demand for drinking water during the hot weather last week. This is likely to continue today.
For the areas which have experienced supply issues in recent days and have now had water supply restored, there is a risk of further supply interruptions. These are:
Whitstable, Herne Bay, and surrounding areas – Although supply has now been restored to these customers, due to the network still recovering, we are monitoring levels in our drinking water storage tanks closely. We are using our fleet of tankers to provide additional support to further aid recovery.
Wraik Hill – 611 customers in the Wraik Hill area of Whitstable are experiencing intermittent supplies
Loose – Although supply has now been restored to these customers, our network is still recovering and we are monitoring levels in our drinking water storage tanks closely.
Benenden – The majority of customers have had their supplies restored, however some may still be experiencing intermittent supplies, we also have a technician investigating localised issues.
Mereworth – Drinking water supplies have been restored, but as our network continues to return to normal, customers may experience intermittent supplies.
Kemsing – The majority of customers have had their supplies restored and we have a technician in the area investigating localised issues.
Supplies fully restored
As per our previous e-mail this afternoon, below are the areas which have been removed from our monitoring closely list, as supplies have now been fully restored:
Wittersham
Ashford
Charing, Challock and Molash
Hastingleigh, Brabourne and surrounding areas
Wrotham
Cranbrook
Phone lines today
We had a surge in call volumes this morning, but this reduced considerably throughout the day.
If any vulnerable customers need to contact us to request water, they should call us on 0800 952 4000.
What have we been doing?
In areas where there has been supply interruption – or where we believe issues may occur – we’re continuing to proactively deliver bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register.
We have delivered more than half a million litres of water to customers on our Priority Services Register and also delivered more than 365,000 litres of water to critical care settings such as care homes, GP surgeries, pharmacies, dentists and schools.
Additionally, we are continuing to support the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Herne Bay and an urgent care unit with a tanker. We’re also supporting Benenden Hospital.
We are also supporting those with livestock.
We will be opening all our bottled water stations at 9.00am this morning, and the following stations will be closing at Noon today:
Sainsbury’s Altira Business Park, 6 The Boulevard, Herne Bay, CT6 6GZ
Kavanagh Cinema, William Street, Herne Bay, CT6 5NX
YMCA, Melrose Close, Maidstone, ME15 6BD
Staplehurst Village Hall, High Street, Staplehurst TN12 0BJ (run by Staplehurst Emergency Independent Group)
We will be keeping the following water station open until 9.00pm due to the burst in Whitstable:
Sainsbury’s Reeves Way, Chestfield, Whitstable, CT5 3QS
These may change to reflect the current situation, please check the website for up-to-date information.
We have also set up eight small walk-in community hubs in areas across Kent to help residents in smaller areas have access to a supply of bottled water. These are not being publicised on our website as this could increase traffic to the villages they are in. However we do ask local councillors to inform local residents about these sites.
The following community hubs will be open all day:
Kemsing Village, High Street, Kemsing, Kent TN15 6LZ
Ulcome Village Hill, Headcorn Road, Maidstone ME17 1EB
Seasalter Christian Centre, Faversham Road CT5 4AX
These community hubs will be closed at 12:00pm due to returning supplies:
The Weald Sports Centre, Angley Road, Cranbrook TN17 2PN
Herne Village Hall, Herne Bay CT6 7HD
Headcorn Village Hall, Church Lane, Headcorn, Ashford TN27 9NR
Coxheath Village Hall, Stockett Lane, Coxheath, Maidstone ME17 4PT
The Moody Mare, 501 Seven Mile Lane, Maidstone, ME18 5Q
We will be assessing the need for these stations going forward, now that supplies have returned to almost all of our customers.
We planned for the hot weather by increasing output at our water treatment works across our supply area and putting extra water into the network. All our available water treatment works are currently working at full capacity.
We have also given out more than 1.1 million litres of water at our bottled water stations across Kent.
We have been working 24/7 with our fleet of tankers to support our network where demand has been extremely high. So far, we have tankered 2,998,181 litres of water into the network.
In addition we have had some leaks and bursts, while this is normal for a network of 9,000 miles of pipework and 6 million joints, we have increased our teams who are out finding and fixing leaks.
Further advice
Bogus letters and notices
We’re aware that there are a number of letters and notices being placed on social media and through letterboxes pretending to be from South East Water which are providing incorrect information.
To be clear, these notices are not from South East Water or Southern Water. Please ignore them. Customers should only follow information which is placed on our website and social media channels.
Schools
We have been delivering water to schools in affected areas today to ensure they have opened as planned. We continue to work closely with all schools in the impacted areas.
We are continuing to work closely with Kent County Council to ensure schools in areas affected by water supply interruptions are open.
Customers can find FAQs, covering questions such as using bottled water for washing and cleaning, details of bottled water stations and information about locations currently experiencing supply issues via our website.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused and can reassure customers our teams are out working hard to resolve these issues as quickly as we can.
Compensation
We are truly sorry for the impact this situation has had on residents and businesses in parts of Kent and Sussex where there have been water supply issues during the hot weather over the past week.
We abide by our Guaranteed Standards of Service (GSS) and we are fully committed to compensating our customers and businesses fairly for this disruption. We want to ensure that every single customer and business receives exactly what they are entitled to. Customers and businesses can view and download the up-to-date GSS guidance here.
For business customers, any compensation that is paid by South East Water will go to their water retailer. It is the retailer’s responsibility to apply this to their account.
Water reduction
Although the weather is cooling this week, while our system recovers we’re continuing to encourage customers to:
Stop using jet washes, hosepipes and sprinklers. Swap paddling pools for water blasters to keep kids cool and the car and patio can wait for a wash.
Think about where you can swap tap water for recycled water. Reuse water from baths, showers and sinks in the garden.
Act now, please do all you can to cut down on everything but essential water use, which is drinking, cooking and hygiene.
Once again, we are sorry to customers who have had interruptions or low pressure in their water supply. We will continue to do all we can to prevent and resolve the issues.