Water restored after weekend issues, company says

Water has returned to customers after about 7,000 properties were hit with supply issues over the weekend because of failure at a treatment works, South East Water (SEW) says.

Parts of Tunbridge Wells and Pembury in Kent were affected shortly before 10:00 BST on Saturday, and just before 22:00 BST on Sunday SEW said supplies had been restored.

"We are genuinely sorry for the low pressure, intermittent supply, or lack of water recently experienced," the company said. "This is not the standard of service our customers deserve."

In November, 24,000 SEW customers lost supply or pressure in the area before about 30,000 homes in Kent and Sussex faced supply issues just weeks later.

Customers were advised during the issues in 2025 to boil their water before consumption for a nine-day period after supplies returned.

SEW bosses then blamed the following string of issues on freezing temperatures and Storm Goretti, while the most recent problems were because of a temporary instrument failure at the Tunbridge Wells water treatment works, the company said.

Three bottled water stations had been set up in the area to help those impacted during the weekend.

Customers were told as water returned it could look discoloured, but SEW said this was due to "harmless, naturally occurring iron and manganese deposits stirred up by pressure changes".

Those with discoloured water were advised to run their cold tap until it runs clear.

Tunbridge Wells resident Anthony Tappenden, who was without water over the weekend, said it was "diabolical".

"It's back on again now but I have no confidence in the company," he added.

Alison Pitman said her home in Tunbridge Wells was also without water from Saturday morning until Sunday evening.

"It's affecting the same households again," she explained.

Charlotte Evans added: "You don't expect this sort of thing to happen in this day and age but we've managed to get by."

SEW said: "On Saturday morning, we encountered an instrument failure at our water treatment works in the Tunbridge Wells area.

"Coupled with prolonged extremely high demand for water during the extended heatwave, it caused our drinking water storage levels to fall to very low levels.

"Throughout Sunday afternoon and evening, we recharged our network to restore water to around 7,000 properties in the area - a process which has to be done carefully to reduce the risk of bursts or leaks occurring due to the change in pressure.

"We're also still using tankers to increase drinking water storage levels to help with the return of supplies."

SEW was ordered earlier in July to spend £30.5m on improvements after investigations by industry watchdog Ofwat.

The firm warned in its annual report it needed to secure fresh financing to stay afloat after taking a £55m hit from outages over the winter.

The water supplier to about 2.3 million customers in the south-east of England, it said it was in discussions with lenders to agree a new loan facility.

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.