The leader of a water company should be “moved on”, MPs have said, after about 30,000 homes across Sussex and Kent were hit by water shortages, resulting in Kent County Council declaring a “major incident”.
Ten postcodes, including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone, are still experiencing issues following a weekend of disruption, according to alerts issued by the water company.
South East Water has said a number of issues are to blame for the water pressure problems, including the fallout from Storm Goretti, burst water mains and a power cut at its pumping plant.
The water company explained the storm had affected its ability to treat water at the normal rate, and this, coupled with an outbreak of burst water mains due to freezing conditions across Kent and Sussex, has caused drinking water levels to run low.
But ministers from across the impacted area have called for the government to remove the company’s chief executive, David Hinton, from his post.
Mims Davies, Conservative MP for East Grinstead, Uckfield and the Villages, who brought the issue to the House, said water bottle stations had been “poorly organised”.
She added: “With multiple and repeated South East Water serious failings in just the last five years, does the minister agree with me this water company needs urgent new leadership capable of properly addressing emergency situations?”
Water minister Emma Hardy did not offer any support for SEW’s chief executive, saying the situation at the company “beggars belief”. “She’s quite right in also raising problems around this company,” she said.
Some customers have been told their supply may not return until Tuesday, and bottled water stations were due to close on Monday night. They were located at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club (TN2 5LS), Headcorn Aerodrome (TN27 9HX), East Grinstead Sports Club (RH19 4JU) and Queensway Car Park (RH19 1BG).
In a post on X/Twitter, Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: “A major incident has now been declared in Kent on the basis that more households and settings have been impacted in the last 24 hrs and because we are putting additional arrangements in place to prepare for further potential disruption.”
The water supply issues have affected several schools in Kent and Sussex, along with public libraries in East Grinstead, which have also closed for the day.
The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has also been forced to carry out some appointments virtually. Water tankers are delivering extra supplies, and measures are being taken to ensure essential services at the hospital continue.
A spokesperson said: “The safety and wellbeing of our patients and staff remains our priority. Since Saturday we have had a water tanker onsite to maintain our supply and our teams are working tirelessly behind the scenes to minimise any disruption to care.
“We have been able to continue our essential services and continue to review the situation whilst the water issues remain. We would like to assure patients that appointments and surgeries are still taking place and should anything need to change we will contact you.”
“Our drinking water storage tanks across the counties are running low following an outbreak of leaks and burst water mains after the recent cold weather,” South East Water said in a post on Facebook.
“As a result, around 30,000 properties across parts of Kent and Sussex may be experiencing no water, intermittent supply or low pressure.
“This includes 16,500 properties in East Grinstead, with the remainder spread across parts of Kent, including Tunbridge Wells, Headcorn and intermittently across our Maidstone system.
“We’re sorry for the impact caused by this and know how disruptive it is to your daily lives. We’re doing all we can to try and balance our network and restore supplies to as many customers as possible.”
It comes after 24,000 customers across Tunbridge Wells, Pembury, Frant and Eridge experienced a loss of water or low pressure in December following “water quality issues”.
South East Water incident manager Steve Andrews apologised to customers and said the company’s focus was on “returning supplies to our customers as soon as possible”.
