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Water shortages in Tunbridge Wells that have forced schools and businesses to close look likely to continue for at least another day after the local water company said the problem with its plant had reoccurred.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has said it will investigate.
Thousands of homes in the Kent town have been without water since the weekend after South East Water accidentally added the wrong chemicals to the tap water supply.
Schools across the area have been shut, and residents have been filling buckets with rainwater to flush toilets. Cats, dogs and guinea pigs have been given bottled mineral water to drink as the people of Tunbridge Wells wait for their water to be switched back on. About 18,000 homes are without water.
The water company mistakenly used a bad batch of coagulant chemicals at its Pembury treatment site, meaning it had to be closed down to clean out the pipes. The site is up and running again.
Bottled water stations are open around Tunbridge Wells as the water company scrambles to ensure no one runs out. Elderly people have reported having difficulties reaching these stations and having to rely on neighbours as the water company has not managed to do home deliveries.
Mike Martin, the local Liberal Democrat MP, has called for the head of South East Water to quit: “I am calling on David Hinton, the CEO of South East Water, to resign. Twenty-four thousand properties have endured three days of South East Water’s chaotic emergency response and woeful communication. It’s an utter disgrace and a total failure of leadership by David Hinton.”
He said restaurants and hotels had lost thousands in revenue as they were forced to shut, GP surgeries had to close and care homes were left without water.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday: “We’re very sorry to customers in Tunbridge Wells who are continuing to experience issues with their water supply, including low pressure and no water.
Whilst in the process of slowly recharging the network with water today, we saw a recurrence of the water quality issue that caused the initial water treatment shutdown. As a result of this, we are not going to be able to restore all the water supplies that we had hoped to today. We are incredibly sorry that this has happened.”
A DWI spokesperson said: “The inspectorate is aware of an ongoing incident in the Tunbridge Wells area. The company is taking steps to return supplies to normal. The inspectorate is investigating the event, to understand the cause and to make sure the company puts measures in place to protect consumers and prevent recurrence.”
One Tunbridge Wells resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had witnessed physical fights breaking out in the local Asda over water supplies.
Maria, 35, was at the RCP Parking water distribution site with her one-year-old child and said she had not had water since Saturday. “I think people just aren’t really optimistic about what’s happening or when it’s going to get fixed or how it’s going to get fixed. I think South East Water could have done a better job with the messaging, just because there’s been a lot of false hope. And I think people would rather have reality rather than false hope, because it just lets you down that much more.
“The water was supposed to be back Sunday morning, then Sunday night, Monday morning, then Monday afternoon, then no messages, then it was supposed to be on this morning.”
The government said the disruption was “unacceptable”. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We are in regular contact with South East Water on the disruption to water supplies in Tunbridge Wells, and Defra officials are working closely with the company to ensure support is in place for those affected. Steps are being taken to resolve the incident as quickly as possible.
“This kind of disruption is unacceptable and we expect the water company to continue taking urgent steps to support residents and resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
South East Water’s incident manager, Matthew Dean, said: “The number of properties currently without water is around 18,000. As water supplies return, customers may experience discolouration. This is normal and happens when naturally occurring deposits, which settle and build up within our network of water mains over time, are disturbed.
“Our Pembury treatment site is now up and running after it stopped working on Saturday night due to a water quality issue.”
