South East Water is continuing to urge customers not to fill paddling pools, wash cars or water gardens as 12,000 homes across Kent remain without supplies after days of disruption.
Some households have now gone up to four days without running water, while businesses have been forced to close during what many expected to be a bumper week for trade.
Queues on Altira Business Park in Herne Bay as drivers try to access a water bottle station
The crisis, said to have been triggered by soaring demand during the recent heatwave, has sparked fresh questions over the water company’s ability to cope with periods of extreme weather and growing pressure on the network.
Why did the problem start?
South East Water says it saw a huge increase in water use as temperatures rose, putting pressure on supplies.
Nick Price, head of water resources, has likened the issues to those experienced by motorists stuck in gridlock queues.
“Think of the water network like a motorway,” he said.
“When everyone uses it all at once, roads come to a standstill.
Nick Price, head of water resources at South East Water
“So when a whole neighbourhood uses lots of water all at the same time, it pulls water out of the local system so fast that the pressure drops.
“This can result in those living at the far end of the network or on high ground seeing their taps run completely dry.”
Mr Price also says leaks and bursts across 9,000 miles of pipes – while at “normal levels” – have not helped the situation.
Critics argue South East Water should have been better prepared for a heatwave.
The company says it did prepare for a rise in demand by increasing output at water treatment works across and putting extra water into the network.
Natalie Hennessey, owner of The Woodfire Kitchen in Whitstable, is among the business owners forced to close up shop
But it has proved not to be enough, with demand outstripping the speed at which it can treat the water and pump it into customers’ homes.
The situation has been called “unacceptable” by frustrated business owners and residents.
Natalie Hennessey, who was forced to close her Woodfire Kitchen business in Whitstable, said the outage hit the town at the worst possible time.
“Whitstable is such a seasonal town, so when the weather’s hot and tourists are here, it’s the time when we make our money,” she said.
“The impact of having no water now means that obviously the tourists have left the town.”
A group of residents in Whitstable bathed in the sea today (May 29) to protest the water shortages, as 3,500 households are still without running water in the area.
Organiser Caroline Wade told KMTV: “Water is not a luxury; it is an essential item, and it is a health and safety risk at the moment in this heat.
“It is incredible in modern-day Britain that we are having to live like this.
“I just want to be able to turn my tap on for water to come out. I want to pay a fair price for that water.
“We do not want more of this; we want accountability, and we want action now.”
A group of residents took to the sea in protest
Why are 12,000 customers still without water?
In a statement this morning, the firm says reservoirs have not been able to recover fully from the 30-degree weather earlier this week.
A spokesperson explained: “Our water treatment works pump water 24/7 into treated water storage reservoirs, with that water then going through the network to customers’ taps on demand.
“In normal periods, the reservoirs deplete at peak times – in the mornings when customers shower, etc, and again in the evenings – and recover levels overnight or in quieter periods.
“When demand is very high, those storage levels cannot be recovered fully. That’s why customers may have intermittent supplies.”
Bosses say some homes will see their taps flowing again later today.
In a letter to Kent County Council councillors, seen by KentOnline, Simon Jones, who is in charge of directing the council’s response, said they were worried about how schools will cope if the problem continues.
He said: “There are particular concerns regarding the return of schools and colleges following the half-term break.
Linda Wolek-Went has been without water in Whistable for four days. Picture: Linda Wolek-Went
“KCC is working with SEW to ensure schools are able to open next week, including identifying where additional measures or water supplies may be required.”
Whistable resident Linda Wolek-Went has been without water for four days.
The 79-year-old said: “No loo, flushing, no showering, nothing like that.
“We have water, but it’s bottled. We have bought bottled water at an extremely high price from Amazon.
“We’re on the priority list with South East and Water. If you register yourself as disabled, which we did last year, and we get deliveries,
“We’ve had no deliveries whatsoever.”
Updates for different areas can be found on this map.
South East Water released this graphic to illustrate the increase in demand for water. Picture: South East Water
Why are only some parts of Kent affected?
Different parts of the county are serviced by different firms.
South East Water provides for much of the county, excluding Medway, Dartford, parts of Sevenoaks, the Folkestone and Hythe district, Thanet, Dover and some parts of south Canterbury.
These areas, serviced by either Thames, Affinity or Southern Water, have avoided serious disruption.
Within South East Water’s areas, it says proximity to and the size of reservoirs have an impact on whether customers have water or not.
What is the company doing?
In a statement this morning, incident manager Steve Benton said: “Yesterday (Thursday, May 28) we pumped 619 million litres of water to customers across our region.
“This continues to be higher than the average for this time of year.
Residents in Herne Bay queueing for water
“On some days during this period of high demand, we have treated and pumped around 100 million litres more than the daily average for May.
“We have delivered 229,464 litres of water to customers on our Priority Services Register and also delivered bottled water to critical care settings such as care homes, GP surgeries, pharmacies and dentists.
“Our fleet of tankers has been working 24/7, putting an extra one million litres of water into the network in areas where demand has been extremely high and to support our stored water reservoirs. So far, we have tankered over 1,753,561 litres of water into the network.
“We have also given out 339,972 bottles of water at our bottled water stations across Kent and continue to identify new locations for other stations to open.”
Many business owners, including Steve who runs Aqua Shellfish at Whitstable Harbour, have had to close
What is South East Water asking people to do?
As a result of the shortage, bosses have told customers to only use water for essential purposes, those being drinking, washing and cooking.
Mr Price said: “As the hot weather is set to last a few more days, we’re asking all customers to help.
“We’re asking you to only use water for essential purposes.
“Watering the garden, washing cars or patios and filling paddling pools is not essential use.”
Do the issues differ from those experienced in Kent in recent months?
Yes and no.
The immediate cause of the current problems appears different from the major outage which crippled the Tunbridge Wells area late last year, but critics argue both incidents raise wider questions about South East Water’s resilience and preparedness.
A bottled water station has been set up at Sainbury’s on Altira Business Park, Herne Bay
The Tunbridge Wells crisis centred on problems at the Pembury treatment works after a faulty batch of treatment chemicals contaminated part of the process, leading to widespread outages, low pressure and later a boil-water notice affecting tens of thousands of customers. Schools and businesses closed, emergency water stations were opened and some residents were without safe drinking water for days.
This week’s disruption has instead been blamed primarily on exceptional demand during hot weather, with reservoirs failing to recover overnight as water use surged. South East Water says its infrastructure is operating normally, but has struggled to keep pace with demand.
Both incidents have left thousands without reliable supplies, prompted emergency bottled water distribution and triggered fresh criticism about the company’s ability to cope with foreseeable pressures.
The fallout from repeated failures has already had consequences at the top. Chief executive David Hinton announced earlier this month he would step down after sustained criticism over repeated outages and service failures, while chairman Chris Train also resigned.
Will this problem repeat itself throughout the summer?
Nobody can say for certain, but there are clear signs the risk remains.
South East Water has stopped short of saying more outages are inevitable, but has repeatedly warned customers that prolonged hot weather, population growth and increasing demand are placing greater strain on supplies.
There have been long queues at water bottle stations
There are also longer-term concerns.
Earlier this year, South East Water warned it currently has the capacity to supply water to only about one-third of more than 19,000 homes proposed in Tonbridge and Malling, and could also struggle to cater for 23,000 homes planned in the Canterbury district.
The company said substantial upgrades and investment would be required to support future growth.
Where can you collect water?
The following water bottle collection stations and their opening times are as follows:
– Challock Village Hall, Blind Lane, Challock, Ashford, TN25 4AU. Open from 9am to 10pm
– Kingsnorth Church of England Primary School , Church Hill, Kingsnorth, TN23 3EF. Open from 9am to 10pm
– Sainsbury’s Altira Business Park, 6 The Boulevard, Herne Bay, CT6 6GZ. Open from 9am to 10pm
– Sainsbury’s Reeves Way, Chestfield, Whitstable, CT5 3QS. Open from 10am to 10pm
– Kavanagh Cinema William St, Herne Bay CT6 5NX. Open from 9am to 10pm