Thousands of people across Kent and Sussex still struggling with water supply

Stations offering bottled water have been set up across the region. Credit: ITV News Meridian

Thousands of people living across Kent and Sussex are still struggling with their water supply.

Stations offering bottled water have been set up across the region. South East Water has apologised, and says it is working round the clock on repairs.

Douglas Whitfield South East Water’s Incident Director says "teams are continuing to work tirelessly to find and fix leaks and bursts across our supply area which have drained large parts of the network including in Tunbridge Wells, Crowborough and East Grinstead."

He added: “We are continuing to extract, treat and pump 100 million litres of additional water into the system to refill our drained drinking water storage tanks and keep as many customers in supply as possible while repairs are undertaken.

Tens of thousands of households left with no water or low pressure

“While we’re working around the clock to repair leaks on our pipelines we’re urging customers, businesses and landowners to check their properties, troughs and outside taps for leaks and fix them as quickly as possible.

“The outbreak of leaks is due to significant ground movement caused by a rapid thaw which followed the period of cold weather we experienced across our supply area recently.

“Around 15,000 homes and businesses across Kent and Sussex still have intermittent water supplies and we are extremely sorry for the disruption caused.

“While supply issues are ongoing, our Customer Care Team has been busy delivering bottles of water to customers who are most in need.

“We are also setting up dedicated bottled water where customers can collect water."

The bottled water stations are located at:

  • Tesco, Woodgate Corner Pembury TN2 4NE, opening hours - 9.30am to 9pm

  • East Grinstead Rugby Football Club, The Gearon Pavilion, Saint Hill Rd, East Grinstead RH19 4JU, opening hours - 10.30am to 9pm

  • Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club, Whitemans Green, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5HX, opening hours - 10.30am to 9pm

  • Golf Club, Beacon Rd, Crowborough, TN6 1UJ, opening hours - 10.30am to 9pm

Meanwhile, Southern Water customers were also impacted by a burst pipe which meant they had no water or low pressure.

The company says water supplies in Broadstairs, Manston, Margate, and Ramsgate are almost fully returned.