22,500 homes remain without water for third day in Kent

More than 22,000 homes remain without water for a third day after an issue at a water treatment site in Kent.

South East Water (SEW) has apologised to customers in and around Tunbridge Wells, Kent, who have experienced a loss of water or low pressure since Saturday night.

On Monday, they have indicated that water supplies will "gradually return" to customers throughout the day.

But MP Mike Martin says he is "not confident" water supplies will be fully restored during the day despite South East Water "promises". 

"The network will only reopen properly at 6pm. Therefore, it is their current expectation that it will take until 6am on Tuesday for all properties to have their supply restored." says the Liberal Democrat MP.

"A small number of localised properties may still experience issues beyond that time."

The incident began on the evening of November 29, after a "water quality issue" at the Pembury Water Treatment Works with around 24,000 homes reportedly affected at the height of the incident.

SEW's incident manager Matthew Dean said: "I'm very sorry to all our customers in Tunbridge Wells who remain without water or have low pressure this morning.

"Water supplies will gradually return to customers' taps throughout the day as we slowly refill the town's pipeline network and clear air locks.

"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."

While some homes have seen their water return, roughly 22,500 remain affected on Monday morning, the SEW confirmed.

Three bottled water stations have been opened across Tunbridge Wells by the company until supplies return.

Those stations are at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, Odeon Cinema Knights Way and RCP Parking.

These sites will remain stocked and staffed until 10pm today. 

The company also said it has tankered more than three million litres of water into the town to keep supplies running for some customers.

It is understood that the problem was caused by a "bad" batch of chemicals, and a new batch was received on Sunday.

Priority Service Register Customers

It's understood South East Water have said deliveries to those on the Priority Register will continue today (1 December).

If you are a South East Water Priority Customer and need a bottled water delivery because you cannot get to a distribution site, then please call 0333 000 0365.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.