A Kent village has been left dealing with two separate water supply failures in less than 24 hours, with residents in Pembury experiencing disruption both overnight on Saturday and again into Sunday.
The first problem emerged on Saturday evening at around 8pm, when a technical fault developed at a South East Water drinking water storage tank. The company said the issue was resolved overnight and supplies were restored. But before the weekend was out, a burst water main was discovered at Woodhill Park in the early hours of Sunday morning, cutting off or reducing supplies to properties in the area for a second time in quick succession.
South East Water was keen to stress that the two incidents were unconnected. The burst main on Sunday was confirmed to have no link to the storage tank fault the night before, and the company also clarified it was separate from a much larger failure that disrupted supplies to 24,000 properties in the run-up to Christmas.
To keep homes in supply while engineers carried out repairs, the company pumped water into the local network using tankers. Head of leakage Phil Jones acknowledged some customers would still have experienced intermittent supply during that period despite those efforts. He confirmed repairs have since been completed and the network is gradually returning to normal operation.
Jones warned residents that as pressure is restored, water may appear cloudy or take on a brownish tint. He explained this is caused by naturally occurring iron and manganese deposits being disturbed within the pipes, and said the discolouration is harmless. Customers seeing affected water are advised to run a cold tap until it clears before using it for drinking, cooking, or washing.
The company also cautioned that airlocks created during the repair process would need to be cleared carefully to avoid triggering further bursts in the network.
The latest disruption arrives against a difficult backdrop for South East Water. The company has faced sustained criticism from residents, local politicians, and business owners following a string of supply failures in recent months. A fault traced to a chemical batch problem at the Pembury Water Treatment Works affected around 24,000 homes in Kent and East Sussex late last year. January brought further disruption, with thousands of customers in Tunbridge Wells losing supply, and separate complaints from residents near the Blackhurst storage tanks who described around-the-clock tanker activity as the company worked to keep reserves topped up amid cold weather and the effects of Storm Goretti.
Calls for chief executive David Hinton to step down have grown louder, and water industry regulator Ofwat has opened an investigation into whether South East Water is meeting required standards of customer service.
