A major incident has been declared after 30,000 homes in Kent and Sussex were left without water.
People in areas including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone have been without water for as long as five days.
Schools and libraries across Kent and Sussex have closed for the day as they do not have running water. The Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead has been forced to carry out some appointments virtually.
South East Water blamed the cold weather and Storm Goretti for the supply problems. It said that freezing conditions had caused burst pipes and the storm made the company unable to treat water at the usual rate.
Residents of Tunbridge Wells had faced two weeks without water at the end of last year after a shutdown at one of its treatment centres. The Drinking Water Inspectorate said the shutdown was foreseen and the company had not made updates to the infrastructure or conducted proper testing.
The Reform-led council in Kent has declared a major incident. The Kent county council leader, Linden Kemkaran, said: “A major incident has now been declared in Kent on the basis that more households and settings have been impacted in the last 24 hours and because we are putting additional arrangements in place to prepare for further potential disruption.”
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said the water issues in the south-east of England were “completely unacceptable” and ministers were holding daily emergency meetings with South East Water and local officials. “We appreciate that for residents, they just want repeated disruption to end,” they said.
The water minister Emma Hardy said: “I remain very concerned that people in several areas in the south-east and south-west are experiencing water supply issues following both cold weather and Storm Goretti.
“This is entirely unacceptable. I held meetings with the water companies and local resilience forums over the weekend, and am meeting with them again today, to restore supplies as quickly as possible, prioritising vulnerable customers and essential public services.”
The water company has apologised to residents for the disruption. A spokesperson said: “Our drinking water storage tanks across the counties are running low following an outbreak of leaks and burst water mains after the recent cold weather.
“As a result, about 30,000 properties across parts of Kent and Sussex may be experiencing no water, intermittent supply or low pressure.
“This includes 16,500 properties in East Grinstead, with the remainder spread across parts of Kent, including Tunbridge Wells, Headcorn and intermittently across our Maidstone system.
“We’re sorry for the impact caused by this and know how disruptive it is to your daily lives. We’re doing all we can to try to balance our network and restore supplies to as many customers as possible.”
