Water has been restored to most homes across Kent and Sussex after almost a week of disruption.
South East Water (SEW) said the outage, which began on Saturday, was the result of Storm Goretti causing burst pipes and power cuts.
At the height of the incident, the company reported that 30,000 customers across the counties were without water, or experiencing low water pressure.
Some residents are also still facing hosepipe bans and flood warnings, and the most recent report published on Friday by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology predicts that normal to below normal river flows and groundwater levels will persist in south east England over the next three months. Drought condition later in the year are possible: “Rainfall over the remaining winter months will be important for determining spring/summer water resources situation, especially in the south-east of England.”
The beleaguered water firm has faced heavy criticism from MPs and the public as the outage followed a similar incident last month, where 24,000 people in Tunbridge Wells were left without drinking water for two weeks.
On Friday, SEW’s incident manager, Mathew Dean, said water supplies had been restored to the 6,500 affected properties in Tunbridge Wells area, but
some customers could experience low pressure as the water levels built up in the pipeline network.
“Continuous supplies have been restored to the town after we implemented our recovery plan which involved keeping local booster pumps switched off for 36 hours so our drinking water storage tank could fill,” Dean said.
“We are very sorry to every single one of our customers who have been affected. We know and understand how difficult going without water for such a long period of time is and how difficult it makes everyday life.”
Ofwat announced on Thursday that it was launching an investigation into whether the supplier had breached its licence conditions by failing to comply with customer service standards obligations and offering appropriate support to affected customers during supply interruptions.
If the regulator decides SEW has breached the conditions and should be stripped of its licence, the supplier could fall into special administration until a new buyer is found. If Ofwat rules that SEW is in breach, but it does not revoke the licence, penalties can include a fine of 10% of the firm’s annual turnover.
Roughly 320 properties in Bidborough are still affected by low water levels so tankers are being used to assist people in the area.
Bottled water sites in Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Bidborough would remain open on Friday, the company said.
