South East Water blames bad weather as pubs are forced to close, toilets overflow and people go without showers
As the residents of Tunbridge Wells trudged down their sodden high street in the pouring rain, the idea that they had run out of water – for the second time in just a few weeks – seemed farcical.
At the end of November the local water treatment centre, which had been flagged as at risk by the regulator in 2024, was forced to shut down, leaving 24,000 households without water for two weeks. The Drinking Water Inspectorate later said this outage was foreseen and was due to a lack of maintenance at the site.
Now, for many here, it’s Groundhog day, with more than 30,000 homes across Sussex and Kent spending up to six days without water after South East Water blamed freezing weather for leaks in its ageing pipe network.
No one knows exactly when the water will be back. Schools have shut, businesses have closed. Struggling pubs and restaurants have had to shut their doors. “We can’t wash up, every day we have to decide what to cook based on how much water we have. We’ve been showering at the local gym,” said Gary, who has faced intermittent water for a week.
