South East Water have said that services have been restored for most affected properties in Kent after almost a week of supply problems.
Some 30,000 properties had no water at the height of the issues, which were believed to have started on Saturday and prompted an investigation into South East Water (SEW) by regulator Ofwat.
SEW said water had now been restored to 6,500 properties in Tunbridge Wells that had still been affected until Thursday night.
The company’s incident manager, Matthew Dean, said that tankers were continuing to pump water into the network in the Bidenborough area to keep supplies flowing to 320 properties that had low water levels.
Water had also been restored for about 2,000 properties in the Loose and Coxheath areas, although storage levels in the area remained “very low”.
The company said it was continuing to use 26 tankers to pump water directly into its network and was working “around the clock” to fix leaks and bursts. Bottled water stations were also set to reopen at 09:00 on Friday morning, including in some areas where supplies have returned as a precaution.
They will be at Mote Park Leisure Centre in Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club, as well as at the the Odeon Cinema in Knights Way and RCP car park off Major York’s Road, also in Tunbridge Wells.
Bottled water has been delivered to customers on the company’s priority services register, which includes those with young children, medical conditions or disabilities.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the ongoing situation “totally unacceptable” and the government later asked Ofwat to review the company’s licence.
Ofwat said if it was satisfied a licence condition had been breached, it would take enforcement action to secure compliance, which could include fining SEW up to 10% of its turnover.
SEW said it would “always fully co-operate with any investigation by regulators and provide any information required”. SEW is already subjected to two separate investigations by Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate over earlier supply disruptions.
