Hundreds of homes in Kent and Sussex left without water amid May heatwave
South East water blamed the outages on increased demand for water due to the hot weather
Hundreds of homes across the south east of England have been left without water as the UK swelters in record-breaking May heat.
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South East water blamed the outages, which have affected households in Kent and Sussex since Saturday, on increased demand for water amid the hot weather which had led to its storage reservoirs running low in parts of Kent.
South East Water’s Head of Operations Control, Matthew Dean said: “Due to the nature of water supply networks, some customers on higher ground or at the far end of the network may have low pressure or supply interruptions, especially at peak use times.
“As these outages are a result of increased demand following the hot weather, supplies will continue to be intermittent for some customers until temperatures decrease and demand reduces. This includes customers in the Charing, Challock and Molash areas."
He added that repair workers had fixed a burst water pipe in the Decoy Drive area of Eastbourne which would see water return to around 168 households.
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“In addition we have had some leaks and bursts, which while frustrating, is normal for a network of more than 9,000 miles in length and under high pressure at all times. We are deploying even more teams to be out and about looking for and fixing leaks," Mr Dean continued.
About 800 homes mainly in Charing, Challock and Molash in Kent were impacted by outages on Sunday, and bout 250 homes remained affected by outages on Monday.
It comes as the UK recorded the hottest May day on record over the bank holiday weekend, with temperatures in London passing 34C on Monday.
South East water has faced criticism and was accused by MPs of "incompetence" earlier this month over outages affecting tens and thousands of people.
Its Chairman Chris Train, was forced to resign earlier this month after MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee published a scathing report saying they have “no confidence” in South East Water’s chief executive and board.
The company also faces a £22m fine by Ofwat, the water regulator, applying to issues during 2020 and 2023 in Kent and Sussex which affected more than 286,000 people.
Last December up to 16,000 homes went without water for almost a week, while in January about 30,000 properties faced issues.
South East Water’s incident manager, Steve Benton, said: “We are sorry to our customers in parts of Kent who have experienced low pressure or no water intermittently this weekend.
“Around 250 properties in the Charing, Challock and Molash areas have been impacted by water supply issues, including low pressure or no water. This follows a technical failure at our pumping station near Charing, which means we have struggled to push water to properties on higher ground.”
He said there was a bottled-water station open at Challock village hall, and deliveries were being made to some customers unable to visit.
“We’re sorry to all impacted customers for the disruption cause,” he said.