Tens of thousands in Sussex and Kent start working week without water

Tens of thousands of people in Sussex and Kent are starting the working week without water following a weekend of disruption, with the council in Kent declaring a major incident.

South East Water (SEW) said a number of issues were to blame, including Storm Goretti and a power cut at its pumping plant.

It said 14 postcodes were still affected around the East Grinstead, Frant and Tunbridge Wells areas.

Collection points for bottled water have been set up and some customers have been told their supply may not return until Tuesday.

SEW water said bottled water stations will be open from 09:00 GMT at:

• Kings Centre – Moat Rd, East Grinstead RH19 3LN
• East Grinstead Sports Club – Saint Hill Rd, East Grinstead RH19 4JU
• East Court, College Lane, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3LT

Eileen, who lives in Tunbridge Wells told BBC Radio Kent that she had been having issues since Tuesday.

“I’m finding it a nightmare, and I live alone. I don’t know how people with families get on. It’s so unhygienic.

“I’m getting bottled water delivered, but I’m sick of the sight of these bottles.

“I just want water in the tap. Is that too much to ask?”

Krys O’Brien, who lives in East Grinstead, told BBC Radio Sussex: “It’s been grim, it’s been unsanitary and unhygenic. It’s been a miserable weekend.

“We’ve had no water since very early Saturday morning. We’ve had very intermittent messages from South East Water on the web site. It’s been horrible and we don’t know when it’s going to come back properly.”

Heather Pratt in Forest Row said her water returned on Monday morning after being cut off on Saturday.

“It has been pretty grim and to use Storm Guretti as an excuse I find very flimsy” she said.

On X, Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: “A major incident has now been declared 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.”

Several schools in Kent and Sussex are closed for the day because of the lack of water, along with the public libraries in East Grinstead.

The Queen Victoria Hospital in the town said some appointments may have to be carried out virtually.

Officials said water tankers were delivering supplies, and extra measures were being taken to ensure essential services continued.

Members of hospital staff who are able to work from home are being urged to speak to their line manager.

Speaking to the BBC, Mike Martin, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, said: “We’re in a bizarre situation where we’ve privatised water and they are accountable to no-one.

“I think the chair of South East Water needs to convene the board and get a grip of what’s going on.”

In a statement on Monday morning the company said: “We are sorry that customers in East Grinstead and the surrounding areas have had no water or intermittent supply over the weekend.

“We’re are working hard to restore supplies but regrettably, this situation has not improved as much as we would have liked and we anticipate that the reservoir is unlikely to return to a level where your supplies will return until tomorrow (Tuesday 13th).”