South East Water Blames Heat-Driven Demand for Outages at 18,000 Kent Properties

6 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 28

18,000 properties across Kent were hit by water outages or low pressure as South East Water said hot-weather demand pushed storage reservoirs in Whitstable and Herne Bay to critical levels.
660 million litres were pumped on Tuesday—more than 100 million above a normal day—as residents and businesses said pumping stations failed under strain and infrastructure was not prepared for the heat.
Herne Bay, Whitstable, Ashford and Maidstone were among the affected areas, with bottled-water stations opened while some customers reported days without supply and even brown water when service briefly returned.
Local businesses said production had stalled, and Herne Bay MP Roger Gale called the repeated disruptions unacceptable, blaming underinvestment and urging faster solutions.
The latest breakdown follows several recent South East Water failures, including disruptions to nearly 800 properties this week, 24,000 customers last winter and an Ofwat proposal to fine the company £22 million.

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