More than 4,000 homes in Kent are still without water more than a week after a shutdown that supplier South East Water (SEW) attributed to 'high demand' during hot weather. Residents of the Whitstable area have experienced widespread supply issues since May 23, which are only now being resolved.
SEW reports that 4,058 properties may experience 'low pressure or an intermittent supply' across the county throughout today, but most of the properties affected for the last nine days should expect supplies to return to normal. Local businesses are counting the cost after missing out on thousands of pounds of seasonal trade due to forced closures.
Pubs, cafes, restaurants, and even Whitstable's Playhouse Theatre were among those affected. One hotel on the outskirts of town reportedly hired a water firm that usually supplies festivals to ensure a wedding could proceed as planned. Locals took to the sea last week in a symbolic protest, bathing, washing their hair, and brushing their teeth in the water, while voicing their anger at the company responsible.
Caroline Wade, who organised the mass dip, told KentOnline: 'Water is not a luxury - it's an essential item and it's a health and safety risk in this heat. It's incredible in modern-day Britain that we're having to live like this. I just want to be able to turn my tap on, for water to come out, and I want to pay a fair price.' One participant added: 'Even flushing the toilet was a celebration this morning - which it shouldn't be, really.'
Businesses in Whitstable said the shortages could not have come at a worse time for a town reliant on tourist trade. An Airbnb landlord said she had to refund guests for their entire booking. The seafront Hotel Continental ordered portable toilets for guests willing to stay. Natalie Hennessey, owner of pizza restaurant Woodfire Kitchen, said: 'Whitstable is such a seasonal town, so when the weather’s hot, tourists are here, it’s the time when we make our money. The impact of having no water now means that obviously the tourists have left the town.' She added that refrigerated stock with a limited shelf life may end up being thrown out.
Gary Parker believes his wife's clothing business may have lost hundreds of pounds a day while the South Quay Shed market hall was shut. Alan Hatley, another trader, said he would have expected to take as much as £1,000 a day were it not for the outage. 'In this weather, obviously ice cream would have been a great seller today, so it’s going to impact us dramatically. It's quite a dent in the finances,' he said.
SEW bosses have blamed 'very high demand' in the 'exceptionally high temperatures' of recent days and set up five bottled water stations in Herne Bay, Whitstable, Maidstone, and Staplehurst. This is the latest in a long line of issues plaguing the regional water board, which is being investigated by regulator Ofwat after supply interruptions in Tunbridge Wells in November and December, with further issues in January. The firm, whose departing boss David Hinton was awarded a £115,000 bonus last year on top of his £400,000 salary, says it is 'sincerely sorry' for the disruption.
SEW has asked locals in the Whitstable area to avoid using jet washes and hose pipes while it brings supplies back online, adding: 'The car and patio can wait for a wash. Act now, please do all you can to cut down on everything but essential water use, which is drinking, washing and cooking.' Critics say chronic underinvestment in upgrades is to blame for SEW's long-term troubles. The company, which uses the slogan 'Every Drop Counts', has previously admitted that its infrastructure is leaking 104.8 million litres of water every day across its network, almost 30 per cent over its target of 81 million.
Following repeated failures, Kent County Council announced last week that it will lead a new taskforce to oversee how water supplies are being protected for the 1.6 million people living in the region. Linden Kemkaran, leader of the council, said: 'People across Kent are fed up with being left without water or having their supply disrupted, sometimes for days at a time, and not getting clear answers about what’s gone wrong or when it will be fixed. That’s simply not good enough.'
In an extraordinarily damning report, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee said it had 'no confidence' in SEW's leaders, chief executive David Hinton and chairman Chris Train. It said the company's leadership 'appears shielded from the consequences of its incompetence'. Shortly after the report was published, Mr Hinton and Mr Train said they would quit. The firm is also facing a £22 million fine from Ofwat over previous supply issues that affected 286,000 people in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023. Rosie Duffield, MP for the Canterbury constituency, branded the shortages 'utterly unacceptable', telling the BBC: 'It affects us all, and we're really, really angry.'
