South East Water has urged thousands of customers to limit water usage to essential needs only, as a heatwave pushes temperatures close to 30°C across the UK this weekend. The company reported supply shortages affecting areas in Kent, with up to 3,500 customers in Whitstable experiencing intermittent supply.
Matthew Dean, incident response manager for South East Water, confirmed that tap water is likely to remain intermittent throughout the weekend for all customers in the affected area. In Cranbrook, 165 customers are without drinking water after storage tanks reached critical levels. A further 10,500 customers in Coxheath, Loose, Headcorn, Herne Bay and Benenden are experiencing low pressure or intermittent supply.
The company has delivered nearly 230,000 litres of water to vulnerable customers and provided bottled water to care homes, GP surgeries, pharmacies and dentists. Almost 340,000 bottles have been distributed at water stations across Kent, with officials seeking new locations to open additional points.
Mr Dean apologised for the disruption, stating: 'We are sorry to customers who have had interruptions or low pressure in their water supply and know how frustrating it is, especially in very hot weather.' He noted that 619 million litres of water were pumped on Thursday, around 100 million litres more than the daily average for May, due to high demand.
Temperatures across Kent and the southeast are forecast to remain between 24°C and 26°C on Saturday, dropping to 21-22°C on Sunday. South East Water continues to ask customers to reserve water for drinking, washing and cooking only.
