South East Water has lifted its boil water notice for 24,000 homes and businesses in Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas on Friday. Residents can now use tap water normally after nearly two weeks of disruption caused by water quality issues at the Pembury Water Treatment Works.
The crisis began on November 29 and 30 when the treatment facility automatically shut down after the natural composition of abstracted water changed suddenly. The water company imposed the boil notice on December 3 when it restarted operations, forcing residents to boil water for drinking, cooking and washing dishes. Kent County Council declared a major incident response, which has now been stood down.
Impact on residents and businesses
Linden Kemkaran, Leader of Kent County Council, expressed serious concerns about the incident's toll on the community. «Not having access to clean running water for up to six days, then having to boil water for essential use, is in this day and age beyond disgraceful,» he said. The disruption affected schools, care homes, and local businesses. «As well as making daily life extremely difficult for communities, including schools and care homes that KCC is responsible for, it's had a real impact on local businesses – and threatened the viability of the local economy,» Kemkaran added.
The council leader voiced concerns that standard compensation levels would not cover the losses incurred. «On behalf of Tunbridge Wells residents and businesses I will continue to push in the strongest terms for fair and proper compensation,» he stated. Kemkaran also called for a thorough investigation into the incident, «including the adequacy of South East Water's response in light of repeated failures in recent years». He emphasized: «A situation like this must never happen again.»
Company response and explanation
Douglas Whitfield, Water Supply Director at South East Water, told KentLive that tap water is now safe to drink and use for everyday tasks without boiling. The company resolved the issue by changing treatment processes and flushing the network. «Our customers in Tunbridge Wells have had a very difficult and frustrating time since the end of November. We are very sorry for what has happened,» he said.
Whitfield explained the technical cause of the shutdown. «Before tap water leaves any of our water treatment works, it goes through extensive testing. If it is not up to strict regulatory standards the water treatment works shuts down automatically,» he told the outlet. The natural composition of water from wells and springs around Pembury changed suddenly, requiring adjustments to the treatment process. «It is very unusual for this to happen,» Whitfield said. The boil notice was imposed as a precaution, though water sampling detected no bacteria and the water was chemically safe.
Investigations and accountability
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), the public water regulator, is investigating South East Water's actions before, during and after the incident. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has summoned the company to a public evidence session on January 6, where it will face questions on planning, resilience, capacity and communications.
South East Water stated it will conduct a full review of what happened and how it responded, implement preventive actions, and compensate affected customers. The company said it will «do everything we can» to rebuild community trust.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
