2 days ago
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Stuart Maisner, Hsin-Yi Loand Daniel Sexton,South East
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People have been advised to boil tap water before drinking
Water misery has returned for about 24,000 households in Kent and East Sussex - the day after a water firm said supplies had been restored for many.
South East Water (SEW) announced on Wednesday - after five days of problems - the supply issues had returned to all affected properties due to a "water quality issue" and warned the public to boil water before drinking.
Schools have been closed, and residents have had to rely on neighbours across the affected area.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament Sir Keir Starmer described the situation as "shocking".
The prime minister added he was aware that South East Water had consistently failed to meet its promises of restoring a safe supply of water in the past few days.
Responding to a question from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who asked him to convene an emergency meeting on the matter, Starmer said: "There's really serious consequences and we are bearing down on that as he would expect because it's such a serious issue."
Cafe owner Birkan Koca says SEW's response has been "shambolic"
Businesses in Tunbridge Wells have said they are set to lose earnings as a result of the water problems.
Birkan Koca, who runs Eggs Eleven café in the Pantiles, told the BBC the response from SEW had been "shambolic".
"If the water isn't back on by the weekend we could be looking at £15,000 worth of losses," he said.
"We've had no water since Sunday. Since then we haven't been able to re-open both my shops.
"There's loads of crockery that needs washing up, I've had to give away or bin all of our fresh produce and turn away lots of customers. It's one of our busiest times of year."
Eden Hedges said the café has missed out on "one of the busiest Sundays of the year"
Eden Hedges, from St Kilda Café in Camden Road, said there had been a "lack of specific information" which "left him in the dark".
He said the new boil notice had made him worried about whether the filtration units in the coffee machines would be able to make coffee.
"If I knew why I have to boil my water, I would then be able to make a judgement on whether the machines could make it safe," he said.
"The uncertainty is no-go for business."
He said the café had missed out on "one of the busiest Sundays of the year".
The company had said supplies were back for 12,000 customers on Tuesday.
Its head of water quality, Dr Neil Hudson, said after recharging their network in Tunbridge Wells they saw a "recurrence of the water quality issues" which caused the initial shutdown of the water treatment works in Pembury.
"Because of this, we are currently unable to produce drinking water from the Pembury treatment works that meets the strict regulatory standards required for consumption," he said.
He urged residents to use water only for flushing toilets or showering, and said water could not be "used for drinking and cooking without boiling first".
The problem, which began on Saturday, has seen customers in Tunbridge Wells, Pembury, Frant and Eridge experience a loss of water or low pressure.
The company blamed a "bad chemical batch" as the source of the problem.
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A recurring water quality issue which caused the initial water treatment shutdown has slowed the ability to get supplies back, South East Water says
Dr Hudson said three bottled water stations would remain open until 22:00 BMT on Wednesday.
The locations of these are:
- Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, St John's Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN4 9TX
- RCP Parking, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 5TP
- Odeon Cinema Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW
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