Thursday Water Crisis Latest

Residents of Tunbridge Wells whose water supply has been disrupted since Sunday are still being told they must boil any water supply they get before drinking it.

The so-called "boil water notice" only applies to the areas that are fed by the Pembury water treatment works which has had serious issues since Saturday evening.  It's likely to apply for around ten days.

Meanhile, the water bottling station at the RCP car park at the bottom of Major York's Road is no longer open due to events at the Spa Valley Railway.

The company wants people in the affected areas to be able to wash and flush their toilets once more.

The chief executive of South East Water, David Hinton, is still avoiding public appearances, but a senior employee of South East Water did make themselves available on West Kent Radio on drivetime with Zac Daunt-Jones on Wednesday afternoon.  Listen here:

South East Water's "boil water" instruction for large parts of Tunbridge Wells means people must only use boiled water to drink, prepare food and clean their teeth.  Using boiled water for washing dishes is the best practice.

South East water also says pets should also not drink tap water unless it has been boiled and you should not use coffee machines using tap water. You should only use your dishwasher on a hot cycle at a temperature of 65°C or above.

Meanwhile the leader of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, Ben Chapelard, also spoke to West Kent Radio on Wednesday afternoon. Listen here:

Three drive in bottled water stations will remain at:
Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, St John's Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN4 9TX
Odeon Cinema Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW
B&M Store with Garden Centre, Linden Park Road, Kent TN2 5QL

The latest update from South East Water can be found here:
https://aqualerter.southeastwater.co.uk/interruption/138030

The list of affected areas with their full postcodes have been posted on our website, to check your area please visit:

https://www.southeastwater.co.uk/help/works-and-outages/bwn-affected-postcodes/

Today's update at 7.30am from South East Water read:

We are extremely sorry to customers in Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding areas who continue to be affected by no water or low pressure this morning. Refilling the town's pipeline network continued positively overnight with more than 16,500 of the 24,000 properties impacted now being back in supply.

We are continuing to do this carefully to avoid issues such as burst pipes and some customers will experience low pressure while water continues to fill the network.

We have taken the decision to pump water from our treatment works into the network, which can be used for flushing toilets or showering, but crucially cannot be used for drinking or cooking without boiling first. The water is chemically safe, but a potential fault in the final disinfection process means customers must boil it before drinking.

Effective from midday yesterday, Wednesday 3 December 2025, once tap water has returned, please make sure you boil your water (and let it cool) before: Drinking Cooking with Brushing teeth Washing dishes Wiping down kitchen sides

Or alternatively you can use bottled water instead, which will continue to be available at our bottled water stations until this boil notice is lifted. See below for a list of the stations.

You don't need to boil your water before: Flushing the toilet Showering Bathing

This notice remains in place until further notice. If your water looks brown in colour, please don't worry as it is not harmful. This happens when small particles of iron within the mains are disturbed.Your water may also appear cloudy, or white.

If you fill a glass of water and it clears from the bottom upwards then this means your water is just a little more aerated than usual. Simply run the water from your cold kitchen tap until the water is clear. We are still expecting all customers' water to be restored by midday today. We'll send a further update early this afternoon.