South East Water says 'no bacteria detected' - but boil notice continues

All 24,000 properties in Kent and East Sussex affected by a water outage should now have had their supplies restored, South East Water (SEW) has said.

The water company said the supply to homes in the Tunbridge Wells area was chemically safe and no bacteria had been detected, but a boil water notice remained in place until further notice.

Bottled water stations will be open in the town between 09:00 GMT and 22:00.

SEW said it was "truly sorry for the impact this is having" and was "fully committed to compensating our customers fairly for this disruption".

The boil water notice came into effect on Wednesday and will be in place for a minimum of 10 days, with instructions to boil, then cool, tap water before drinking, cleaning teeth, cooking, washing dishes and cleaning kitchen surfaces.

Earlier, SEW incident manager Matthew Dean said no bacteria had been detected at Pembury Water Treatment Works or the downstream reservoirs.

He said the treatment works was continuing to operate "within normal parameters" and the boil water notice was "in place as a precaution".

Haike Tzianetasm, who lives on Tunnel Road and works for a special needs school in Tunbridge Wells, said they had spent the whole weekend "getting on top of" the washing up and laundry.

She said: "It's taking so much longer as I have to boil the water to do the dishes in.

"It's very stressful for children with needs as they like a routine but may not understand that they cannot drink the water.

"It's been disrupting for everyone in the town."

Izzy South, who also works in Tunbridge Wells, said she had found the past nine days difficult.

She told BBC Radio Kent: "You realise how much you need water when something like this happens.

"Fortunately, my mum drives so we've been able to get water from the stations where I've been really impressed at the efficiency of the people working there.

"However, I really feel for those with mobility issues and without transport."

Morgane Glew, business manager at St George's Childcare in Tunbridge Wells, said it had been costly to the nursery.

They had to buy pumps to make it easier for the children to wash their hands and urns to heat enough water, she said.

She told the BBC: "Even the floors are being washed with boiled or bottled water.

"We had to employ an extra member of staff to look after [children's] handwashing because that takes longer.

"Financially, it's not brilliant, the costs will be huge."

SEW has set up bottled water stations at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre in St John's Road and the Odeon car park in Knights Way.

Grab bags, which contain water that cannot be used for drinking, are available at the B&M Store and Garden Centre, Linden Park Road.

Meanwhile, SEW said its teams had been "actively addressing" delivery requests and new sign-ups for its Priority Services Register (PSR) from those who required urgent assistance or were unable to travel.

Mr Dean said there had been no repeat of the problems at the Pembury plant, which was "working well".

He said: "We are still carrying out a full investigation of the water quality failure.

"Once we have conducted a full investigation, post-incident, we'll be in a position to share more granular detail."

Customers can register for the PSR by visiting the SEW website or by calling 0333 000 0365.

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