Kent County plunged dry as water crisis declared a major incident. Homes and schools in Canterbury, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, and beyond have been hit hard by ongoing water outages. The chaos shows no signs of easing, forcing numerous schools to shut down.
Water Cuts Hammer Homes and Schools
Kent County Council chief Linden Kemkaren confirmed the situation in a viral social media video. Both South East Water and Southern Water customers are suffering widespread supply disruptions.
“At KCC we are doing everything we can to support efforts to fix this, chairing multi-agency meetings to track and hold water firms accountable,” Kemkaren said. “Frustratingly, we don’t know how long this will last or how many more will be affected.”
Schools forced to close include:
- Speldhurst C Of E Primary School
- Langton Green Primary School
- Claremont Primary School
- Skinners’ Academy, Tunbridge Wells
- Harrietsham C Of E Primary School
- Ulcombe C Of E Primary School
- Tiger Primary School, Loose
- Leeds & Broomfield C Of E Primary, Maidstone
Power Failures Spark Water Crisis
Saturday’s nightmare began with a fault at Matts Hill Water Supply Works in Hartlip, near Sittingbourne, halting water production.
UK Power Networks added fuel to the fire with power cuts hitting pumping stations in the Thanet district, affecting seaside towns Selling and Wingham.
Southern Water warns nearly 19,000 properties across Medway Towns and villages like Boxley, Detling, and Bobbing face severe shortages.
“We’re doing all we can to keep water flowing and protect supply. Currently, there’s no loss of supply for Southern Water customers in Kent,” a spokesperson said.
South East Water reports some improvement in Hollingbourne, Headcorn, Ulcombe, Kingswood, and Sutton Valence. Yet, households at higher elevations still face patchy supply as reservoir levels recover.
“Supplies may be intermittent today as reservoirs refill. We’re sorry for the disruption and are working to restore normal supply ASAP,” said the company.
Power cuts at a South East Water pumping station mean residents in Detling, Canterbury, and Tunbridge Wells are still suffering low or no water pressure.
“Our team is on site fixing the problem to restore water soon. We apologise for the inconvenience and are working hard to resolve this,” the supplier promised.
Postcodes in the Cold
The worst-hit areas include:
- CT5 2AB
- ME14 4PA
- TN3 9BW
- TN4 8BG
- CT2 8JH
- TN12 0BW
- ME15 9UD
- ME17 1XD
- TN2 3PZ
