Water returning after 3,000 properties impacted
BBCWater has started returning to customers after supplies to more than 3,000 properties in Kent were impacted due to "unprecedented demand", South East Water (SEW) says.
The company said supplies would return to properties across Sutton Valence, Headcorn, Ulcombe and Kingswood gradually throughout Friday.
The interruption on Thursday, which affected 3,290 properties, was because water was being drawn faster than it could be treated and distributed, so an interruption was needed to rebuild reserves.
Incident manager Matthew Dean apologised and said all SEW's sites were at maximum capacity and it was tankering water directly into storage reservoirs and its pipeline.
He said the firm was also deploying its specialist teams to fix leaks faster.
Customers are being told they may have low pressure as supplies return and water may appear cloudy or discoloured.
The company explained this was normal following a supply interruption and all customers needed to do was run their kitchen tap until the water ran clear again.
In the case of Ulcombe, near Maidstone, residents have been experiencing "ongoing water supply issues" since 24 July due to high demand, according to SEW.
Bottled water stations have reopened at Morrisons on Sutton Road in Maidstone, at nearby Mote Park Leisure Centre, and at the Mercure Hotel in Hollingbourne.
They opened at 07:00 and were expected to close at 22:00.
SEW's previous issues
SEW has come under fire in recent months after multiple water supply failures in Kent and Sussex as well as a hosepipe ban for all 2.4 million of its customers.
About 24,000 SEW customers had no supplies or low pressure between November and December and just weeks later up to 30,000 homes faced days of uncertainty.
Regulator Ofwat has told the company it must spend £30.5m on infrastructure improvements and has proposed another £22m fine for issues affecting 286,000 people between 2020 and 2023.
In addition, SEW's annual report shows it has £1.3bn worth of debt and figures show it is wasting more than 100 million litres of water per day through leaks.
However, its new boss John Halsall has pledged to improve both its performance and reputation, but said "a huge challenge" laid ahead.
