I wanted to update you on what I understand about the water outage we have been experiencing.
As promised, I spoke to the Chief Executive of South East Water at 1pm today.
I made the point that for my constituents, thousands of whom endured the misery of being without running water before last Christmas, to have no water at the height of the summer is unacceptable.
This is what I was told by the Chief Executive:
The problem affecting Tunbridge Wells last night and today is a burst water main near Halls Hole Road – one of the main pipes supplying the south of the town.
The burst first reduced water pressures – especially in properties furthest away from the burst, and then cut off supply altogether as the flow was stopped to repair the 2-metre long rupture.
I was told that the main is out of the Blackhurst Lane reservoir not feeding it, so there is no repetition of December’s incident when that reservoir became depleted.
The company said repairs were progressing and expected supply to resume later today.
I am naturally, given the prolonged misery of December, inclined to be sceptical of promised timetables and have asked to be updated later today.
A few other points are relevant:
- In my view, bottled water should have been made available this morning. I asked for a distribution site to be set up without further delay if tap water does not resume imminently.
- Compensation should be paid without fuss to those affected.
- The resilience of the network in Tunbridge Wells must be upgraded.
On the latter, I have been given a plan for upgrades to the network that I asked for following my debate in Parliament in January, including some actions that South East Water says have already been taken.
I want that plan to be independently assessed to test its adequacy, and I will write to you shortly with my view on that plan to restore resilience to the network.
I will give you an update as soon as I have further information on the current situation.
With best wishes
Greg