Latest news with #Seasalter
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Whitstable and Seasalter water issues continue into second week
A water company has apologised to customers who are still affected by supply issues which began last week, but warned that some problems will continue for several its height, up to 3,000 properties around Herne Bay, Whitstable and Seasalter lost their supply, and South East Water said the heatwave was to company said it was having to force water from tankers into the system to clear pockets of air, which will mean groups of about 50 customers at a time will temporarily lose supply MP for the area has said it "beggars belief" there was no forward planning for the hot weather. Steve Andrews, head of operations control at South East Water, said the company really was "truly sorry for the disruption".He added: "I would ask all customers to use water for essential use over the next few days, just so we can get the system returned to normal."We're seeing really high demand and that's preventing the system recovering as it normally would do."Rosie Duffield, the independent MP for Canterbury, has written to the told BBC Radio Kent: "It beggars belief there's no forward planning for instances like this, when we know we're expecting more houses to be built, when we know climate change is real."Jane Bowyer from Cheesemakers of Canterbury has lost four days of production."This will result in perhaps a lack of cheese at Christmas" she said. Philip Harris from the Sportsman pub in Seasalter said he had lost about £30, said: "We lost a whole Saturday, half a Friday, a whole Wednesday, so we've missed out on probably 250 to 300 customers."We were having to phone people an hour before they were due to be here, because the water suddenly went off." Mr Andrews said: "We are investing into our network but we have seen a real increase in customer demand over the last few years."We're looking to build a new reservoir at Broadoak. We have a plan for new big trunk mains to transfer water, as there's no natural water in the Whitstable area."We've got more gangs than we've ever had undertaking repairs."
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
South East Water says supply issue improving but not yet fixed
An ongoing water supply issue in Kent is improving but has not been "completely fixed" yet, with about 500 properties remaining affected for a sixth day, South East Water has Wednesday, it said up to 3,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and surrounding areas had no water or low pressure due to the recent the number of affected homes has reduced, the company's water supply director, Douglas Whitfield, could not promise a total resolution by told BBC Radio Kent: "That's certainly what we're hoping [but] I wouldn't like to 100% commit to that because if I do then something else could happen which means that's not the case." Mr Whitfield said the Seasalter area had seen a "good return to supply" and "all those customers should have their normal mains supply back on now", but there were "intermittent" issues around the Wraik Hill and Yorkletts areas."The last area we need to get on is the Wraik Hill area which has benefitted from some boosters which suck water from one of our storage tanks, and they're still currently airlocked," he boosters ran for a period on Sunday night, but "tripped off" on Monday morning, he said."Water will be injected from a tanker into the area," he said, adding that supply should be returned later on Monday. Meanwhile, he said a fault on one of the apparatus on the network needed to be repaired and replaced, but it was a complicated process."It's a very deep main, encased in concrete, and will require us to isolate that main to do the repair. Obviously we can't do that until supplies are back in," he bottled water stations at Sainsbury's on Reeves Way in Chestfield, and at 129C Faversham Road, Seasalter, in Whitstable, remain open on Whitfield also promised customers would be compensated in due for the outage, he said: "This is not the service we want to give to customers... it's been a very challenging week."
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Hundreds still without water for fifth day
A company says it still cannot provide a "specific time" when water supplies will return to about 500 properties which have experienced issues for the fifth day in a row. On Wednesday, South East Water said up to 3,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and surrounding areas had no water or low pressure due to the recent heatwave. Some residents in the affected areas told the BBC how they felt "defeated" by the situation. The company told customers it was "very sorry" and said its teams had worked throughout Saturday night. "We know how distressing and frustrating it is to be without water and have specialists across the business supporting the work being done," it added. The company said although it had removed the trapped air from its pipes, the work was "extremely difficult and time consuming" and about 500 properties would continue to have supply issues through to Sunday night. It added the leak on Canterbury Road, Whitstable, outside The Two Brewers pub, was fixed on Saturday night under a road closure. "Diversions will be in place to safely guide traffic around the affected area," the company added. "There are five tankers pumping water into the local area so some customers may see intermittent supplies." Two bottled water stations have opened: a drive-through at Sainsbury's, Reeves Way, Chestfield, Whitstable, CT5 3QS, and a walk-in service at 129C Faversham Road, Seasalter, Whitstable, CT5 4SD. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Company renews urgent plea to save water Residents feel 'defeated' by ongoing water issue Water supply problems continue for Kent homes South East Water
BBC News
05-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Kent residents feel 'defeated' by ongoing water supply issue
About 500 properties in an area of Kent are still facing water supply issues for a fourth day in a Wednesday, South East Water said up to 3,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and surrounding areas had no water or low pressure due to the recent company said it hoped to resolve the issue by Saturday and it was continuing to working as quickly as it could to restore Brockhurst, 33, who lives in Kimberley Grove, said he and other residents felt "totally defeated" by the ongoing situation and it was "affecting people's physical and mental health now". "There's has been a lack of communication from South East Water except telling us they are sorry for the disruption," he Brockhurst said the bottled station is nearly four miles (6.4km) away from his home"It's not easy for people to access water and we don't drive," he added."We were given 12 two-litre bottles outside our house, which isn't enough to drink, cook with, clean dishes, clean clothes and clean ourselves with." A spokesperson for South East Water said: "We are sorry to those still without water or experiencing low pressure. "We have removed some trapped air from the system, however this is a challenging and complicated process and unfortunately around 500 properties in the area are still having supply issues. "Some customers may also be experiencing aerated water whilst our works are ongoing, and once our works are completed your water supplies will return to normal." The company said a bottled station was open on Saturday at Sainsbury's - Reeves Way, Chestfield, Whitstable, CT5 added it would provide further updates on Saturday afternoon.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Part of Kent hit with water supply issues for third day in a row
About 500 properties in an area of Kent are still facing water supply issues for a third day in a Wednesday, South East Water said up to 3,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and surrounding areas had no water or low pressure due to the recent company says there are still hundreds of homes in the area facing "intermittent supply".Nick Bell, incident manager at South East Water, said: "We're unable to confirm at this stage when supplies will be fully restored to all customers, but we're working hard to address this as soon as possible." The company has been using four tankers to inject water directly into its network and this has helped restore supplies to some customers in the South East Water is still trying to remove trapped air from its pipes, which is preventing water from reaching all its users."This takes time to remove airlocks and get water flowing through the pipes again," Mr Bell said.A bottled water station is reopening at Sainsbury's in Reeves Way in Chestfield and the company is delivering bottled water to customers in the impacted areas, including those on its priority services register. Earlier in the week the company issued an urgent appeal to residents in the South East to reduce their water usage.
