DWI opens investigation into Tunbridge Wells outage

(by Karma Loveday)

At the time of writing, a boil water notice remained in place for 24,000 South East Water customers in the Tunbridge Wells area. The company took the decision to recharge its network on 3 December so customers – some of whom have been off supply since 29 November – can flush their loos and wash. But it stressed the water did not meet regulatory drinking standards and so should not be consumed or used in food preparation without boiling first.

A bad chemical batch at the Pembury treatment works has been cited as the cause of the ongoing problems. Bottled water collections and deliveries to vulnerable customers continue.

South East Water has come in for fierce criticism over both the outage itself and its customer communications during the incident, in part because several commitments to restore supplies were subsequently missed. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has commenced a full investigation, which it said will cover the company’s actions in the lead up to, during and after the event, including communications with consumers to protect public health.

Chair of the EFRA Committee, Alistair Carmichael, has written to South East Water criticising the significant disruption to homes, schools and businesses; the “concerning lack of resilience” given the Pembury works has previously been identified as at significant risk of causing such an incident; “substandard crisis management” including regarding the siting of bottled water distribution points and shortcomings with deliveries to vulnerable customers; and not learning lessons from previous incidents. He asked for detailed information on these matters within a week of supply being fully restored.