How Tunbridge Wells survived a week without water

It has been a week since water supplies to some 24,000 homes in Kent and East Sussex were cut off – and what followed has been described as chaos.

The matter was taken to the very top, with the prime minister calling the situation “shocking” and calls for the head of South East Water to resign are growing ever stronger.

Now, water has returned to the majority of homes, but even those who are lucky enough to have any must boil it before drinking it.

The issue was caused by a disinfection problem at a water treatment works, and questions about how this happened will continue – but what was it like for those living through it?

Sia Davidsson-Clayton lives in Tunbridge Wells and said she took some unusual steps to care for her baby on the first day of the outage because her local shops had run out of still water.

“We had to bath our baby in boiled sparkling water, the most ‘Tunbridge Wells’ thing we have ever done,” she said.

Sia says she is still unsure if it is safe for her to wash, as she is fearful for her baby’s safety when breast-feeding.

“It’s been chaos, I’ve never known anything like it, what’s been awful is how unclear everything’s been,” she added.

Anita Jarrett, who lives in Sherwood, said she was caught in a tricky situation when the water suddenly stopped last Saturday.

She said: “My water is OK now. When the water cut out on Saturday I had hair dye on and couldn’t wash it off!”

Anita’s closest bottled water station was in Knights Way – more than one mile from her home.

“I don’t drive, so I’ve been relying on lifts from friends and family,” she said.

David Flanighan, who lives in the centre of Tunbridge Wells, got his water back in the early hours of Friday but is still using the 15 two-litre bottles of drinking water he stocked up on during the week.

“There was no washing machine, I had to boil a kettle, and the dishwasher was covered in green mould when I turned it back on on Friday morning,” he said.

“There needs to be some sort of accountability, the CEO [of South East Water] hasn’t appeared, it’s Where’s Wally? He’s gone to ground.

“They just aren’t answering any questions.”

The BBC has repeatedly requested interviews with CEO David Hinton, but he has not accepted.

BBC journalists living in the area have also been telling us how their water-less weeks have been.

Hamish Mureddu-Reid said: “It was a relief for everyone in my block of flats when the water finally returned and we could flush our loos.

“However, we all still need fresh water and not everyone has a car, so it’s been a daily visit to the bottled water stations.

“The conversations in the hallways have been about when we’ll get drinkable water back, and what’s in it now that’s made it not safe to consume? None of us knows the answer to either question.

“One of the good things to come out of all of this is that it’s really strengthened the community spirit between all our neighbours, but a street party could have done that!”

Claudia Sermbezis was working on Sunday so found herself reporting on the story and living it at the same time.

“My water was off, I could neither shower nor brush my teeth before work, no tea, no coffee, just a sinking feeling that I’m going to be on TV feeling, well, a bit un-showered,” she said.

“We filmed all day at the bottled water station and then said, ‘OK, we’re done, please may I have some water to take home?’ Felt very surreal.”

Journalist Craig Buchan said he was keeping his fingers crossed that the supplies stay on, but some of his neighbours were still without drinking water.

“I’ve never enjoyed putting on a load of laundry as much as I did today,” he said.

“I’ve been able to get lifts from friends to collect bottled water and have been able to use a shower elsewhere.

“I don’t have young children or elderly relatives to look after, so I’m lucky to have not been finding this as difficult as some others.

“It was quite a relief to have something come out of the taps again – the last four days have felt very long.

“Now, like the rest of Tunbridge Wells, I’m gearing up for a long spell of boiling water.”

But how long will customers have to carry on boiling tap water for?

Well, South East Water says it will be until at least 13 December. It applies to any water from the tap that could be consumed – so for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth.

Dr Neil Hudson, head of water quality at the company, said the boil water notice was precautionary to avoid potential health implications.

In an interview earlier in the week, we asked him what would happen if people did drink tap water without boiling it first.

He said: “This is precautionary advice, the water is still going through the full treatment works process.

“There is a small chance that the disinfection process won’t be 100% effective.

“Any sort of healthy, normal individual will probably see no impacts whatsoever. What we would say, if anyone drinks the water and starts to feel any symptoms of being unwell, they speak to their GP, but I think the chance of that will be very low.”