00:00This was the sight of hundreds of people in Herne Bay on the hottest day of the year so
00:04far as thousands of properties in the seaside town were left without a supply, all said
00:10to have been caused by high demand. Temperatures soared above 30 degrees across Kent, with health
00:17bosses warning residents to stay cool and drink plenty of water. The issues in Herne
00:22Bay were eventually restored but then, at around midday today, a further 3,000 people
00:28down the road in Seasalter and Whitstable reported a trickle of supply.
00:33I was first alerted on social media through one of the local resident groups that water
00:38pressure was low and then people said, well I haven't got any and then more and more people
00:44said, well I've got none, we've got none again. The summit has only just started and I am very
00:50concerned that this, you know, I was going to say it's a creaking infrastructure but it's
00:57not even there, it's a broken infrastructure.
01:01South East Water said in a statement, we're working hard to restore supplies as quickly
01:05as possible, using tankers to inject water directly into our network to help get drinking
01:11water back to customers' taps. It comes just days after the water giant sent a message to
01:16customers urging them only to use water for essential purposes, including drinking, washing
01:22and cooking. South East Water is so concerned about water levels that it's issued an amber
01:27warning for the parts of Kent that it supplies. This means that on average, more than 625 million
01:34litres of water are being used by people here in the county every day. In fact, just a few
01:39days ago, the company recorded its highest so far this year, 680 million litres of water.
01:46That's roughly the same as one of these for every adult. Residents are advised to capture
01:51and reuse water at this time, avoid washing cars and patios and not to worry about dried
01:57out lawns. However, not all customers are happy with being asked to save water.
02:02We pay enough money so that we shouldn't have to go through these procedures.
02:07I've seen, you know, people doing their cars even in this sort of weather.
02:13They're right, they're right, but given how much sewage they're pumping into the, into
02:17the waters that maybe they need to look into their own disposal facilities first.
02:23Well, water bills are going up and up and up, aren't they? I think I pay about £55 a month
02:29and the reservoirs are empty and yeah, we need to save water, why not, for just a few weeks.
02:34Right now, a hosepipe ban isn't in force. But the company says as long as customers make
02:39small changes now, further measures can be avoided. Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
02:44Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
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