00:00It's now the 11th day of disruption for some communities in Kent after ongoing water supply
00:05problems linked to southeast water. With residents still relying on bottled water stations, Kristen
00:11Hawthorne joins me now from Maidstone to bring us the latest on the impact on households
00:16and the response so far.
00:17Now, Kristen, we've been covering this story a lot since it began. What is the latest update
00:21today?
00:24Well, Chloe, it finally seems that things are starting to wind down as a lot of the water
00:28bottle stations have been closing across the county. The worst of it seems to be over
00:33as well as just last week there was 22,000 South East Water customers who were left with
00:39supply issues. South East Water sent us a statement today at a quarter to three and it was very,
00:45very long. So here's a quick summary of the top of it, which is the most relevant to your
00:49audience. So the South East Water's incident manager, Mike Court, said drinking water supplies
00:55have returned for all customers impacted by the water supply interruptions in Kent caused
01:00by exceptionally high demand following the period of hot weather. Across Kent, however,
01:05there are small isolated areas experiencing intermittent supplies while we continue to stabilise the
01:10network. There is also, however, a burst water main in Whitstable which has caused a small
01:15number of customers in the immediate area to lose supply or have low water pressure and they
01:19are continuing to have these customers in supply as quickly as possible. They say although their
01:24network is continuing to recover levels of drinking water in their storage tanks across Kent are
01:29still low and they're asking customers to use water for essential purposes only such as drinking,
01:34cooking and hygiene. So, you know, it has to be said that although they're saying that supply is
01:39back across the county due to the rain that we've had and things like that, there are also burst water
01:45mains in Whitstable. So whether or not it's fully back is up to question.
01:51And what has the atmosphere been like at the water stations you've seen today?
01:57So, I'm in Maidstone at the moment. Earlier today I was in Whitstable and I was just on the road
02:02where the website said that there was a burst water main. Dogs Trust is on that road, the Rand Fall
02:07Road and they said that they were okay today because Southies supplied them with a huge water tank but
02:12they have had to supply their own water before. There was also another customer who had low water
02:18pressure and she was relying on her own tanker. Now, I've also spoken to Paul Thomas here at Maidstone.
02:26He's a resident here and he gave us his perception of how it's been affecting him.
02:31I've been like everybody else. I've checked with my wife. I can now have a shower this evening
02:35because we're up to about 80-90% pressure again which means now we can shower and that. So,
02:41Febreze is what I've been using to try and stay a little bit cleaner but no, seriously though,
02:47we have been getting buckets out, boiling the kettle up because if you've got low pressure you can't
02:53get it through the system to actually shower with so that we can actually, the old-fashioned way,
02:59you pour a bucket over your head, you shave yourself down and then you rinse yourself off for
03:03hygiene things. It's just not good enough.
03:08Now, if you're someone who is still experiencing difficulties with getting water, there are a few
03:14water stations left open. This one I'm at now at the YMCA in Maidstone is open until 6pm. Now,
03:21it's only been used twice this evening but as you can see, they're starting to shut up shop now but,
03:27yeah, I mean, Southeast Waters say the problems aren't going to continue into the summer but whether
03:31or not that will happen is a wait and see. I see. Thank you so much, Kristen.
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