Hundreds of homes in Kent and Sussex left without water after supply outages

Hundreds of homes in Kent and Sussex have been left without water by a company that MPs recently accused of incompetence. South East Water said the hot weather and extra demand for water meant it was having to pump more drinking water than usual to higher ground. The outages began on Saturday and peaked on Sunday when about 800 properties in the Kent villages of Charing, Challock and Molash were unable to get water. About 168 homes were also thought to be affected by outages in Eastbourne, East Sussex , on Sunday afternoon. At least 250 homes remained without water on Monday. South East Water said extra demand for water was causing shortages for customers: “As a result of the recent hot weather, we’re seeing increased demand across our network and we’re having to pump far more drinking water than usual.” On social media the company appealed to customers to space out their water use: “Sun’s out. We know the drill: nobody wants a water company telling them to save water when there’s leaks. Fair point. “Our reservoirs are healthy. There is no shortage of water. But if we all use hoses at Saturday lunchtime, the water pressure drops and homes at the top of the hill can run dry. Spacing out heavy water tasks over the week means everyone on your street keeps their water pressure.” The British public has one of the highest per-capita daily water usage rates in Europe, averaging roughly 142 to 150 litres a person a day. …