Burst Water Main Fixed
A burst water main that left homes without water on hottest day of year has been fixed but customers may notice water is cloudy.
On Saturday 5th June homes in Hildenborough in West Kent were left without water after a large water main burst on the London Road. Residents in the town and in the Tonbridge area were left with either no water or low water pressure.
South East Water have today (Sunday 6th June) told us that the problem has been fixed and have sent us this statement:
'South East Water wishes to thank all its customers in the Hildenborough and Tonbridge areas of Kent for their patience today as the company dealt with a major burst water main.
Spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to those customers affected today while we dealt with the emergency repair work, but also thank them for their patience.
“Our team worked hard throughout the day to locate the damaged 12inch diameter water main. With such a large main it was a difficult job but we have now been able to carry out the repair. We had contractors and staff out delivering bottled water to our vulnerable customers and a supply of bottled water was available for people to pick up.
“We have now repaired the water main and we are beginning to slowly recharge the pipe and increase the water pressure. This has to be a careful and slow process to avoid further bursts, our engineers are confident this will be successful and all customer supplies will begin to return to normal.”
After the supply is back on some customers may notice that their water becomes white or cloudy, discoloured or has sediment. South East Water advises the following:
Let your first incoming tap, usually the cold water kitchen tap, run slowly until the water becomes clear.
Don’t use your washing machine, dishwasher, shower or hot water until the water clears.
Brownish discolouration is usually caused by harmless natural deposits in the mains that have been disturbed.
White\Cloudy discolouration is usually caused by air in the water, which will clear in time.'