The rapid change in weather conditions caused a 300% increase in bursts and leaks to pipes in South East Water’s region with the company continuing to work to restore supply to thousands of households.
The quick thaw of frozen pipes resulted in around 15,000 customers experiencing supply issues including low pressure. Homes in and around Tunbridge Wells have experienced supply problems for six days.
Teams found and repaired 463 complex leaks over the past week across its network, but the company believes a substantial amount of water is continuing to be lost through customer side leaks.
Demand for water increased by 100 million litres on Sunday and Monday leading South East to encourage householders to check pipes on their properties for leaks.
Chief executive, David Hinton, said teams were “working flat out” to locate leaks across the network of 9,000 miles of pipework.
“Overnight we began to see a slight improvement in the levels of our drinking water storage tanks, but with record amount of water still being lost to smaller leaks, particularly on customer premises, this is going to be a slow progress until the majority of pipes are repaired.”
The extra water required to meet demand has caused reservoir levels to drop quickly, which after low rainfall for 10 months this year will leave supplies in a difficult position for next year.
“It is a constantly changing picture in very challenging circumstances beyond our control,” Hinton said. “All our teams are working 24 hours a day responding to and will continue to do so until supplies are restored.”