Thousands of households in West Kent remain without running water for a third consecutive day after a major pipe burst disrupted supply from a key treatment works.
Around 5,850 properties across Brenchley, Matfield, Pembury and Lamberhurst were affected after a fault on a main connected to Bewl Water Treatment Works on Thursday morning.
South East Water confirmed that the damaged pipe was repaired on Thursday afternoon, but issues persist due to air trapped within the system.
Homes located on higher ground, particularly in Brenchley and Pembury, have been the most affected, with many still waiting for water supplies to return.
The company said it expected most properties to have water restored by the end of Friday, although delays have continued into the weekend.
South East Water apologised for the disruption, stating that airlocks in the system had caused further complications overnight. Engineers are working “as quickly as they can” to resolve the issue.
To support residents, bottled water stations have been set up at Matfield Village Hall and a Tesco superstore in Pembury.
The disruption comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the company. Ofwat launched an investigation earlier this year following repeated supply failures affecting thousands of homes.
In March, chief executive David Hinton attributed previous outages to extreme weather conditions, including freeze-thaw damage and storms.
At the height of earlier incidents, around 30,000 properties were left without water, with some households experiencing outages lasting several days.