South East Water: Dozens of homes in East Sussex still without water

South East Water had said most homes in East Sussex would see water return overnight on Friday into Saturday.

But problems remain in Wadhurst and Mayfield, near Crowborough, and South East Water has not said when they will be resolved.

It comes as residents expressed their outrage at having no water in Wadhurst, which was voted the best place to live in the UK by the Sunday Times this year.

A bottled water station in Wadhurst (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

The company said water may be cloudy or discoloured when people first turn their taps on but reassured that this is not harmful.

Steve Andrews, South East Water's incident manager, said: “Most customers affected by this week’s water supply problems now have full water supplies again.

“We are currently working to resolve a localised issue in Wadhurst and Mayfield.

“Now that water has returned to the majority, it may be cloudy or discoloured. This is caused by natural deposits of iron and manganese or air in the pipework and is not harmful.

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“Discoloured water can be cleared by slowly running the cold kitchen tap until the water runs clear while white or cloudy water will disappear on its own.

“As a precaution, our bottled water stations in Rotherfield, Wadhurst, Mayfield and Headcorn are open.

“Once again, we are so sorry for the disruption that this week’s supply problems have caused.

“The demand for water we saw was extremely high, higher than previous record-breaking levels we had seen during the Coronavirus pandemic and prior to last year's temporary use ban.”

Wadhurst is still having water supply issues (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

The water outage has also prompted fears of livestock dying from dehydration on farms in the area.

Schools have also been affected by the shortage.

Wadhurst CE Primary School has been closed to most pupils since Tuesday.

Uplands Academy pupils still managed to sit their GCSEs in the sweltering heat.

Artist Jutta Wrobel, who has lived in Wadhurst for 35 years, said: “I expect to be able to fill my paddling pool, five days into a heatwave.

“I’m furious and I’m urging people in Wadhurst to write to the water company to complain.

“The schools are closed and the care home residents have had no water for days.”