Updated
Properties in Broadstairs, Westwood and some Ramsgate areas are without water yet again due to a booster pump failure at Rumfields water tower on the evening of January 21.
It is the fourth water supply outage in the area in less than a month with the last being just five days ago. The week prior to that properties were without water due to a technical fault with the pumps and in December there was no supply for around 3 days following a burst main at the site.
This morning (January 22) properties are still without supply and Southern Water plans to deliver bottled water to vulnerable customers and possibly open bottled water stations.
Southern Water says: “A team is working on a fix and we’re drawing up a plan for bottled water stations to provide water to customers. When these are set-up we will announce further details. If needed, bottled water will be delivered to vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register today.
“If you’re without water and you or someone you know needs access to bottled water as a priority, you can sign up to our Priority Services Register now and we’ll add you to the list for emergency deliveries.
“Between 9-5, call us on 0800 027 0800 and out of hours, call us on 0330 303 0368.”
The issue of constant interruptions in supply for Westwood and other areas will be discussed at a council scrutiny meeting after Labour councillor Rob Yates requested it be added to the agenda,
He said: “After concerns from residents reporting over 6 outages in six months, low water pressure, and accusations of Southern Water failing to build the appropriate new infrastructure to support all the new Westwood Cross homes, I have got the issue added to the agenda for the council’s overview and scrutiny meeting on February 16th.
“This will allow members to hear residents’ concerns and decide what action should be take. I visited the area recently and it is shocking that residents face continued low pressure and water outages, particularly in the colder months when a lack of water results in boilers failing.
“I am worried about rumours that suggest that Southern Water knew that they needed additional pumping infrastructure to serve new homes and failed to take the appropriate action.”
Green councillor Mike Garner, whose ward covers the Rumfie;ds Road water tower, said he had written to Southern Water’s CEO to ask for answers over the outages.
He said: “I wrote to Lawrence Gosden, the recently appointed CEO of Southern Water, earlier this week to highlight local residents’ concerns about the numerous water outages over the last few months, most of which, like this latest one, seem to be centred on the Water Tower in Rumfield Road.
“I asked him for 2 things. 1 – A full explanation of what the issues are which keep causing the outages. 2 – A detailed plan, including a timeline, as to how they are going to fix all the issues and restore a reliable water supply.
“Although he told me that he’d passed my questions on to his ‘Kent Stakeholder Manager’, it is becoming clear that answers to these questions are needed urgently and I’ll be contacting him again on Monday to emphasise this.
“I’ll also be telling him that I agree with Liz Larkin (see petition below) that now would be a good time for him to come down and tell us why we have seen no improvement in service since last year’s public meeting with the previous CEO of Southern Water, Ian McAuley and give us a chance to question him directly.”
Petition
Resident Liz Larvin has now raised a petitioning asking Southern Water to attend a public meeting to explain the constant issues with water supply in Broadstairs.
She says on the petition page: “While some incidents may be weather related, Southern Water’s communication with impacted residents has been woeful. And those residents who are on the vulnerable list are left without water for several hours, despite having additional needs.
“We call on Southern Water to meet with the local community to explain why frequent interruptions to supply are recurring, what compensation is being offered to residents, and what remediation plans are in place to ensure we can drink, bathe and keep our houses clean.”
