Repairs carried out at Rumfields Water Tower

Rumfields water tower Image Nigel Cox 

Repair works have been carried out at the Rumfields water tower in Broadstairs following a spate of outages.

Properties in Broadstairs, Westwood and Ramsgate have suffered three interruptions to water supplies this month and an extended outage just before Christmas.

Problems with the booster pump have been blamed for the most recent supply issues.

A Southern Water spokesperson said: “In an effort to provide greater network resilience, we successfully completed  electrical repairs overnight at Rumfields Water Tower. This had no impact on customer supplies.

“This activity follows a number of technical failures in recent months, which led to temporary disruptions to water supplies. We recognise the impact these issues have had on the local community, and we are working hard to make the improvements necessary.”

The issue of constant interruptions in supply for Westwood and other areas will be discussed at a council scrutiny meeting next month 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.”

In response to the repairs update, he added: “This doesn’t answer any of the questions that residents are asking. I’m looking forward to grilling them on how this situation happened, what is the actual problem and is there any truth to the rumour that they knew they needed a new pumping station and failed to act.”

Cllr Mike Garner

Fellow councillor Mike Garner, whose ward covers the water tower, has also been calling for an explanation and a public meeting with Southern Water in attendance.

Thanet Green Party, of which Cllr Garner is the Chair, is also calling for a halt to all housing developments across the isle until significant improvements have been made to Southern Water’s infrastructure.

Cllr Garner said: “It is becoming abundantly clear that Southern Water’s current infrastructure is unable to supply a reliable service to the current population of Thanet, let alone the thousands of new homes which are planned between now and 2030. Without considerable improvements, the new homes being built are bound to make matters worse.

“We therefore believe that until Southern Water have completed the significant upgrades needed to make their infrastructure fit for purpose, no new housing developments should be approved.”

Call for halt to new housing developments until Southern Water infrastructure is improved

Properties in Broadstairs, Westwood and surrounding areas without water again

5 Comments

  1. This company are useless.They were unable to find my meter as it isnt mapped by themselves.I had to show them where my meter was sited.They took three attempts to fix my meter.Then had the audacity to send me a bill for the water they had guessed i might have used whilst it wasnt working.This on top of all the pollution they are causing.Privatisation is finished.How can we continue to build housing estates if we cant even supply water to the local existing customers.

    • I fully agree with you, that the company is useless.
      They should be compansationg people for all the damages they have caused.

  2. Do they want a medal?

    They have record profits and then seem proud to fix issues that occurred through allowing decline in upgrades and under funded repairs. This is the bare minimum they should be doing at this point.

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