Properties in Broadstairs, St Peter’s and areas of Ramsgate are without water, or suffering low pressure, again today (January 30).
Reports of the supply interruption began at around 10am. It is understood water supply is expected to return shortly (as of 11.15am).
A Southern Water spokesman said: “We’re sorry some customers in the Broadstairs and Ramsgate area may have suffered low pressure or loss of water. This was due to continuing maintenance in the area. All supplies should have returned within an hour of any outage.”
This is the fifth outage in two months– 19 December, 12 January, 15 January, 21 January and today (January 30).
This was initially due to a burst water main, followed by multiple power failures at Rumfields WBS.
19 December 2022
- This was caused by a burst water main. Supply went off in the early hours of December 19 and was restored by around 9pm on December 20.
12 and 15 January 2023
- These outages were due to local power interruptions, which tripped the booster pumps on site.
21 January 2023
- A mains power failure occurred and generators also failed due to a faulty starter motor.
Overnight electrical maintenance work, which included the installation of a new temporary generator and mains fail testing, was carried out at Rumsfield Water Station following the last outage (prior to today).
Southern Water said the site is now permanently manned until the new starter motor is installed, which provides resilience if there is a power issue, as the team will be able to switch power over onto the generator and keep customers in supply.
Southern Water says it is currently upgrading the Rumfields site and anticipates work to improve the water tower will be completed next month.
