Firm apologises after remote farm runs short of water for livestock
A WATER firm has apologised to residents in Filching whose homes regularly ran dry after a reservoir feared to have been contaminated was shut down.
The Crane Down reservoir was taken out of service late last year as 'a precaution' – but emergency tanks dried up as temperatures soared over the last few weeks, leaving some people without water.
South East Water said it expressed its 'sincere apologies' and promised water quality would be back to normal in early July.
Darren Vassie, 39, lives on a remote farm in the village with his partner and six-year-old son and said in recent weeks his home was regularly running dry.
He told the Herald, "Seven or eight months ago, we got a letter from South East Water saying the reservoir at Crane Down had been contaminated and they were going to take it out of service.
"They put us on an emergency water supply but in the last few weeks, every 48 hours or so we've run out of water.
"We've got 30 livestock up here and we've not got the water for them. They started bringing a lorry load of water up here but even that's not enough.
"At first it was coming every day but now it's only about twice a week.
"We all pay our water rates in good faith but we're not getting enough water. It's been like that for months."
Mr Vassie, a gas installer and plumber, also claimed South East Water were breaking regulator Ofwat's guidelines by not pumping water into his home at the right pressure.
South East Water said it 'sincerely apologised' to its customers in Filching.
A spokesperson said, "We carry out thorough testing of all our water sources to ensure the water quality meets strict standards.
"It was through this work that we found problems with the water quality at our Filching source late last year and had to take it out of commission while we investigated and remedied the problems.
"In the interim, we installed two temporary tanks at our Crane Down reservoir, supplied by road tanker from an alternative source.
"This arrangement has been successful in ensuring continuation of water supplies to local properties while we progressed with work to bring in pumped water from another of our nearby water supply works.
"These pumps are due to become operational by early July and will fill Crane Down reservoir direct and ensure both water quality and pressure are maintained in the longer term.
"Unfortunately, during the recent warm weather, peak demand for water was higher than expected so, the temporary storage tanks drained down much more quickly than anticipated.
"As a result, some customers experienced a temporary loss of water until the storage tanks were refilled.
"South East Water sincerely apologises for this situation. In tandem with our new pumps scheme we have urgently reviewed our operational activities to maintain sufficient water storage in these temporary tanks, including increasing the frequency of refilling."
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Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Monday 28 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
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