On November 30, 2025, life in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was abruptly upended for more than 24,000 residents as taps ran dry and water pressure plummeted across the town. The culprit? A bad batch of coagulant chemicals forced the shutdown of the Pembury Water Treatment Works, the main facility responsible for supplying the area’s drinking water. As the crisis unfolded, South East Water scrambled to respond, but the disruption rippled through homes, schools, and businesses—testing the town’s patience and resilience.
According to Metro, the initial signs of trouble appeared when residents woke up to find no running water or only a trickle from their taps. The company quickly issued an apology, explaining the cause: “This is due to an issue at our Pembury Water Treatment Works, resulting in the site shutting down. This has caused the dependent local drinking water storage tanks to run low.” The outage, which began on November 29, soon escalated, with the number of affected customers climbing from 6,000 to over 24,000 by the following day.
With water supplies dwindling, South East Water set up emergency bottled water stations across the town. The main hub at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre was besieged by residents, many of whom queued for hours in the chilly November air. The demand was so intense that the station temporarily ran out of bottles and had to close for restocking. Another distribution point at Sovereign Way was shut down due to a winter festival, prompting a frantic search for a replacement site. Additional stations were hastily opened at the Odeon Cinema on Knights Way and at RCP Parking, with opening hours extended until late in the evening.
Frustration mounted as stories of long waits and logistical hiccups spread on social media. One resident described the scene at a collection point: “My son waited at the water bottle station in Tonbridge for 2 hours this morning, along with many others. The lorry full of bottled water is there with another full lorry waiting down the road. They aren’t allowed to unload the water as there has to be a rep from SE Water there! Disgusting.” Others, like mother-of-two Nicola Hodgson, were forced to send their children to relatives just to ensure they had access to drinking water and working toilets. “We have two young children, aged five and seven, so they have decamped to their grandmothers for the moment, so we can get them something to drink and have working toilets,” she told the BBC.
For those unable to collect water in person, South East Water arranged direct deliveries. Around 1,700 vulnerable customers on the Priority Services Register—including care homes—received bottled water at their doorsteps. Tunbridge Wells Hospital, a critical facility, was kept operational with the help of a water tanker, and bottled water was distributed to patients being discharged to affected areas. Rachel Jones, executive director on-call for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, confirmed that the hospital had “mitigation” plans in place: “We have distributed bottled water to patients going home to any affected area.”
As the crisis deepened, the local police were called in to manage traffic gridlock and maintain order at the crowded bottled water stations. According to UKNIP, the influx of residents desperate for supplies led to confusion and congestion, with officers stepping in to keep things running smoothly. Meanwhile, South East Water’s teams worked around the clock, moving water from other areas and flushing the system to replace the faulty chemicals. The company’s incident manager, Matthew Dean, offered reassurance: “The water currently in supply is safe and does not require boiling.”
Businesses across Tunbridge Wells bore the brunt of the outage. The Black Horse pub on Camden Road, along with other establishments like Spice Fusion and The Bull in Frant Road, was forced to close its doors. “Sadly, this means it is illegal for us to open, and trust me, if I could, I would be opening,” the Black Horse posted on Facebook. Eating establishments, by law, must have working toilets for staff and customers, making it impossible to operate safely without running water. Teresa Barrett, the landlady of the Black Horse, lamented, “I couldn’t afford to be closed given the current trading environment,” highlighting the “extreme amount of money” lost due to the disruption.
The impact extended to education as well. On December 1, several schools—including Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, Oakley School, Claremont Primary School, and Skinners Kent Primary School—remained closed due to the ongoing water shortage. Parents and students faced uncertainty as they awaited news on when normal service would resume.
Local MP Mike Martin, himself among those without water, took to social media to express his frustration and coordinate relief efforts. “I’ve been told that 24,000 people have been affected. Utterly disgraceful,” he posted on X. Martin worked with police and water delivery teams to expedite the distribution of supplies, noting, “Site moving quickly, further sites being set up in town centre.” He also spoke directly with the CEO of South East Water, pressing for swift resolution and clear communication.
South East Water’s incident manager, Marc Sims, provided updates as the utility battled to restore normalcy. “We are aware of about 24,000 customers who are without water,” Sims said, adding that the company was “continuing to move water around and tankering into the network to try and bring as many supplies back as possible.” By the evening of November 30, some progress had been made, with about 1,150 properties in the Pembury area back in supply following rezones. Still, the company warned that the process of refilling storage tanks and flushing the system had to be done slowly to avoid further complications.
In a 6am update on December 1, South East Water announced, “We are beginning to fill our drinking water storage tanks at Pembury Water Treatment Works. Once they have reached a good level, we will be able to send water to our drinking water storage tank at Blackhurst. This process has to be completed slowly, to ensure we don’t cause any further issues to the network, however we expect customer supplies to start to return throughout this morning.” Residents were cautioned that some discoloration might occur when the water returned, but the company assured the public it was not harmful.
Throughout the ordeal, South East Water maintained that bottled water stations would remain open as needed, with locations at the Sports Centre, RCP Parking, and the Odeon Cinema in Knights Way. The company repeatedly apologized for the inconvenience and urged residents to remain patient as crews worked “through the night to clean out Pembury Treatment Works” and restore safe, reliable water to every home and business.
By December 1, the worst of the crisis was beginning to ease, but the disruption left a lasting impression on Tunbridge Wells. The water outage exposed the vulnerability of essential infrastructure—and the importance of rapid, transparent communication in times of trouble. For many, it was a stark reminder that even in well-served communities, the basics of daily life can’t always be taken for granted.
