7,000 homes lose water for a second day as South East Water says its future is in doubt

A equipment failure at Pembury Water Treatment Works left 7,000 Tunbridge Wells homes without reliable water for a second day on 19 July 2026. South East Water told people to boil water before drinking and handed out bottled water. The same site caused winter outages leading to a £30.5 million penalty on 14 July. On 17 July, the company warned it might not survive.