South East Water has restored supplies to customers following the high levels of bursts experienced last week following the quick thaw after freezing conditions over the holiday period.

The freeze/thaw saw the utility battle to resolve supply issues across the south east caused by the snow and ice thawing rapidly. This put extreme pressure on the company’s 9,000 mile underground pipe network which takes drinking water from treatment works into homes.

On a normal winter’s day South East Water extracts, treats and pumps an average of 520 million litres of drinking water a day to customers. During a 24 hour period this increased by more than 100 million litres to over 620 million - the equivalent of adding almost three towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne to its network overnight.

The company said there had been a 300 per cent increase in the number of bursts than normal both on its supply pipes and on customers’ pipes across Kent and Sussex - leaving around 15,000 homes and businesses without water or with low pressure.

David Hinton, Chief Executive Officer, South East Water apologised tocustomers who were left without water in what he described as an “incredibly fast moving and challenging situation.”

“Although we planned for this, we cannot predict when and where pipes will burst and are reacting as quickly as possible,” he added.