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24,000 homes in the Tunbridge Wells area were without water for four or five days.
Losing water supply in that area has happened recently on quite a few occasions. I understand that part of the problem is that South East Water hasn't upgraded the network to cope with new housing and the like.
I believe much of the supply has now been restored but in the meantime this is the advice on their website.
"Your water is chemically safe, but a potential fault in the final disinfection process means you must boil it (and let it cool) before drinking.
Effective from midday on Wednesday 3 December 2025, once your tap water has returned:
Please boil all tap water (and let it cool) before drinking, eating and cooking with, alternatively you can use bottled water.
Please boil all tap water (and let it cool) before using it to brush teeth, wash dishes and wipe down kitchen sides.
This notice remains in place until further notice". [which I believe is about 10 days]
Fortunately, I live in a different area so am not affected, but it has had an impact on shops, schools and the like in the area. For example, an eye appointment I was due to have on Wednesday was cancelled.
What an appalling experiment privatisation of the water supply has been., given the news yesterday that Thames Water isn't far off collapse.
Harold MacMillan was right when he warned Mrs Thatcher about selling off the family silver.
[Post edited 5 Dec 16:56]
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Living in a third world country? on 17:11 - Dec 5 with 680 views
The shareholders have done well though! Borrowing huge sums of money against what was a solvent company when it was sold to pay all those dividends must have had the shareholders rolling in the aisles. If I was on the Board in Abu Wherever, if Tunbridge well has no water, who the heck cares? Doesn’t affect them.
Thatcher’s dream fulfilled. MacMillan was right.
You couldn’t make it up. It was blindingly obvious what’d happen at the time and I was certainly opposed to it. Buy shares in something I already owned? It was mad, let alone the absurdity of the principle.
Utility flog offs: utter, total disgrace. The situation in Tunbridge Wells? Ridiculous. So what is the government going to do about it? Nothing. Not a priority I guess.
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Living in a third world country? on 17:15 - Dec 5 with 666 views
Capitalism is starting to fail really badly now it's powered up so much by advancing technology, geared up to the hilt by predatory greed and up against the constraints of a failing environment and a full planet.
Will we ever change tack, or just plough on into catastrophe?
Living in a third world country? on 17:11 - Dec 5 by Churchman
The shareholders have done well though! Borrowing huge sums of money against what was a solvent company when it was sold to pay all those dividends must have had the shareholders rolling in the aisles. If I was on the Board in Abu Wherever, if Tunbridge well has no water, who the heck cares? Doesn’t affect them.
Thatcher’s dream fulfilled. MacMillan was right.
You couldn’t make it up. It was blindingly obvious what’d happen at the time and I was certainly opposed to it. Buy shares in something I already owned? It was mad, let alone the absurdity of the principle.
Utility flog offs: utter, total disgrace. The situation in Tunbridge Wells? Ridiculous. So what is the government going to do about it? Nothing. Not a priority I guess.
Blindingly obvious is the phrase, but greed ruled over common sense it seems.
I'm happy to be 'educated' on this, I don't claim to know a huge amount about it, I was still at Primary School when the Water Companies were privatised so I can't say I paid it much attention at the time...
The Water Companies themselves come in a for a lot of criticism, it's clear that over a period of decades they prioritised paying shareholder dividends and haven't invested anywhere near enough in maintaining / upgrading infrastructure.
But wasn't / isn't it supposed to be the role of the Regulator to enforce a framework of regulation that prevents the Water Companies from being able to do that? Is it the case that such a prolonged period of weak / ineffectual Regulation has now left the industry in a state where it's too far gone to Regulate back into shape?
It seems foolish to expect Private Business to behave responsibly, so presumably the Regulator is there to make sure that they do. Over the years the Private Companies have behaved just as you'd expect, and the Regulator has not stopped them, seems like the Regulator (and via inference; successive governments of all colours) is as much to blame (probably more so) than Private Business for the current state of the industry. Maybe that's the essence of the oft cited 'failed experiment of privatisation'?
[Post edited 5 Dec 18:12]
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Living in a third world country? on 18:59 - Dec 5 with 501 views
Living in a third world country? on 17:11 - Dec 5 by Churchman
The shareholders have done well though! Borrowing huge sums of money against what was a solvent company when it was sold to pay all those dividends must have had the shareholders rolling in the aisles. If I was on the Board in Abu Wherever, if Tunbridge well has no water, who the heck cares? Doesn’t affect them.
Thatcher’s dream fulfilled. MacMillan was right.
You couldn’t make it up. It was blindingly obvious what’d happen at the time and I was certainly opposed to it. Buy shares in something I already owned? It was mad, let alone the absurdity of the principle.
Utility flog offs: utter, total disgrace. The situation in Tunbridge Wells? Ridiculous. So what is the government going to do about it? Nothing. Not a priority I guess.
I agree with your comments on privatisation and it is a disgrace that residents are suffering this situation. However, this is nothing like a third world country and people actually living without access to water.
Living in a third world country? on 19:04 - Dec 5 by Nthsuffolkblue
I agree with your comments on privatisation and it is a disgrace that residents are suffering this situation. However, this is nothing like a third world country and people actually living without access to water.
“ However, this is nothing like a third world country”
“South East Water hasn't upgraded the network to cope with new housing and the like”.
What is this lefty, woxist, Marksist, commie, hemp-wearing, hemp-eating, tree hugging, snow flaking nonsense?
EVERYONE knows it’s all the forriners innit. Especially the British-born forriners over here claiming benefits( and free bloody phones) while taking all our jobs. British jobs!
Typical Guardian reader falling for rubbish about private enterprise stripping the profits out of public services. You should watch GB News.They tell it like it is.
Living in a third world country? on 19:04 - Dec 5 by Nthsuffolkblue
I agree with your comments on privatisation and it is a disgrace that residents are suffering this situation. However, this is nothing like a third world country and people actually living without access to water.
That's fair enough.
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Living in a third world country? on 21:05 - Dec 5 with 328 views
Living in a third world country? on 17:36 - Dec 5 by NthQldITFC
Blindingly obvious is the phrase, but greed ruled over common sense it seems.
No change yet.
It did indeed, but let’s face it, the tories were trading off greed (their own and the voters) back then and before. It was what the sell off was all about from council houses to the water in the taps.
Indeed, nothing changes.
And no, I did not buy shares in utilities. I thought it plain wrong.
2
Living in a third world country? on 21:14 - Dec 5 with 293 views
Living in a third world country? on 19:04 - Dec 5 by Nthsuffolkblue
I agree with your comments on privatisation and it is a disgrace that residents are suffering this situation. However, this is nothing like a third world country and people actually living without access to water.
Maybe it will create more awareness and encourage more people to donate to, or buy from water aid -
Living in a third world country? on 17:11 - Dec 5 by Churchman
The shareholders have done well though! Borrowing huge sums of money against what was a solvent company when it was sold to pay all those dividends must have had the shareholders rolling in the aisles. If I was on the Board in Abu Wherever, if Tunbridge well has no water, who the heck cares? Doesn’t affect them.
Thatcher’s dream fulfilled. MacMillan was right.
You couldn’t make it up. It was blindingly obvious what’d happen at the time and I was certainly opposed to it. Buy shares in something I already owned? It was mad, let alone the absurdity of the principle.
Utility flog offs: utter, total disgrace. The situation in Tunbridge Wells? Ridiculous. So what is the government going to do about it? Nothing. Not a priority I guess.
Go tell Sid.
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Living in a third world country? on 19:07 - Dec 5 by noggin
“ However, this is nothing like a third world country”
Yet.
For anyone who's not yet aware of 'Freeports', 'Special Economic Zones', or 'Charter Cities' - (from my post of 28/11/2024) -
"EuropeanPowell @EuropeanPowell
Labour partnering up with Blackrock means the UK will be privatised. "BlackRock own, and extract income from, things – schools, bridges, wind farms, and homes – that are nothing less than foundational to our daily being’. This requires them to ‘relentlessly squeeze’ profits out of their holdings – whether that means hiking rents for vulnerable tenants, or charging for the use of common infrastructure" - @graceblakeley
Read Grace Blakeley's book Vulture Capitalism, she describes how the erosion of the nation-state is engineered to a point where govts working hand in hand with corporations step in to 'rescue' democracy from its failures.
The framework for the corporate coup lies in 74 Special Economic Zones (SEZs)and 12 Freeports. Free zones are designated areas with relaxed laws and by extension relaxed enforcement of laws separate from the host country. Secondary legislation is embedded within the free zones contracts, meaning zero Parliamentary and public scrutiny. All free zones give numerous tax breaks to corporations for 10 years, when the deadline for the tax breaks expires, companies are already lobbying the Govt to extend them. Free zone licenses are set at 25 years, Blackrock will asset strip councils and absorb all public services, corporate governance will replace social governance, collective sovereignty (people power) will be replaced with corporate sovereignty (asset classes power).
Now the figures. Each SEZ receives £160 million in State aid which is public money, multiplied by 74 = £11 billion 840 million Each Freeport receive £25 million multiplied by 12 = £300 million Teesside Freeport and SEZ has already spent £560 million of taxpayers money, see @PrivateEyeNews
Teesside was Sunak's flagship Brexit Freeports, profit share is split 90/10 in favour of the private sector. The UK public are paying billions in subsidies to some of the wealthiest and most corrupt corporations on the planet. Your money is being invested in your regions demise and your families transformation into serfs.
UK free zones contravene EU laws and regulations on State aid where govts of member states are prohibited from using State aid to make profits, this disrupts the integrity of the Single Market by creating an unlevel playing field. UK SEZs sabotage the UK's chances of rejoining the EU not just because of bypassing rules on State aid but also because of massive deregulatory 'freedoms' that allow companies to pollute the environment, 'self regulate', shred employment rights, tax evasion, turbocharge job displacement, and so on. None of this is acceptable to the EU.
Keir Starmer "There will be no rejoining the EU in my lifetime". Now you know why he says this. Read the EU Commission website on State aid and SEZs https://europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/646164/EPRS_BRI(2020)646164_ Lord Smith of Kelvin is managing Director of Otter Ports Ltd which is the parent company of 8 of the UK's 12 Freeports, Otter Ports Ltd is registered in the Cayman Islands, Smith did not declare this in the register of interests, Smith was a pallbearer at the Queen's funeral.
Compulsory Purchase Orders apply to business, agricultural, and residential properties, it is no coincidence that 192 councils have worse debts than Birmingham which was issued with an S114 notice which is technically bankruptcy. 6,000 people could have their homes torn down as part of a £2.2bn project in which 1,266 council houses and 567 properties could be repossessed in a mass compulsory purchase order for the area. Birmingham is host to 6 SEZs. https://theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/22/economic-violence-ladywood-b
All 12 UK Freeports are housed inside a Special Economic Zone that ranges from 33 to 75km in diameter, why? SEZs are expansionist by nature, the growth Reeves obsesses with is about corporations, private equity making serious incursions into the public sector, that is privatisation not just of public services but of the entire country, SEZs perforate holes in the fabric of the nation, as zone fever takes hold, economies outside the zones will be forced to capitulate to the corporate political model.
6 days into office Rachel Reeves refused permission for the National Audit Office to investigate England's 48 SEZ's and 8 Freeports despite a damning report from the House of Commons Committee in April 2024, citing lack of transparency, questions over value for taxpayers money, and ignoring of the Nolan principles. Join the dots. This all happened because of Brexit, which was based on 'exit strategies' developed in the 1960's, what were once libertarian fringe fantasies have now become reality."
Living in a third world country? on 18:11 - Dec 5 by tommcd
I'm happy to be 'educated' on this, I don't claim to know a huge amount about it, I was still at Primary School when the Water Companies were privatised so I can't say I paid it much attention at the time...
The Water Companies themselves come in a for a lot of criticism, it's clear that over a period of decades they prioritised paying shareholder dividends and haven't invested anywhere near enough in maintaining / upgrading infrastructure.
But wasn't / isn't it supposed to be the role of the Regulator to enforce a framework of regulation that prevents the Water Companies from being able to do that? Is it the case that such a prolonged period of weak / ineffectual Regulation has now left the industry in a state where it's too far gone to Regulate back into shape?
It seems foolish to expect Private Business to behave responsibly, so presumably the Regulator is there to make sure that they do. Over the years the Private Companies have behaved just as you'd expect, and the Regulator has not stopped them, seems like the Regulator (and via inference; successive governments of all colours) is as much to blame (probably more so) than Private Business for the current state of the industry. Maybe that's the essence of the oft cited 'failed experiment of privatisation'?
[Post edited 5 Dec 18:12]
There is something in what you say but the concept of a private sector monopoly was flawed anyway. Regulation was part of the privatisation package but that regulation was often light touch due to a philosophy that the private sector was better than the public sector. It was also thought that the private sector would become more efficient by making savings but those savings were not for the benefit of the consumer or the environment.
For my own part, I experienced two examples of such savings.
The first was when my garden was flooded by sewage. It was caused by the fact that Southern Water had reduced staff and no longer cleared out the main sewer because it was cheaper to clear up after flooding.
The second was when water entered the gas system and flowed through to and cut off my boiler. It was caused by a water leak a couple of hundred yards away but instead of fixing it at night because of cost South East Water left it to the morning by which time it had entered the system and cut off my gas. The end result was the need for a water tanker to go down my driveway to pump out the water. But that presumably cost less than fixing the problem at night.
[Post edited 5 Dec 22:00]
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Thatcher's Britain! (n/t) on 21:38 - Dec 5 with 227 views
Living in a third world country? on 19:07 - Dec 5 by noggin
“ However, this is nothing like a third world country”
Yet.
"YET". .... thousands of men come here on a boat and have access to everything they've never contributed too whilst dealing on our streets ,pimping etc .East European spies , pickpockets and dealers, men, women and children praying on our towns whilst British kids suffer from child poverty. It's not yet it's NOW.
-1
Living in a third world country? on 22:23 - Dec 5 with 109 views
Living in a third world country? on 22:08 - Dec 5 by gtsb1966
"YET". .... thousands of men come here on a boat and have access to everything they've never contributed too whilst dealing on our streets ,pimping etc .East European spies , pickpockets and dealers, men, women and children praying on our towns whilst British kids suffer from child poverty. It's not yet it's NOW.
That must have been a really big boat and as for prayers on our streets! Whatever next! The award for unhinged post of the day goes to....
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Living in a third world country? on 22:08 - Dec 5 by gtsb1966
"YET". .... thousands of men come here on a boat and have access to everything they've never contributed too whilst dealing on our streets ,pimping etc .East European spies , pickpockets and dealers, men, women and children praying on our towns whilst British kids suffer from child poverty. It's not yet it's NOW.
Absolutely ridiculous.
You honestly think this country is a third world country?
You honestly think those things would make it a third world country?
You honestly think those things are down to illegal migration?
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