A chartered geologist has criticised a lack of board level technical expertise at South East Water as investigations continue into how the taps ran dry in Tunbridge Wells before Christmas.

The geologist with long experience in the water supply industry is Charles Hedges (pictured below) and he spoke to the Southborough News YouTube channel last week.

Charles Hedges said: “What I don’t understand is that you have a (South East Water) board with … no chartered engineer, chartered chemist, or chartered microbiologist. I find that very odd.”

He continued: “I’m worried about the lack of technical expertise in the area of a chartered civil engineer who understands water supply, a lack of a chartered chemist who understands water process treatment, and I’m worried about a lack of chartered microbiologist, who understands microbiology”.

Charles Hedges also stated: “Pembury has had a potential issue with bacteria, so … there should be a director of microbiology on the board.”

South East Water told Southborough News in a statement that it would be investing in improving the Pembury water treatment works over the next five years.

South East Water also provided a list of professional qualifications obtained by its current eight-member board of directors. This states that one of its non-executive directors, Caroline Sheridan, is a chartered civil engineer, while Mark McArdle is a “Master of Chemistry.” But there was no sign of expertise in microbiology.

The board has 4 people with accountancy and commerce backgrounds. The independent Chair, Chris Train, is a Chartered Engineer, while Chief Executive David Hinton has worked at South East Water for more than 25 years having studied for a degree in Biotechnology.

The interview with Charles Hedges is included in a comprehensive video report on the public meeting at the Old Auction House in Tunbridge Wells held last Wednesday, which was organised by the newly formed “Dry Wells Action” group.

Here is a link to view the half-hour report on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlhXewN4Go4

“Dry Wells Action” was founded by Jonathan Hawker (pictured below at the meeting), who told us “absolute rage” caused him to start the group.

Neither South East Water or any of the regulators said they were able to attend the meeting due to the continuing investigations into the company’s performance.

Jonathan Hawker stated: “It was the third time we lost water completely in our household. We had the incident a couple of years ago, around Christmas. We had the incident at the end of last year before Christmas.”

Jonathan Hawker continued: “We thought we were through it. We weren’t, and after, you know, almost a week of intermittent water, it just went completely and I just had had enough, really.”

He added: “And so I decided that I would launch a campaign group – and campaign for a resilient water supply for Tunbridge Wells, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Here is the group’s website link: https://www.drywellsaction.com/

More than a hundred residents attended the meeting last Wednesday despite an evening of heavy January rain.

In other comments, geologist Charles Hedges told Southborough News that the lack of up-to-date real time monitoring of water inflows into the Pembury reservoir: “quite frankly horrifies me, bearing in mind, this is a town of, what, 70,000 people.”

Charles Hedges thinks the Pembury site should have been updated more than 20 years ago.

In response, South East Water sent Southborough News this statement from the Chief Executive, David Hinton:

“Our priority is improving South East Water in the future. We are strategically focused on our Business Plan and committed to delivering the infrastructure investment needed. This will improve our resilience as we face the challenges of climate change and population growth.

“We have a large capital investment programme planned over this five-year period (2025-2030), and Pembury water treatment works is part of that programme. In advance of this full refurbishment, a number of improvements and changes are being made at the site in line with the current regulatory notice. Some of these are complete, and others are still ongoing, all of which are in line with the regulators’ timescales.”

David Hinton continued: “My focus has been, and always will be, to lead South East Water into the position it needs to be to face the challenges all water companies in England and Wales have.

“Those challenges include climate change, growth in population and the urgent need for investment in our ageing infrastructure.

“Our Business Plan sets out how we will do this. It’s an ambitious plan and it is a robust plan.

“There is a lot to do to make sure South East Water has the resilience it needs to make sure our customers have the service they not only expect, but deserve.

“We apologise sincerely for the supply issues our customers have had. A combination of factors has meant we have not been able to provide the continuous, uninterrupted tap water service our customers rightly expect.

“We will always work with our regulators and stakeholders to make improvements and are transparent in everything we do.

“We have the expertise and dedication in our teams at South East Water and we will use innovation and technology to improve our service.”

You can also listen to the audio of the half-hour of interviews by downloading the West Kent Talking podcast.

Among those others who spoke to Southborough News on the video were local business owner Matthew Sankey, Marianne Amos from “Dry Wells Action” and a Liberal Democrat borough councillor representing Pantiles, Jamie Johnson. The piece ended with the views of local residents Jerry Bolton and Christopher Jackson.