“Again” refers to life without a water supply. Ramsden’s Challock village, perched high on the Kent downs, has already survived a struggle without water this summer. For six days earlier this month, his taps were largely dry, forcing his school to close. Challock’s village hall was turned into an emergency center for the distribution of bottled water. And even that, residents say, is over. Ramsden is among those who fear the taps will be turned off again at any moment, saying his home is still without power at night. “I checked again last night and it wasn’t there. South East Water is monitoring the wells but it seems they haven’t put anything in place,” the 79-year-old said. He has lived in Challock for 32 years, and this, he said, is by some distance the driest. South East Water denies it did anything, further raising tensions yesterday as it appeared to blame the “disruption of supply” on excessive water use by customers during the recent heat wave. Bewl Reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent is at 67% capacity. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Many of Challock’s 1,000 residents believe they would still be without water if the parish council had not put pressure on their local MP, Damian Green, for help. “Within hours of him getting involved, the problem was solved,” Ramsden said. At the nearby Halfway House, which stands guard over a busy crossroads, pub landlord Lee was trying to make up for lost trade. Chalock’s loss of water meant it had to close for almost a full week until last Sunday. “If you don’t have water, you don’t have toilets and you can’t open,” he said. The Halfway House is a popular gastropub, but ordering food supplies became a gamble because no one could predict when the water would come back on. Unable to bathe or shower, his chef had to return to his family home in Hastings, East Sussex, to wash up. With Halfway House counting lost profits, its owner admits uncertainty has become part of the business landscape in this part of the county. “Before, we had the odd day without power, but this was something else. Some days we were told the water would be back on at 14:00 and then at 17:00 – and at 20:00 we found out there wouldn’t be any at all. When will it happen again?’ Some of his patrons were equally disturbed. Sheltering from the hot sun under an umbrella, Anna Butler from nearby Faversham said: “We need to rethink what we do with our water. We are an island, surrounded by things, we should start looking at desalination plants.” Another casualty of the disappearance of the village’s water supply was its primary school. Hayley Leavey described how the sudden disappearance of the village’s water caused instant chaos. During the last week of term, she said school opened for only a few hours, depriving students of a chance to say goodbye to their friends. A parched village of Challock in Kent. Photo: Andy Hall/The Observer “For them to miss their last week of school was a bit rubbish, especially with what these kids have been through in the last two years,” said the 39-year-old, whose three daughters attend the school. “There was no warning about the water. A lot of people in the village have animals and horses, so it was a huge issue for people.” Leavey added that the prospect of running out of water again had scared the village. Dry weather is expected for weeks, pipeline bans are predicted and locals fear the underground wells that supply its water are dangerously low. “Also, people have become embarrassed because there has been little or no communication with the water company,” Leavey said. South East Water says work is continuing to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The company said it is investing £433m and exploring options to ensure the network is “more resilient during periods of high demand in the future”. Damian Green requested a new Kent tank. Stressing that supplies at Challock had been normal since last Monday, the company’s director of operations, Douglas Whitfield, explained that despite the company producing an extra 120 million liters a day, other customers had used it up before it actually hit the booster pumps which supported the water supply of the village. Leavey complains that the villagers still don’t understand what happened. “There seems to be no real explanation. “We’ve had hot weather in the past, but we haven’t had to go six days without water.”