A water company is delivering bottled water to people’s homes and warning there could be no supply all weekend.

About 9,000 properties in the Canterbury, Thanet and Dover districts have been affected since yesterday due to technical issues.

One restaurant and a pub have already announced they have had to temporarily close.

As of 2.35pm, Southern Water said some customers should start to get water thanks to a “temporary solution”.

Speaking about an hour later, a spokesman said: “We’re sorry customers in parts of Kent including areas of Adisham, Ash, Aylesham, Bekesbourne, Bridge, St Nicholas-at-Wade, Minster and Monkton may still be experiencing a loss of supply or low water pressure today.

“Some customers should start to see some water return this afternoon, thanks to a temporary solution we have put in place, this is called a rezone and our network is recharging – some customers should expect to see supply return this afternoon over the next three hours.

“We’re still working on implementing a full fix to the issue at Wingham Water Supply Works.”

The company is sending in tankers and delivering bottled supplies to all affected households.

Without the deliveries, there are only two water bottle collection stations some residents would have to drive miles to get to.

Speaking at 2.35pm today, a spokesman said: “We have mobilised more than 20 tankers to inject water into areas impacted, however, we are aware that they are struggling to keep up with demand and this means customers are having periods of no supply or low pressure. We’re working hard to resolve this issue.

“To make sure everyone gets water we’re delivering bottled water to all customers impacted, due to the number of customers we're delivering to, it may take time today for deliveries to reach certain areas.”

The collection stations, set up since the problem began yesterday are only at the New Dover Road Park and Ride in Canterbury and Aylesham Leisure Centre.

The problem, which began just before 5pm yesterday, has affected areas including Adisham, Ash, Aylesham, Bekesbourne, Bridge, St Nicholas-at-Wade and Monkton, Wingham, Ramsgate. It is either a loss of supply or low water pressure.

People in Minster said they were affected too and it was discussed on social media.

One woman said: “We desperately need a water collection point in Minster village. The one suggested we collect from is 14 miles away.

“That’s a 25-minute drive (if you have a car) and a six-hour walk there and back if you don’t.”

The Minster Meze Grill said on Facebook: “Unfortunately we are going to be closed today due to the village having no water. It is out of our hands.”

The village’s New Inn said on social media: “Absolutely bone dry. Many apologies that due to a complete lack of water we are unable to open today.”

Southern Water said that due to very heavy rainfall raw water quality in the underground wells had deteriorated, impacting its ability to take it out and treat.

The problem has specifically been at the Wingham Water Supply Works.

The company says teams are on-site and have been working through the night to solve the problem.

They are continuing throughout today by installing specially made filters to help make sure the water can be put back into supply to the required standard.

The spokesman said: “In the best-case scenario a fix could be implemented tonight, but it is very possible that disruption could continue throughout this weekend, we’re very sorry if this is the case.”

“We’re also exploring other ways of moving water around our network to bring as many customers back into supply as possible through what we call a rezone.“