Residents in parts of west Kent may lose pressure or find their tap water is discoloured after work starts on cleaning the mains.

South East Water will begin the process, known as flushing, in Bearsted next Monday.

The programme will begin in Tunbridge Wells one week later.

It involves directing water through the pipes quickly to draw sediment deposits – such as iron and manganese – out of the network.

This is to remove naturally-occurring, harmless deposits which build up over time in a bid to safeguard the quality of drinking water.

While these naturally-occurring deposits are not harmful, they can cause the temporary discolouration of water.

Ann Seach, South East Water’s distribution manager, said: “Flushing our water mains from the start to finish of our network – from our service reservoirs, which store fully treated drinking water, to the point at which it supplies our customers – is a very effective way of cleaning the inside of our water mains.

“Once the water reaches its journey’s end, the flushed water containing these deposits is directed into the drains to be recycled.

“We appreciate customers may have concerns about this water appearing to run to waste, but we only draw through our pipes as much as we need, and stop flushing once we can see the whole system is running crystal clear as usual.

“During the flushing process customers may notice a reduction in water pressure, and possibly some discolouration, but this is temporary and can be solved by running the kitchen tap until the water runs clear.”