The water regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, has initiated a formal investigation into South East Water following a series of supply failures that have left thousands of households across Kent and Sussex without drinking water for nearly a week.
Fifth Day of Disruption for Thousands
As of Tuesday, an estimated 17,000 properties remained without a reliable water supply, marking a fifth consecutive day of severe disruption for many residents. The company has managed to restore water to around 8,000 customers, but significant challenges persist. The majority of those still affected are in East Grinstead, East Sussex, where approximately 11,500 properties were dry yesterday.
South East Water has attributed the latest crisis to Storm Goretti, which it says caused a surge in burst pipes and localised power cuts. This incident follows a similar, severe outage in December that left 24,000 properties in and around Tunbridge Wells without drinkable water for almost two weeks.
Political Pressure and Calls for Accountability
The situation has triggered a fierce political backlash and daily emergency meetings convened by government ministers. During Prime Minister's Questions, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for South East Water to be stripped of its licence for failing "over and over again".
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the situation as "totally unacceptable," confirming that ministers were holding the company to account and that compensation rates for affected individuals and businesses had been doubled.
MPs on the Parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee remain deeply sceptical of the company's explanations. Committee chairman Alistair Carmichael indicated plans to recall South East Water's chief executive, David Hinton, and its chairman, Chris Train, to provide further evidence. Local politicians have been equally scathing; Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran stated bluntly that "heads must roll" over the handling of the outages.
Community Impact and Response
The disruption has severely impacted daily life, affecting families, schools, care homes, and businesses. While Kent County Council reported that the vast majority of schools were open yesterday, some in West Sussex were forced to close. Bottled water stations have been set up in key locations including Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, and Maidstone.
South East Water's incident manager, Matthew Dean, issued another apology: "We know and understand how difficult going without water for such a long period of time is and how difficult it makes everyday life." However, such assurances are doing little to placate customers and politicians who have endured repeated failures.
With the Ofwat probe now underway and mounting political pressure, the focus is firmly on South East Water's infrastructure investment and crisis management, as the community hopes for a permanent resolution to the ongoing water supply issues.
