South East Water Fails Thousands in Kent with Prolonged Supply Failures
Nearly 800 properties in Kent's Wraik Hill and Cranbrook areas are still without water, with approximately 4,000 more facing low pressure or intermittent supply. This prolonged disruption follows initial failures affecting thousands of customers in the county from 23 May.
Bottle collection points reopened as residents contend with a week of inadequate service from South East Water. Incident manager Mike Court stated that drinking water storage tanks in Wraik Hill and Cranbrook remain at a "critical level," urging customers to use water for essential purposes only.
This latest failure is part of a pattern of operational shortcomings. Last November, 24,000 customers in the Tunbridge Wells area experienced water loss or low pressure, followed by a nine-day boil water notice. Weeks later, 30,000 households across Kent and Sussex were affected by supply issues. These repeated incidents led to the departure of the company's chair and the planned exit of its chief executive.
Regulator Ofwat has proposed a £22 million fine against South East Water for supply issues spanning from 2020 to 2023. Furthermore, Moody's recently downgraded the company's credit rating, citing the "fallout" from these failures and ongoing "resilience risk." South East Water acknowledges that these issues impact its licence conditions and states it is engaging with Ofwat to "agree certain commitments that will secure a return to compliance."
