South East Water’s greatest failure was not contacting customers during winter outages, report finds

South East Water’s greatest failure was not contacting customers during winter outages, report finds

South East Water failed to adequately communicate with customers during outages last winter that left tens of thousands of people without water, a report has concluded.

Fewer than one in 10 SEW customers were satisfied with how the company handled the water supply crisis that stretched across parts of Kent and Sussex last winter, the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) said. The independent body’s report found communication was the company’s greatest failing.

Mike Keil, the chief executive of CCW, said: “Our research lays bare the scale of disruption inflicted on the lives of tens of thousands of South East Water customers last winter.

“People understand that things can sometimes go wrong with their water and sewerage services, but they expect their water company to minimise the impact – not make it worse. With the right handling, companies can build trust during challenging incidents, but when the response falls short, it can make a bad situation even more difficult.”

He added that perhaps the most damaging legacy was the loss of confidence among some South East Water customers in the safety and reliability of their drinking water.

The winter disruption to water supplies hit in November and December when about 24,000 customers lost water supply or pressure in the Tunbridge Wells area after a water quality failure at the Pembury water treatment works. A formal precautionary boil-water notice was issued from 3 December 2025 and lifted on 12 December 2025.

Then weeks later in January this year about 69,000 properties were hit with water shortages and low pressure.

One customer surveyed for the report said: “You suddenly realise how much you rely on water for everything.”

Failure to communicate was one of the key criticisms made by customers surveyed for the report.

“If we had known it would be several days, I’d have planned things very differently … I was starting to think if it goes on much longer then I just have to move out because this is not an option for me to live here,” another customer said.

Another customer said: “I think the messaging from the very beginning was very confusing and then coupled with the constant ‘it’ll be back later today, back tomorrow morning, back tomorrow evening’. We weren’t fed accurate information.”

People with health vulnerabilities also highlighted concerns about the outage, especially in relation to maintaining hygiene. The report found that about half of customers in vulnerable circumstances who were registered for priority services said they did not receive the support they expected.

The report was published as South East Water faced further criticism for water outages which saw hundreds of households across Kent and Sussex without water during the hottest days of the year last week.

The company said on Tuesday that all households affected by the disruption to water supply should have their taps running consistently again. Hundreds of SEW customers in Kent and Sussex experienced spells without running water or an inconsistent supply from 23 May.

South East Water’s senior executives were accused of incompetence by a committee of MPs this month over repeated water outages for tens of thousands of customers.

The company, which faces a £22m fine from the industry’s regulator, Ofwat, over serious disruptions to the water supply over many years, had comprehensively failed to deliver for the consumers it served, the MPs said.