South East Water will be fined £22 million for repeated “significant” water supply failures that caused “major” disruption for hundreds of thousands of customers.
Ofwat announced on Thursday that it plans to fine the water company over failures between 2020 and 2023 that impacted more than 286,000 people in homes in Kent and Sussex stating: “They must do better.”
The water regulator said it was taking action after customers were hit by multiple supply interruptions over the years and blasted South East Water for failing to fix the root cause of the issue and not maintaining important infrastructure.
It said its investigations found that the water company “failed to maintain supply-system resilience” to minimise incidents happening and failed to ensure it could deal with periods of high demand.
These issues left its water system “more likely to fail” during prolonged dry periods, or when frozen water thawed, it said.
Customers were left without tap water, were unable to shower or bathe and could not flush their toilets, according to Ofwat.
Its investigation found that the company’s response to these issues was “slow and disorganised”.
It highlighted shortages of bottled water and said there were not enough tankers or support for vulnerable customers.
Chris Walters, interim chief executive of Ofwat, said: “South East Water’s significant failings caused major disruption and had a huge impact on thousands of its customers.
“Not only did the company fail in its duty to provide a water supply to meet the demands of its customers, but it also fell short when it came to providing support for customers who lost their supply. They must do better.”
A South East Water spokesman said: “We recently filed for judicial review of an Ofwat draft decision and sought an injunction.
“Following a hearing, the court did not grant the interim injunction. We respect the court’s decision on this.
“We are now considering Ofwat’s draft decision and will respond via the appropriate channels, ahead of its final decision. We have no further comment at this time.”
Ofwat said the consultation on its fine proposal would remain open until 13 April.
The regulator added that South East Water “has not taken ownership of these issues”, with subsequent disruptions still happening too regularly as a result.
In recent months, tens of thousands of households and businesses were left without supply across Kent and Sussex due to repeated outages since November.
Tunbridge Wells suffered a sustained outage in November and December, with around 24,000 properties in and around the Kent town left without drinkable water for almost two weeks.
In January, Ofwat said South East Water was under investigation in relation to the fresh problems.
Watchdog to fine South East Water £22m over water supply failures
British Museum staff member stole 300 pieces of art before being caught red-handed
New mother suffers M40 panic attack as RAC calls stranded baby ‘non-priority’
Heating oil price spike leaves households and suppliers out of pocket
Widow in court fight with lawyer husband’s ex over missing £434k from estate
Celebrity coalition calls for action as one in three women face gender-based violence
