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

A recent report has concluded that South East Water's most significant failing during last winter's widespread water outages was its inadequate communication with affected customers. The crisis left tens of thousands of people without water across parts of Kent and Sussex. According to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), an independent body, less than one in ten South East Water customers expressed satisfaction with how the company managed the supply disruption. CCW chief executive Mike Keil stated that the research "lays bare the scale of disruption inflicted on the lives of tens of thousands of South East Water customers last winter." He added that while customers understand that service issues can occur, they expect companies to minimize the impact. "When the response falls short, it can make a bad situation even more difficult," Keil noted. The report suggests that a damaging legacy of the outages was the loss of customer confidence in the safety and reliability of their drinking water. The disruptions occurred in November and December, affecting approximately 24,000 customers in the Tunbridge Wells area due to a water quality failure. This led to a precautionary boil water notice that lasted from December 3 to December 12. Weeks later, in January, around 69,000 properties experienced water shortages or low pressure. Customer feedback highlighted confusion and frustration with the company's messaging, with many reporting inaccurate information about restoration times. Customers with health vulnerabilities also raised concerns, particularly regarding hygiene. The report found that about half of registered priority service users did not receive the expected support during the outages. The report's findings come as South East Water faces renewed criticism for recent outages affecting hundreds of households in Kent and Sussex during hot weather.

“

Our research lays bare the scale of disruption inflicted on the lives of tens of thousands of South East Water customers last winter.