The company said: “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.”<\/p>\n
Ofwat said South East Water’s response to supply problems between 2020 and 2023 was “slow and disorganised”, with shortages of bottled water and not enough tankers or support for vulnerable customers.<\/p>\n
An investigation by the watchdog found the company failed to plan sufficiently, learn from incidents \u2013 such as the so-called Beast from the East wave of cold weather in early 2018 – and conduct analysis to discover the root causes of the problems.<\/p>\n
Ofwat also said South East Water failed to maintain key infrastructure such as service reservoirs, boreholes and major pipes.<\/p>\n
“All of these issues left the system more likely to fail during prolonged dry periods or freeze thaw events as we have seen in Kent and Sussex on multiple occasions,” said Ofwat. <\/p>\n
South East Water is facing a further investigation by Ofwat for major supply interruptions between November last year and January.<\/p>\n
Last December up to 16,000 homes went without water for almost a week, while in January about 30,000 properties faced issues.<\/p>\n
Asked why it had taken the regulator three years to conclude its probe into South East Water’s earlier failures, Ofwat’s interim chief executive Chris Walters told the BBC’s Today programme: “Investigations do take time, especially investigations like this.<\/p>\n
“They involve a large amount of very complex, detailed engineering information that has to be very carefully assessed.”<\/p>\n
As part of the latest investigation, Ofwat will examine whether South East Water provided high standards of customer service and support, which is a condition of its licence.<\/p>\n
At the time, residents in Kent and Sussex described the problems they were experiencing because of disrupted water supplies, including Shirley Garnett of Tunbridge Wells.<\/a><\/p>\n She’d had an operation on her leg just before Christmas and been given medical advice “to keep it wrapped and clean”.<\/p>\n “This is very difficult when we have no tap water and I worry it will become infected,” she told the BBC. <\/p>\n Schools had also been forced to closed. <\/p>\n