Ofwat has today opened a new investigation into South East Water following a series of supply interruptions which have seen thousands of households and businesses in Kent and Sussex lose their water supply.

The investigation is the first the regulator has launched on the customer-focused Licence Condition G which requires companies to have and implement policies and approaches to meet the principles for customer care. The principles include aspects relevant to incidents, including proactive communications, support for customers when things go wrong and to help put things right; and appropriate support for customers in vulnerable circumstances.

The investigation will look at whether, and how, the company has complied with its customer-focused licence condition, which is in place to ensure that companies provide appropriate support to their customers when things go wrong, including during supply interruption incidents.

Tunbridge Wells suffered a sustained outage in November and December 2025. There have been further supply problems at the start of January 2026, caused by freeze-thaw events following the cold snap, and further issues with Storm Goretti causing outages which has led to more than 30,000 homes losing supply intermittently.

Earlier this week Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds met with Chris Train, Chair of South East Water and visited the most affected town, Tunbridge Wells, following weeks of water supply disruption.

She also raised with Ofwat the need for the regulator to look at whether the company is operating in line with its licence conditions. According to Ofwat’s latest assessment, the company is the worst performing for water supply interruptions.

In addition, Emma Hardy has met Ofwat officials to discuss urgent progress on the regulator’s ongoing investigation into South East Water’s resilience and wider performance issues at the company.

Lynn Parker, Ofwat Senior Director for Enforcement, said:

“The last six weeks have been miserable for businesses and households across Kent and Sussex with repeated supply problems. We know that this has had a huge impact on all parts of daily life and hurt businesses, particularly in the run up to the festive period. That is why we need to investigate and to determine whether the company has breached its licence condition.”

Ofwat already has a separate open investigation which is ongoing into the water company’s supply resilience to determine whether it has failed to develop and maintain an efficient water supply system. The regulator is examining whether South East Water has met its principal duty under Section 37 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to ensure all such arrangements have been made for providing supplies of water to premises and to act in a manner which is best calculated to ensure that it has in place adequate resources and systems of planning and control to enable it to carry out its functions as required by Licence Condition P12. It does not cover Licence Condition G because it was not in force during the relevant period of that investigation.

The customer licence condition gives Ofwat powers to act against a water company which fails to provide appropriate support to its customers. If the regulator is satisfied that a company has breached a condition of its licence we must take enforcement action to secure compliance. In addition, Ofwat can impose a fine on the company of up to 10% of the company’s turnover.

Ofwat has pointed out that the opening of an investigation does not imply that Ofwat will conclude that there has been a breach or that it will impose a financial penalty. To protect the integrity of the process, Ofwat will not be able to discuss the specifics of the case until the investigation has concluded.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate confirmed on 4 December and on 13 January that it is conducting separate investigations into particular outages in South East Water’s area for those regulations it enforces.

Mike Keil, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), commented:

"It will appear to many customers in Kent and Sussex that South East Water has lost its ability to provide a reliable water supply. Customers are feeling anxious and uncertain every time they turn on the tap. Launching this investigation sends a signal not only to South East Water but to all water companies that how you treat people during disruption matters."

"We want to see this investigation conducted swiftly as customers of South East Water are impatient for change after suffering repeated service failures, compounded by poor communication."