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.
Households and businesses supplied by South East Water continue to be without water or suffer water supply interruptions – a range of areas continue to be affected according to the latest updates published on the water company’s AquAlerter map pages on its website.
Thousands of homes in the South East Water region have been left without water and Kent County Council has declared a major incident following the loss of water supply. South East Water’s initial annoucement on Saturday 10th Jan 2026 at 11:08 a.m. said that “regrettably”, customers in East Grinstead and the surrounding areas would begin to experience no water, intermittent supply or low pressure.
South East Water CEO David Hinton has told a House of Commons Committee that "lifestyle changes and extreme weather events" had contributed to recent water shortages in Tunbridge Wells.
Ofwat has published findings from research into a Southern Water supply interruption that took place in Southampton and Marchwood in December 2024 - and is calling on water companies to ensure they can provide alternative water quickly to vulnerable customers.
Following a supply outtage which saw around 58,000 Southern Water customers left without water supply in the week before Christmas, CEO Lawrence Gosden has warned that similar incidents cannot be ruled out in future.
An innovative new product, developed jointly by Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) and Furst Technologies has been launched to the wider water industry.
From today Ofwat has new powers to act against any water company that provides poor customer service in breach of a new licence condition, which could see the regulator impose fines of up to 10% of the company's turnover.
The Department for Business and Trade has launched the Government’s new Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy, aimed at safeguarding UK supplies of critical goods such as chemicals, medicines, minerals and semiconductors.
An innovative new product is helping to keep taps flowing across Essex and Suffolk, even during leaks and bursts.
“SAS (Surplus Activated Sludge) is a bit weird and can do odd things,” says Stuart Chatten, Lead Bioresources Technician at Whitlingham Water Recycling Centre (WRC), one of Anglian Water’s principal centres for processing sewage, serving a population of 400,000.
Owen Mace has taken over as Director of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) Plastic Pipes Group on the retirement of Caroline Ayres. He was previously Standards and Technical Manager for the group.
PureTec Separations, the Ledbury-based water treatment engineering firm, has appointed Dan Norman as its new Sales Manager – Water Process Systems, supporting the company’s continued growth in the UK and international markets.
bNovate has launched BactoCloud, a secure cloud-based platform that connects and manages its BactoSense instruments, enabling real-time monitoring and optimization of microbial water quality.