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South East Water Restores Most Supplies After Weeklong Outage as Regulator Steps In

The outage has triggered formal regulatory action, with Ofwat weighing penalties that could extend to licence removal.

Overview

  • South East Water says service is largely back across Kent and Sussex after nearly a week without running water for many homes.
  • Restoration includes 6,500 properties in Tunbridge Wells and 16,500 in East Grinstead, though some areas still report low pressure or intermittent supply.
  • Around 320 properties in Bidborough remain affected, with tankers deployed and bottled‑water sites kept open as a precaution.
  • The company blames burst pipes, power cuts and depleted storage tanks following Storm Goretti, and says switching off booster pumps allowed reservoirs to refill.
  • Ofwat has opened investigations into customer support and whether supply duties were breached, while public anger grows over disrupted bottled‑water deliveries and some residents cancelling direct debits.