With the colder winter weather now looking to be behind us, the rising temperatures are causing bursts across our network and on customers' pipes. We have been working around the clock to find and fix leaks, but we need to work together to make sure there is enough water for everyone!

We're seeing the demand for water rise to levels close to peak summertime. This is caused by pipes bursting which draws the treated water from our storage tanks at a rapid rate. Some levels are very low in areas across Kent and Sussex.

We are continuing to do everything we can to refill our network and keep customers in supply, from fixing the largest leaks on our network of pipes to injecting treated water directly into storage tanks.

However, we are asking our customers, farmers, landowners, and businesses, to all please check your homes, land, and buildings for leaks too. Below are links to our guides on how to find and fix leaks in the home and help in finding an approved plumber in your area.

South East Water's bar graph showing water demand figures for the period 11 to 17 March 2024. The highest daily figure in that period was 559 million litres on the 17 March. Normal daily water demand is 542 million litres a day.

What have we done to prepare?

We've improved our network to help us ensure a resilient supply by:

Increasing

  • the number of tanks that store our clean water
  • the amount of water we have available

Replacing

  • pumps at two of our older treatment works
  • pumps at our water treatment works in Blackhurst, which pump water to higher ground in the area

Installing

  • new meters so we can more accurately see how the water is flowing around the network

Forecasting

  • analysing data to forecast how much water we need to abstract, treat and pump
  • specifically where demand for water peaks - looking at the weather and when we think we may have extreme weather or fluctuations that could cause burst pipes

If you want to understand more about what goes into supplying water, then check out our blog - Water water everywhere. How do we get it from here to there?

We also continued to invest, with plans to spend £489 million between 2020 and 2025 in upgrading the infrastructure. Find out about our current business plans.

We are also preparing for the future; by 2033, we plan to build the only new reservoir for the South East, in Canterbury, Kent. This is one of many initiatives we will be outlining in our business plan later in the year. Find out more about our future plans.

The UK winter comes with wind, rain, snow and fluctuating temperatures. These weather conditions can cause a rise in burts on our underground pipes.

We’re aware there are already a number of leaks on the network. We’re working hard to fix these and are prioritising the most urgent leaks.

We have increased our efforts to prepare, and there are more resources in the field using innovative technologies to find and fix leaks.

Leaks are always our priority, and we have a dedicated year-round team.

In your area

Although our reservoirs are looking a little low, their levels are normal for this time of year, and our water resources across the region are at a good level.

However, it's always best to be mindful of your water use all year round.

During the winter, we suggest checking your home for leaks, as running water can freeze, expand and burst pipes.

It's also important to check tanks and pipes in your loft or outside and cover them with foam lagging to protect them from the cold. For more advice on protecting your home in the winter and , click the button below.

South East Water operational area map, coloured in green to represent that customers can use water as normal but stay 'water wise' whatever the weather.

How we supply your water

Reservoirs

Throughout the summer months, we rely on our reservoir water reserves as the source for the millions of additional litres of water we supply through our network of pipes daily.

Our biggest reservoirs in Sussex, Ardingly and Arlington, store up to 8,300 million litres of water and together provide 8% of all the water we supply.

This is in addition to the millions of litres we sustainably abstract from, boreholes and chalk aquifers too.

Our reservoirs are replenished between October and April when rainfall and river flows are higher.

Treatment and beyond

Once we abstract water from the source, the process begins to treat the water, to bring it up to a safe standard for you to drink.

We take lots of care over the quality of our water and have lots of measures in place to monitor our treatment process.

Once treated we push water to drinking water storage tanks that are placed all around our region, which connect directly to the network of pipes that deliver water to taps.

This process can take a number of hours, and high water usage reduces our ability to supply water to the whole network.

A summer to remember

Summer 2022 didn’t just break weather records – it smashed them.

It was the driest and hottest summer the south east had seen in many years. While long, sunny days were fun, they put huge pressure on our water supply network.

Since then we have made extensive improvements to our network, including:

  • overhauling pumps at two of our older treatment works
  • replacing valves, flow meters and installing new pipes enabling us to move water around more easily
  • increasing water storage tanks
  • replacing pumps at our water treatment works in Blackhurst, which pump water to higher ground in the area
  • installing new meters so we can more accurately see how the water is flowing around the network

Though, we are still learning about the impact the heatwave had on our reservoirs, underground aquifers and water supply.

Watch our video to find out more about the summer of 2022 and why we still need to be water wise.


Useful links