Frequently asked questions

Planning for the future

  1. The Government wants to build thousands of new houses in the South East, how are you going to be able to supply them with water?
    South East Water has no statutory powers with regard to the number of houses being planned. However, we work closely with local authorities to ensure that we plan to meet the demands of new developments and to ensure full account is taken of housing growth when developing our 25 year Water Resource Plan.

  2. Why can't there be a national water network (national grid) to bring water from the north of the country?
    Transferring water from the north to the south of England would be extremely costly both in terms of the infrastructure that would need to be built, and in terms of the energy required to pump the water such a long way. Whilst there may be a perception that the north of England has more water readily available, those areas can also experience dry periods in a similar way that the south of England has experienced in the past recent years.
    The Environment Agency recently reviewed possible schemes and once again concluded that they were not economically viable or sustainable and that they would have an unacceptable impact on the environment. Click here to see the Environment Agency's response.

  3. Have you considered desalination (using sea water)?
    Desalination is one of many options that South East Water is continually reviewing as part of its Water Resource Plan. The main issue at present is that desalination plants are very costly to develop and operate when compared to more conventional sources of water such as fresh groundwater and surface water. Desalination plants are very energy intensive to operate, and produce a number of by-products, resulting in their own environmental impact challenges.

  4. Why don't you install more meters?
    Every new house built since 1989 has a water meter installed. In 2007, our supply area was declared as an area of "serious" water stress and we were directed by Government to consider the case for universal metering of our customers as part of our water resource management plan. As a result, we are planning to meter 90% of our customers by 2020.