Arlington Reservoir

Ardingly Reservoir

Reservoirs

South East Water has two reservoirs in Sussex – Ardingly and Arlington. These strategic water resources provide some 25% of all the water that we supply to our 2.1 million customers, with the rest coming from underground aquifers or bulk transfers of water from neighbouring companies.

These reservoirs, both constructed in the mid 1970s, form a key part of our water supply network – between them they can store up to 8,300 million litres of water. They are filled during the winter months when river flows in the Ouse and Cuckmere are high. We are licensed to abstract this water, which would otherwise go out to sea, from the rivers so we can store, treat and then distribute it to our customers.