Temporary hosepipe restrictions for Kent customers

Demand for drinking water in South East Water’s Kent supply area has reached very high levels in June, driven by the latest heatwave to impact the region. To ensure that the company can provide a consistent public water service for all its customers in the county, South East Water is moving to restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers with immediate effect.

The South East is in the midst of the second heatwave of the year, after having experienced just 36 per cent of normal rainfall from March to May. Whilst the wetter winter months meant that the company’s raw water levels are still in a good position, it is the capacity to treat and pump this water that has prompted this move.

High temperatures experienced in recent weeks has seen customer demand for treated water reach near record levels. With demand breaching the triggers in the company’s approved Drought Plan, the company is taking this action to ensure that all customers in Kent remain in supply during this period and throughout the summer.

In preparation for this, every available water treatment works and source is currently producing treated water at full capacity and South East Water has ensured that drinking water storage tanks were filled as much as possible before the heatwave started. The drinking water company has increased the number of teams fixing bursts and leaks to save water and is re-routing water around the network to where it’s needed most.

Recent infrastructure upgrades in West Kent have successfully strengthened the Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge networks against a repeat of the winter's interruptions. The impact of this summer heatwave is affecting drinking water storage levels right across Kent, requiring a county wide approach to restrictions.

Despite producing up to more than an additional 100 million litres of water a day - equivalent to supplying approximately three towns the size of Maidstone – the demand for drinking water needs to be reduced to ensure that supply interruptions are not experienced across its network throughout the summer.

David Hinton, Chief Executive Officer, South East Water, said: “We completely understand why everyone reaches for the hose when the weather gets this hot. It’s natural to want to enjoy our gardens and cool down, and we know how frustrating it is to hear that restrictions are coming into place.

"Our teams have worked incredibly hard to prepare for this summer, but the sheer scale of this sustained heatwave means drinking water is being drawn from our storage tanks faster than it can be treated and refilled. Our absolute priority has to be making sure there is always enough water for everyone’s essential daily needs—like hygiene, drinking and cooking—and that we protect our vulnerable customers.

"To safeguard that shared supply and prevent any homes from facing a sudden loss of water, we sadly need to ask our communities to not use their hosepipes immediately. We are deeply sorry for the disruption this causes, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone helping us protect Kent's water."

The temporary restrictions will be enforced from 00.01 on Friday, 3 July, however the company is asking customers in Kent to respect these restrictions immediately. This will mean that customers should not use hosepipes for watering their gardens, washing cars, patios and boats and from filling swimming and paddling pools.

Addressing the resilience challenge

In the company’s business plan, enhanced after a successful appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), there is significant investment into enhancing resilience in the county’s water supply network in the short, medium and longer term.

The company’s brand new water treatment works in Maidstone will officially be opened in a few weeks’ time, whilst additional pipes will be installed across the county to help move water around more easily. This will be supported with additional storage to provide a buffer against increases in demand. In the long term, the company is developing a new surface reservoir at Broad Oak near Canterbury.

Hinton said finally, “I would like to thank everyone who has already taken steps to try and reduce their overall water use but despite this, demand still remains very high which is why we have taken this decision to bring in temporary use restrictions.”