South East Water to pay £30.5m over failures

South East Water to pay £30.5m over failuresImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, South East Water distributing water to customers after thousands of properties across Tunbridge Wells were affected by water disruptions in January 2026ByHsin-Yi LoSouth EastPublished1 hour agoTroubled South East Water must pay £30.5m after investigations by the industry watchdog following supply interruptions affecting hundreds of thousands of households across Kent and Sussex.Water regulator Ofwat said this follows the conclusion of three investigations into the company's repeated failures. The redress package will be paid for by the firm's shareholders and not through customer bills.A spokesperson for the water company said they were "incredibly sorry" for the historical supply disruptions for Kent and Sussex customers."We know this caused significant disruption and anxiety, and we accept the failures identified by Ofwat," they said."It is not the standard of service our customers deserve."Our priority has been to ensure that the resolution of this investigation directly benefits those who suffered the most."Ofwat says the redress will include £5m to provide free water butts for households, £5m to bring forward smart metering to businesses and other non-household customers, and a further £5m for on-site storage to help manage the supply during peak demand.Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Ofwat says South East Water did not provide affected customers with adequate bottled water suppliesThe regulator previously proposed a £22m fine for water supply failures between 2020 and 2023, which impacted more than 286,000 people.It launched a second probe at the start of this year after further supply interruptions in Tunbridge Wells and across Kent and Sussex between November and January, which left up to 70,000 homes without water.Customers were unable to access tap water, shower or flush their toilets during the supply issues between Novemb...