A major UK water company has announced that customer bills must rise to prevent a repeat of severe supply shortages that left thousands of households without running water.
Regulator blamed for lack of investment
Chris Train, the chairman of South East Water, stated that the financially struggling utility has been unable to invest in essential infrastructure because the industry regulator, Ofwat, blocked its proposed bill increases. He argued this lack of investment in "resilience" directly contributed to the recent crises.
The company is expected to confirm the exact scale of the price hike in the coming weeks, with the new rates scheduled to take effect from April 2026. This announcement follows a difficult period for the supplier, which is now under official scrutiny.
Investigation launched after supply loss
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) launched a formal investigation into South East Water in December 2025 following a significant loss of supply. The company has attributed recent outages in areas like Eastbourne to "essential network changes."
Local residents have endured immense hardship. John Oliver, one affected customer, reported that supply was completely intermittent. "We had water today for 45 minutes. Then it went off, and that's it. We had an hour yesterday," he said.
MP and public demand accountability
The situation has provoked fierce political and public backlash. Mike Martin, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, expressed fury on behalf of his constituents, who faced two separate periods without drinking water.
"I'm absolutely livid," Mr Martin told The Independent. "Nothing that we learnt the first time round has been picked up this time round. There's been really poor communication, poor crisis management, and it's a shambles."
He has written to NatWest, which owns a 25% stake in South East Water, to question the acceptability of the service. The MP was scathing in his criticism of the company's leadership, specifically calling for the removal of Chief Executive Dave Hinton.
"Quite simply Dave Hinton needs to go. The company is beset by groupthink and they can't see all of the problems that they face," Martin stated. He also criticised the Labour government's response, saying "the government needs to grow a pair, and call for him to go."
Public anger is further fuelled by executive pay. Local resident David Ayre pointed out the disparity, saying, "the guy who runs it all is earning £500,000 a year. I'd like to see him [Mr Hinton] fired. He's got to be held responsible for his actions."
With South East Water warning that supplies may be "on and off until at least this weekend," the pressure is mounting for both corporate and regulatory action to resolve the systemic failures and restore public trust.
