Residents across Kent and Sussex have voiced fury at South East Water (SEW) as a major incident leaves thousands of properties without a reliable water supply.
Approximately 30,000 households are currently affected by the outage, which follows a similar crisis just last month.
Public anger is mounting, with one resident telling GB News that the utility provider is “rotten from top to bottom” and “not fit for purpose”.
The Kent resident told GB News: “We had two weeks with no water at all couldn’t even flush the toilet or drink anything.”
Another said: “The whole organisation is rotten from top to bottom. It’s not fit for purpose. I’d suggest the Government steps in and does something quickly.”
A third added: “We shouldn’t be allowing bonuses to be paid out of profits that actually haven’t been made.
“We’ve been suffering since before Christmas and it just disrupts our lives. My wife went to work today with no shower.”
A fourth commented: “I think the teams are doing as much as they can, and we appreciate the effort they’re putting in to get us some help.”
South East residents have been left with no water for five days
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GB NEWS
A fifth fumed: “Incompetent isn’t even the word for this. We are so fed up with them as local residents, apart from our local MP Mike Martin who’s been absolutely brilliant, politicians in Westminster give a sound bite and they don’t seem to care.””
While SEW has issued apologies for the disruption, locals argue that the organisation’s repeated failures require urgent action rather than words.
The scale of the outage is significant, with roughly 30,000 homes and businesses across the two counties facing dry taps or low pressure.
Educational institutions have been forced to shut their doors today, with councils in Kent and Sussex confirming multiple school closures due to hygiene concerns.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE WATER CRISIS
South East Water supplies about 2.2 million customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire | PA
Local commerce is also suffering, as independent retailers report having to limit operations or cease trading entirely while the supply remains unstable.
West Sussex has been hit hard, particularly in East Grinstead, Burgess Hill, and Cuckfield.
Further east, the disruption extends to Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, and Canterbury, where residents are grappling with intermittent service.
Areas such as Sevenoaks are also impacted, with Kent County Council formally declaring a major incident in response to the widespread failure.
South East Water has attributed the widespread supply failure to a combination of adverse factors, primarily citing the impact of Storm Goretti on its treatment capabilities.
The company also pointed to recent freeze-thaw weather patterns which caused pipes to burst, alongside issues with power and reduced bulk supplies from a neighbouring firm.
To assist those left without running water, emergency bottled water collection points have been established in affected towns.
Households on the priority services register are receiving direct deliveries to ensure vulnerable residents have access to hydration.
Engineers are reportedly working “around the clock” to fix the network, but the utility provider has warned that pressure must be built back up slowly to prevent further damage.
While full service was projected to return to some West Sussex areas by Wednesday afternoon, other locations are seeing only a gradual stabilisation.
Political pressure on the utility firm is intensifying, with Helen Grant, the MP for Maidstone and Malling, insisting the company cannot escape accountability for this latest crisis.
She has joined a growing number of parliamentarians calling for David Hinton, the chief executive, to resign immediately.
Mike Martin, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, also criticised the leadership in the House of Commons yesterday.