Before Christmas I was in intensive contact with South East Water about the significant water shortage problems faced by constituents from Handcross, Pease Pottage, Balcombe and Ardingly, among other areas.
Pipes bursting and water leakage is clearly a risk when we have large swings in temperature as happened then with a 20 degree shift. However what is critical is how swiftly problems are resolved and the emergency provision to support residents while this is effected.
I said I would follow-up with South East Water on these issues and did so this morning alongside my colleague, Mims Davies.
South East Water have explained that they are undertaking an investigation into exactly what happened and how they can improve the resilience of the system and their response. In a usual week they will fix 100 leaks. Over the week of the outage, working 24/7 they fixed 500 but found as water pressure was restored that further leaks were identified. This is not a surprise and one of the clear messages is on communications to customers: residents appreciate that it may be complex to resolve these issues but regular updates do reassure that progress is being made. South East Water are also aware that the location of their bottle stations were far from optimal, especially for those who do not have access to their own transport. The initial distribution of Tunbridge Wells and East Grinsted was far from adequate. It was always likely that the Pease Pottage/Handcross area would slow to receive supply given its position on the network and this could usefully be reflected in water distribution stations at an earlier point.
For those who are particularly vulnerable (examples are stated on their website) South East Water maintains a “priority list”. While this did not work as well as I would like it remains a very important tool and I would encourage anyone in that position to sign up via this link: Register for priority services | South East Water
Both Mims and I have requested a further de-brief once South East Water have conducted their investigation so that they can fully inform of us of the lessons they have learnt.
I know many of the constituents effected are keen to ensure they are compensated for the huge inconvenience they experienced. South East Water assured me that they are working on their compensation framework and those who are entitled to compensation will be contacted directly with their accounts duly credited. South East Water do not require customers to take any action to receive compensation. South East Water will also be compensating businesses effected and have a pathway for both insured and uninsured businesses to receive compensation.
I know being without water for as long as many households were was a complete nightmare, particularly as it was so close to Christmas. I do hope every household is now completely back to normal, but if any household is still experiencing issues with water supply (i.e no water supply, low pressure etc) then please do let me know and I will raise cases directly with South East Water.