South East Water will have to pay £30.5million after investigations by the water regulator found there had been ‘repeated’ supply failures.
Regulator Ofwat said the redress package follows three investigations into the water supplier and includes a previously proposed £22million fine for supply disruptions between 2020 and 2023, which affected more than 286,000 people.
It found that the company had ‘failed to plan sufficiently… leaving the system unable to cope during extreme weather or periods of high demand.’
The watchdog launched a second probe at the start of the year following supply issues in Tunbridge Wells and across Kent and Sussex between November 2025 and January 2026, which left up to 70,000 homes without supply.
South East Water left customers with no tap water and facing long delays last year, Ofwat said
