The areas where thousands face water shortages in record heatwave

Thousands of households across the South East are facing a weekend of water shortages as experts warn Britain’s infrastructure is struggling to cope with the extreme heat.

A surge in demand for water over the past week has left more than 20,000 properties in Kent and Sussex with little or no supply due to South East Water (SEW) infrastructure failures.

Other companies, such as Thames Water, are warning customers to reduce their usage as they struggle to cope with a spike in demand.

The outages in the South East were a sign that the UK’s “infrastructure is more vulnerable than it should be” to extreme heat, said Hannah Cloke, regius professor in meteorology and climate science at the University of Reading.

As temperatures climb again this weekend, SEW is warning that thousands of households are likely to experience “intermittent supply” over the coming days.

South East runs out of water 

The past week has brought record-breaking heat to the UK, with temperatures as high as 35°C recorded on Tuesday.

Households in Kent and Sussex began experiencing water shortages last Sunday, with more than 20,000 households in areas including Whitstable, Ashford and Eastbourne affected by Friday.

Around 3,500 homes in Whitstable and 200 in Cranbrook remained without water on Friday. An additional 9,000 were experiencing intermittent supply in Ulcombe, Coxheath, Loose, Headcorn, Herne Bay, Charing, Challock and Molash.

The problems are largely related to SEW’s inability to treat enough water to satisfy demand during periods of extreme heat.

The region has faced repeated water cuts in recent years, including a major one in December when more than 25,000 properties were left without supply for almost a week.

Earlier this month, a report by MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee found South East Water had “comprehensively failed” to monitor risks and maintain its assets.

Will water shortages spread?

Following a wet start to the year, river and reservoir levels are currently considered to be at acceptable levels across most of the country, meaning widespread hosepipe bans or shortages are unlikely. “Of course, that could change as we go into the summer, and we don’t get the rainfall we need,” Professor Cloke said.

It is also possible that another heatwave could bring further localised issues, such as those seen in the South East, if water companies struggle to treat and deliver water in time to meet demand.

On Friday, Thames Water asked its customers to limit the amount they were using to maintain their gardens or wash their cars, following a peak in demand.

An additional one billion litres was used over the bank holiday weekend compared to the same period last year.

Professor Cloke said water companies “should be better prepared” for heatwaves, adding: “This heatwave’s been very early in the year, and so that is relatively unusual, but it is one of the things that we’re expecting to see more of with climate change, so we should be preparing for this kind of thing. Basic water supply; that is fundamental.”

‘Dangerous’ impact on customers

SEW customers told The i Paper they were “furious” about the lack of supply, particularly during a heatwave. Julie Wassmer, who led a four-year boycott of her bill, returned home to no water on Wednesday.

Ms Wassmer, of the Boycott Water Bills campaign, said she did not have any bottled water delivered until the following day despite being on SEW’s priority list, which is meant to provide additional support for vulnerable customers, due to her 81-year-old husband’s age and health.

“We only have a shower and not to be able to use that to cool yourself down is pretty bad, not to be able to wash [or] brush your teeth properly. We’re really lost without [water] in hot weather,” she said.

“I found it difficult to cook anything and when I did cook something – and it was toast – I can’t wash up afterwards. I was drinking milk until I finally got a delivery.”

Ms Wassmer’s water returned on Friday morning but she is anticipating further disruption over the coming days after SEW said supply was likely to be “intermittent” over the weekend.

“I am, and people in this town, are absolutely furious,” she added.

Ed Acteson, a founding member of SOS Whitstable, which campaigns against sewage pollution and for public ownership of the water industry, said the current situation was “absolutely horrific”.

He added: “It’s the middle of a heatwave, hottest time of the year, and there’s people with no drinking water. It’s not just incredibly poor service, but it’s extremely dangerous. People are having to queue up in the heat for water stations, to get water, and it’s just completely unacceptable.”

South East Water’s incident manager, Steve Benton, said: “Our fleet of tankers has been working 24/7 putting an extra one million litres of water into the network in areas where demand has been extremely high and to support our stored water reservoirs.”

He said bottled water was being delivered to vulnerable customers and handed out at water stations across the affected areas. “We are sorry to customers who have had interruptions or low pressure in their water supply and know how frustrating it is, especially in very hot weather,” he added.