SES Water's position on drought announcement

We support the Environment Agency’s decision to declare drought in our region, following the driest July since records began.

Most of our supplies come from groundwater resources, which is water stored in underground aquifers, and the balance is abstracted from rivers into our Bough Beech reservoir in Kent. These resources are refilled through winter rainfall between October to April and so, unlike some other water companies, we don’t rely on summer rainfall to support our supplies.

During the prolonged dry weather, it's the increase in demand for water that's the main cause for the decline in our water resource levels, which are slightly less than we’d expect for this time of year.

While we have already activated our Drought Plan, we have not met the trigger level required to introduce a hosepipe ban: an increase in demand for water or continuing low levels of rainfall through this autumn and winter would require us to reconsider this, along with potential additional measures set out in our Drought Plan, between now and next spring.

In the meantime, we’re asking customers to keep using water responsibly, and we are grateful for what’s been achieved so far. Not only does this help conserve water resources, but it could also help customers save money: taking short showers rather than baths can reduce water bills and energy bills, which is particularly important for everyone right now.  

We also remain focused on keeping leaks as low as we can and have introduced additional teams to help deal with the increase in water main bursts caused by the very dry weather over recent months.

Throughout the next few weeks and months, we will continue to work closely with government, the Environment Agency, regulators and other water companies. This will help keep our customers informed of the changing situation, and continuously supplied with water now and in the future.

Thank you for the excellent work you’re doing to save water this summer. We know it’s not easy, but if we all work together, we can help stop the need for restrictions.

What else are you doing to help?

• We are increasing our water production to get more water across our network
• We are reconfiguring parts of our network to take water from more plentiful supplies and boost pressure

What can I do to help?

On average, each of our customers uses about 150 litres of water a day and usually a lot more than this on a warm day.

The more water you use, the higher the likelihood that you and your neighbours could experience lower pressure as all pipes have limited capacity regardless of how much water we can pump into them. Anyone who has been standing in the shower when someone fills a kettle or flushes a loo downstairs will understand the principle.

Every drop really does count – if we all save a little, then together we can save a lot! Even small changes in the way you use water can make a huge difference, whatever the weather.

• We know many of you will be outside planting and watering. Hosepipes and sprinklers use a huge amount of water – around 1,000 litres per hour – so please use a watering can instead and recycle water where you can
• We know many of you will be keen to wash your vehicles but pressure washers and hose pipes also use a lot of water so please avoid using these
• Use appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers outside peak hours (after 8pm)
• If you are watering plants, re-use washing up water or water from a paddling pool rather than from the tap

Please have a look at more water saving tips here and the good news is that by using less water you could also save money