How we manage incidents

What to expect in a water supply or quality incident

We always aim to provide the best possible service for you, but from time to time, there could be an incident involving part of our network that impacts your water supply or causes an interruption.  

During an incident, we’ll provide up to date information, as and when it's available, but we know it’s sometimes difficult to know what to do. You can find out below what you can do if there's ever a water supply incident that affects your home.  

How you can stay updated in the event of a supply incident

We'll update our website in the event of an incident. You'll be able to access our latest updates through a red banner at the top of our home page or on our Network Latest page. Our updates will include information about what happened, what areas are affected, if there is a bottled water station, where you can find it, what times it'll be open and our progress on fixing the problem.   

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, where we'll regularly post incident updates and other useful information about your water service. 

Depending on the impact of the incident and the area affected, we may provide updates directly to you. We'll usually send you an email or SMS message based on the contact information we have for you, or hand deliver a letter to your door with more information. To update your contact details online, make sure you've registered for MyAccount. Once logged in, click 'Edit my details', then 'Account information' where you can update your contact details. You can also update this information by speaking to a member of our team on 01737 772000.

Precautionary boil water notices

Our drinking water is of extremely high quality and is regularly tested by us at random. If we were to ever receive poor water sample results we may issue a precautionary boil water notice while the cause is investigated and any remedial work is completed. In this situation you can still use water for bathing and cleaning. You'll only need to boil water for consumption or to use in food preparation. You can boil your water using a kettle or a saucepan. If you're not able to boil the water for the duration of the notice, please call us on 01737 772000 for additional support. In the event of larger incidents, we may use volunteers from Kent Search and Rescue (KSAR) to support with bottled water deliveries.

Bottled water

If there is a supply incident resulting in a long interruption, we'll set up a bottled water station near your area. We'll confirm the location of the station on our website, our social media channels, and in some cases, letters to your home. Enough bottled water will be provided to you depending on your needs. Read our factsheet about bottled water here.

Customers that need extra care

If you need extra care or know someone who does, please make sure you've joined our free Priority Services Register. We'll provide extra tailored support which can include how we communicate with you and hand-delivering bottled water to your home if you're left with no water due to an interruption to your water supply. We'll also be in touch to make sure you have all the information you need. Carers, friends or family can register on behalf of you if they think you could benefit from extra support. You can register for free here.

In the event of a prolonged water supply incident, if you're on our Priority Services Register and you can't get yourself to our bottled water station, we can deliver bottled water to you.   

How to identify SES Water Employees

In the event of a water supply incident, we're here to help. If we visit your home to drop off letters or bottled water, we'll always be wearing our uniform and have identification with us. You should always remain vigilant and be aware of bogus callers, who may try and impersonate a water or utility company to gain access to your home. If you've got any suspicions, we'll always understand and cooperate if you want to check our identification. You can even set up a password that we can use when visiting you. Learn more about bogus callers here.  

Compensation

In some cases, you may be able to get compensation if your water is off for a period of time. To find out more about our compensation payments, please refer to our Customer Charter. 

Further questions

If you have any questions about what to do in a water supply incident, please call us on 01737 772000 to speak to a member of our team. We're open Monday to Friday, from 8am-6pm, or 24/7 in the case of emergencies.