South East Water – August Newsletter
Welcome to our newsletter!
In this edition:
- Our current water resources status
- Help us keep the taps flowing for everyone
- How to stay resilient this summer and beyond
- Our new livestock support policy is live
- Opening our new water treatment works in Aylesford
We wanted to say thank you to everyone who joined our webinar last month. It was fantastic to have so many businesses and business groups attend, and we hope you found the session valuable. We are hoping to host a similar session later on in the year and more details will be shared over the coming weeks.
In this edition, we’re providing a quick overview of how businesses can stay resilient this summer and beyond, what our Temporary Use Ban (TUB) means for commercial operations, our new livestock support policy and the opening of our £50m Butler Water Treatment Works in Aylesford.
Sustained dry weather and high temperatures continue to push water use to exceptional levels. Demand peaked at 687 million litres a day on Wednesday 24 June, nearly 100 million litres more than the average for June. July has also continued to be very warm and dry, with demand peaking at 673 million litres on 9 July.
To help offset this strain and keep taps flowing, we continue to invest heavily across the region. Our teams are working 24/7 fixing leaks and bursts and upgrading vital infrastructure at key sites, including Pembury, Tonbridge, and Bewl.
Thank you for your continued support as we navigate these summer months together.
While our teams are working flat out, the volume of water being drawn puts serious pressure on our network and water resources. To help make sure we can provide a consistent public water service for essential daily needs across the entire region, a Temporary Use Ban (TUB) is now in place affecting all South East Water customers.
Even if your business is legally exempt from the restrictions, we’re asking you to use water extra wisely to help protect the network. Below is a breakdown of the current situation, the guidelines, and how they apply to your business.
Kent: Temporary Use Ban (TUB) in force
A Temporary Use Ban (TUB) came into legal force across Kent on 3 July 2026. Sustained high temperatures mean water is being drawn from regional storage tanks faster than it can physically be treated and refilled.
Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire: Temporary Use Ban (TUB) introduced
To join Kent, hosepipe restrictions are now being introduced across Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire.
Due to lower than average rainfall, continued hot weather, and high demand, we have seen a decline in river levels and need to protect groundwater sources and reduce raw water abstractions from rivers (such as the rivers Thames and Cuckmere). The restrictions are being enforced to preserve raw water resources and maintain essential domestic supplies.
Restrictions for Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire are legally enforceable from 00:01 on Saturday 25 July, though all customers are asked to respect the restrictions immediately.
What are the restrictions?
Unless a specific exemption applies, the use of hosepipes, sprinklers, pressure washers, and irrigation systems connected to the mains water supply is restricted across 11 key areas:
- Watering gardens, public gardens, lawns, parks, verges, non-commercial allotments, or green spaces.
- Watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises.
- Cleaning private vehicles.
- Cleaning private leisure boats (excluding inside areas).
- Cleaning walls, windows of domestic premises, paths, patios, or other artificial outdoor surfaces.
- Filling or maintaining domestic swimming pools, paddling pools, domestic ponds, hot tubs, or ornamental fountains.
Business and non-household exemptions
We know that water restrictions can impact business operations. To support commercial activity, we apply several key exemptions allowing most core business services to continue:
- Commercial cleaning services: Using a hosepipe is permitted if cleaning is done as a service to customers in the course of a business, or used to clean public service or commercial goods vehicles.
- Commercial agriculture and horticulture: Hosepipes are permitted to water plants, crops, vegetables, or fruit grown or kept for sale or commercial use, National Plant Collections, or temporary garden/flower displays.
- Sports grounds: Hosepipes may be used to water grass or outdoor artificial surfaces on the active playing strip/area for sport or recreation when done outside of daily peak hours that occur from 8am to 10am and 5pm to 9pm.
- Health, safety and welfare: Hosepipes may be used where necessary for unavoidable health and safety requirements or animal welfare (including fish/aquatic animals in ponds).
- Recycled water systems: Hosepipes connected to a water butt or recycled water storage system are fully exempt.
- Fixed and alternative irrigation: The use of watering cans, fixed watering systems, or drip/trickle irrigation systems fitted with a pressure-reducing valve and timer are permitted.
Quick-win water-saving tips for businesses
If your business is exempt from the restrictions, using water extra wisely is vital to easing pressure on local network storage tanks. We encourage all businesses to implement these operational measures:
- Swap the hose: Where possible, swap hosepipes for manually carried watering cans or buckets.
- Upgrade irrigation: Switch to automatic drip or trickle irrigation systems fitted with pressure-reducing valves and timers.
- Harvest greywater and rainwater: Collect water in water butts or recycling systems. Recycled water is completely exempt and can be used with hosepipes or pressure washers. We understand there isn’t much rain around now but investing in a water butt now means any rain we do get in summer is captured, as well as having it for when we expect heavier rainfall in autumn and winter.
- Shift operational hours: Move water-heavy operations outside of peak demand periods (7am–9am and 4pm–7pm) where possible to lower network demand.
- Check for leaks: Encourage staff to report leaks immediately. Regularly inspect workplace toilets and pipework, as even a minor leak can waste hundreds of litres daily.
Thank you for your cooperation and support as we work together to keep the taps flowing across the South East.
How to stay this resilient this summer and beyond
The South East of England continues to experience prolonged periods of hot and dry weather, severely straining local water resources, including our rivers and reservoirs.
To safeguard the regional economy and prevent widespread network disruption, like localised low water pressure, it’s important that our non-household customers take proactive steps to build business water resilience. Preparing your operations for the immediate future helps local water resources recover faster and secures your long-term business continuity.
Here’s how your business can stay resilient this summer and beyond.
Horticulture and agriculture
- Install dedicated on-site storage tanks or cisterns to secure at least a week’s vital water supply for crops or livestock.
- Shift away from standard sprinklers. Adopt drip irrigation or soaker hoses, and schedule your necessary water abstraction during cooler, off-peak evening hours.
- Set up large-scale rainwater harvesting systems on barn and outbuilding roofs to capture water for non-potable cleaning.
- Promote the purchasing of drought-resistant plants to your customers such as lavender, verbena and agapanthus.
Education (schools and universities)
- Maintain an accessible, rotation-managed stock of emergency bottled water for essential drinking and handwashing.
- Establish robust notification protocols for staff, students, and parents to coordinate logistics quickly in the event of any local supply disruption.
- Check facilities for “leaky loos.” Fitting tap aerators and low-flow fittings across campus can dramatically lower daily utility footprints.
Hospitality (hotels, cafés and restaurants)
- Keep emergency water supplies ready for cooking and hygiene, and develop a backup protocol for temporary sanitation (such as chemical toilets).
- Educate kitchen and housekeeping teams on waterless or low-water cleaning methods, and ensure dishwashers or washing machines are only run on fully loaded “eco” settings.
- Swap running hosepipes on patios and grounds for buckets, or use high-efficiency pressure washers with explicit shut-off triggers.
Leisure (gyms, spas and sports clubs)
- Calculate the exact minimum water volume required to keep critical guest facilities like toilets, showers, and changing areas open safely.
- Assess the feasibility of greywater recycling or rainwater harvesting to handle massive, non-potable demands like toilet flushing or vehicle washing.
- Establish relationships with external suppliers to bring in temporary water bowsers to top up essential heating or cooling systems if needed.
Our new livestock support policy is live
We have introduced a new scheme designed to support the agricultural sector and protect animal welfare during unplanned water supply interruptions.
While our statutory priority remains maintaining domestic supplies for human consumption, we recognise the vital economic role of the livestock sector in the South East. Having invested in a new response team and a fleet of 12 tankers, we have worked closely with DEFRA to bridge the gap in emergency agricultural water provision.
What the support looks like
We aim to deploy emergency support within 48 hours of an interruption, prioritizing areas with the highest animal welfare risk.
- For holdings with 6+ livestock animals: We will use reasonable endeavors to provide alternative water via bottled water (for immediate, critical needs), bowsers (mobile tanks), static tanks, or direct tanker deliveries (where farm access allows).
- For holdings with 5 or fewer animals: Dedicated livestock filling points will be set up for owners to collect bulk and bottled water supplies.
Important Reminder: Under The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007, the primary legal responsibility for ensuring animals have water lies with the owner. We urge all businesses to maintain robust contingency plans and on-farm storage.
Register your business now
To receive this support during an emergency, livestock owners must pre-register.
- How to register: Click here to register for support
- What you need: Businesses will need to provide their Single Business Identifier (SBI) so holdings can be verified against DEFRA registers.
- Contact us: If you have any questions about the policy, please get in touch with us here.
Opening our new water treatment works in Aylesford
We are pleased to share a major positive update regarding our regional water infrastructure. South East Water has officially commissioned its new, state-of-the-art Butler Water Treatment Works in Aylesford, Kent.
This £50 million facility represents a massive milestone in securing a stable, resilient water supply across a county officially classified as water-stressed.
Boosting local business and network resilience
This project was completed in collaboration with contractors Murphy and Clancy. The facility is already actively treating and distributing drinking water to the Aylesford and Maidstone areas. By adding significant capacity to the network, the plant directly reduces the risk of localised water pressure drops and supply interruptions, particularly during peak summer demand.
The first step in a broader, strategic plan
The commissioning of the Butler facility is the first major milestone in our ambitious 2025–2030 Business Plan.
To ensure this newly treated water reaches the areas that need it most, we are currently planning a pipeline to connect the Aylesford site to Ashford and its surrounding areas. This vital infrastructure will play a key role in supporting Ashford’s expanding housing market and ongoing economic growth. To keep disruption to a minimum, we are planning to lay the new pipeline primarily through private land. Our land agents are already proactively consulting with local landowners.
