Although we still have a couple of months until we reach spring, this winter has already brought some significant disruptions to water supplies in the UK, particularly in the south-east of the country.
The latest serious disruption has occurred in Kent and Sussex, where South East Water has revealed approximately 30,000 homes are without water supplies due to a series of burst pipes, as well as problems at a water treatment works.
According to the water supplier, Storm Goretti is behind the issues at the water treatment works, while the freezing weather conditions have caused burst pipes in several locations.
Some homes and businesses have been without water for five days, leading Kent County Council to declare a major incident in the area.
But this isn’t the first disruption customers have seen to their water supply this winter. Before Christmas, South East Water issued a precautionary boil water notice to 24,000 of its customers in and around Tunbridge Wells.
This was due to quality issues detected in tap water being supplied from one of the organisation’s treatment plants in the area.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate has since announced a full investigation into the water quality issues in the region in December, and is also beginning a new investigation into this latest round of disruption for customers in the south-east.
To help combat the latest disruption to supplies, South East Water is distributing bottled water to locations such as care homes, hospitals and schools, as well as to priority residents, and it has set up bottled water stations in key locations around the region.
What should you do if your water supply goes off?
There are several reasons why you may lose your water supply at your property. The first, as in the case in Kent and Sussex, is due to some kind of emergency repair work. For instance, if a water main bursts, your water supplier will turn off the water while they fix the pipe.
In this case, you should be able to find out what’s going on by checking your water supplier’s website.
Sometimes your water supply will be disrupted due to planned repair works. In these instances, you should receive prior warning about the disruption so that you can plan accordingly at your business.
Then, of course, water supply issues can be caused by a problem within your building’s plumbing, rather than by an external issue. If you notice that either you have no water coming out of your taps or the water pressure is very low, begin by talking to your neighbours.
If they are also experiencing issues with their water supply, this indicates it’s a problem with your supplier. If, on the other hand, they are having no challenges, you need to investigate your own plumbing system to find out what’s going on.
One easy place to check is that your stop tap – also called your stopcock – is turned on. If you’ve recently had any work carried out to your plumbing or heating system, this could be the problem and it’s simple to fix – just turn the tap on!
Is disruption to water supplies going to become more common in the UK?
The long, dry summer that England experienced in 2025 has led to concerns over drought and the disruption this could cause to the country’s water supplies.
The Environment Agency’s report highlighted that England will need to receive at least 100 per cent of its average rainfall through to March in order to fully recover from the drought conditions.
This raises serious questions about the country’s water supply resilience, and we all need to do our part to ensure we conserve water wherever we can. As a company looking to switch business water providers, you can use this opportunity to see where you can reduce water consumption.
As well as helping the environment, this will also reduce your water bills, making such steps a win for everyone.
Changing water suppliers is only possible for businesses, not for residential customers, but doing so can not only mean that you’re able to access the most competitive rates on the market, it also allows you to find out if you’ve been overcharged in the past.
This could result in a refund coming your way – a nice added bonus from the water switching service.
With water supply disruption seemingly more likely due to climate-related pressures in the future, it’s more important than ever that you have a water supplier that will support you and your company now and moving forward.
