The great advantage that business water customers have over households is the opportunity to choose their supplier, which enables them to switch business water supplier whenever they feel it is appropriate.
This is not just a question of price, but of service. After all, there would be no value in paying a lower amount for a less reliable supply, especially when the provision of water is essential for many companies to meet their needs.
Such needs may range from keeping plants watered in dry weather to the use of water in producing food and drink products. In each case, the customer will need the supply of water to be clean and available whenever it is needed and in the amounts required.
Of course, no water company can guarantee that there will never be any water supply disruptions, given that unexpected accidents, deliberate sabotage, acts of terrorism, or severe weather can cause problems. But restoring supplies quickly is a high priority.
What Has Happened To Water Supplies In Kent And East Sussex?
This has been a particularly pertinent issue for businesses and households in Kent and East Sussex recently.
Firstly, a major incident was declared in Mid-January when a major outage left 30,000 homes in Kent and West Sussex without water for several days, as well as many businesses. This was one of several recent major problems:
- On Saturday, January 16th, a fault at a treatment works near Maidstone left 4,500 homes with low or no water pressure
- On Sunday, January 17th, this was followed by a fault at a treatment works, which, combined with a power outage and two burst mains, left another 5,500 homes without water
- A burst main on January 17th disrupted supplies for another 800 homes near Maidstone
- A further burst main that same day left over 500 homes between Maidstone and Ashford that were already suffering after the water treatment works problems with low pressure or no water supply at all
- These incidents followed a protracted lack of supply for 24,000 homes in Tunbridge Wells just before Christmas, an outage that lasted for two weeks.
As well as impacting households, businesses across Kent and parts of East Sussex were also hit by these disruptions.
What Has Been The Response To The South East Water Crisis?
Not surprisingly, South East Water, which has overseen these calamities, has faced fierce criticism from various angles, from residents and businesses to MPs. But what will the consequences be for the water company?
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds called on Ofwat to investigate the water company and even to review its licence to operate.
Further pressure has come from the chief inspector at the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Marcus Rink, who told MPs that the treatment works problems had been identified as early as November 9th, when a “noticeable deterioration” had been spotted.
He also said the company had failed to carry out proper testing, comments that could lead to further trouble for South East Water. So far, however, company chief executive David Hinton has not responded to calls to resign or at least not take his annual bonus.
Ofwat’s response has been to launch an investigation into South East Water, noting that this is the first time it has launched an investigation into consumer-focused licence conditions.
The remit of the probe will be to establish if South East Water has “complied with its obligation to provide high standards of customer service and support for its customers”.
Ofwat’s senior director for enforcement, Lynne Parker, said: “The last six weeks have been miserable for businesses and households across Kent and Sussex with repeated supply problems.”
What Action Can Ofwat Take?
The powers Ofwat has to breach a company in breach of its licence are considerable, emanating from Section 37 of the Water Industry Act 1991. As well as taking enforcement action, it can fine a company up to ten per cent of its turnover.
Some might think such powers are a powerful means of tackling shortcomings. Others would argue that the frequency with which water companies fail to meet their obligations and the long string of large fines handed out show that the deterrent is not strong enough.
For households, there is nothing they can do but hope the action taken by Ofwat produces significant improvements so that the series of water supply interruptions does not recur.
However, for businesses, many of whom will have had production and operations affected by such failings, the power to switch will be seen as invaluable. Besides any other concern, it will mean no longer paying bills to a firm whose failures might have cost them money.
When water firms let people down, Ofwat may take stern action. But businesses that need reliable supplies will appreciate taking advantage of water switching services to ensure a bad supplier can never let them down again.
