Dr Kieran Mullan MP met CEO John Halsall and senior representatives from South East Water, alongside Cllr Paul Redstone, following the recent loss of water supply affecting Northiam and surrounding communities, where the company acknowledged a number of failings in its response.
During the meeting, South East Water accepted that Northiam residents were let down by the handling of the incident, particularly around the delivery of bottled water, communication with vulnerable residents and the information provided to customers.
The company explained that a significant leak affected a reservoir, impacting five distribution areas. It said that incorrect pressure readings led it to believe more customers still had water than was actually the case, resulting in a delayed response and confusion over the scale of the outage.
Residents in Northiam were supplied by tanker, while bottled water stations were established elsewhere. South East Water also said it distributed water directly to around 800 customers and injected water into the network to help restore supplies. However, Dr Mullan raised concerns that many residents, including elderly and vulnerable people, were left without emergency bottled water and that some communities appeared to receive support ahead of those who had been without water for longer.
Dr Mullan also challenged the company over reports of unanswered calls, poor communication and the lack of clear arrangements for supporting vulnerable customers during the incident.
South East Water confirmed that it is carrying out what it described as a "total business reset", with changes to its leadership and operational response. The company has also agreed to engage with parish councils and hold local briefings in the area to explain what happened and answer residents' questions.
Following the meeting, Dr Kieran Mullan MP said:
Residents were badly let down and I made that clear to South East Water. While I welcome the fact the company accepted that mistakes were made, people quite rightly want more than an apology. They want confidence that this cannot happen again."
Many people were left without water for an unacceptable length of time, vulnerable residents did not receive the support they should have expected and communication throughout the incident fell well below the standard people deserve."
I have pressed South East Water to provide clear answers on why bottled water took so long to reach some residents, how decisions were made about where support was sent and what changes are being put in place before another incident occurs."
I will continue to hold South East Water to account until residents can have confidence that lessons have genuinely been learned."
