Southeast Water is bringing in a hosepipe ban across Kent as the company struggles to keep up with demand during the extreme heat now gripping the country. According to the report, the company has apologised for the move, saying it is sorry for the disruption this causes and that it is grateful to everyone helping to protect the county's water during a period of exceptional strain on supplies.
The company has set out just how stretched its network has become. According to the report, in the communication imposing the ban Southeast Water said that every treatment works across the county is maxed out, and that despite running at that level, water levels are dropping faster than it is able to fill them back up, leaving little slack in the system as temperatures stay high.
For many residents this is not a one off but part of a pattern. According to the report, the ban is the latest in a string of supply issues from the company, with thousands left without drinking water across the area during the heat, and it follows similar problems experienced during the previous heat wave back in May, deepening frustration among those affected.
Campaigners say the failures stretch well beyond the current hot spell. According to the report, Jonathan Hawker of the Dry Wells Action Group said the company had failed his hometown of Tunbridge Wells, leaving it with several weeks without water over the winter, and had more recently failed communities in the eastern part of Kent, pointing to problems that are not confined to summer.
The group is now pressing for a change in how growth is handled in the area. According to the report, Hawker called for a moratorium on new housing developments in affected communities until Southeast Water is able to deliver on what he described as its sole mission of supplying water, arguing that it makes little sense to add demand while existing supplies are failing.
The dispute comes against a backdrop of wider concern about water resilience as the heat continues. According to the report, hosepipe bans may yet spread to other parts of the country later in the summer, with Kent among the first to be affected, and the report notes that there have been changes at the top of the company as it faces mounting scrutiny over its handling of supplies.