https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/28/anger-kent-south-east-water-outages
Water company blames increased demand in extreme heat, but customers want answers about lack of storage reservoirs
“Spitting, fuming, angry and powerless” is how Pat Prestage describes her emotions after a water outage that has affected thousands of homes in Kent during the heatwave.
On Wednesday, 8,000 South East Water customers in Whitstable lost water, with 14,000 more in Tankerton, Ashford, and its surrounding areas facing an intermittent supply or low pressure. South East Water’s incident manager, Matthew Dean, said on Thursday that 22,000 people had had water supply problems.
The company blamed increased demand in the hot weather and asked people to use water only for essential purposes.
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The Prestages are angry at the company’s response, particularly its co-option of what the couple describe as the “blitz spirit” in asking customers with water to ease up on their usage to help those without.
“They talk to the public as if they’re a public service. They’re a private company, run for profit!” says Pat. “Some of the money we’re paying, they’re pocketing, and it’s not going into the reservoir we’ve needed for 40 years.”
Martin says “the inference is almost that it’s our fault”.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/28/anger-kent-south-east-water-outages