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DA reliable water supply system is one of the core foundations on which society is built.
From giant Roman aqueducts to grand Victorian sewers, plumbing systems underpinned public health, allowed cities to grow and pushed once-deadly diseases like cholera and typhoid to the brink.
However, in Britain today, This foundation is cracking – Widespread power outages, sewage congestion in rivers, and water companies struggling to provide the basic services they were created to guarantee.
Pliny the Elder 2000 years later wrote The British would be hard-pressed to agree with the statement that “nothing more extraordinary had ever happened in the whole world” about the Roman plumbing system.
Tens of thousands of people living in southeast England have witnessed water supply disruptions in recent weeks.
Tunbridge Wells resident David Ayre said: “We couldn’t bathe or bathe and couldn’t flush the toilet for two days. It was filled with excrement. I had to dunk it in the water to clean it up. It was really disgusting.” independentwhile queuing for bottled water at the town’s rugby club.
This week alone, 30,000 properties in parts of Kent and East Sussex have been cut off by South East Water Supply.
This follows another major disruption to the region’s water supply, which started in November and lasted until December, affecting around 24,000 households.
Lib Dem local councilor Mike Martin said independent The scale of the problem means South East Water has “lost all credibility”.
“The damage is huge and widespread,” he said. “We’re talking about tens of millions of pounds lost to local businesses. Children missing weeks of education. Parents having to spend huge sums on last-minute childcare. The elderly and vulnerable are hurting. This is the most devastating crisis to hit Tunbridge Wells since Covid.”
He added: “It doesn’t help that private equity has completely stripped South East Water of cash and saddled them with debt.”
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Meanwhile, South East Water’s neighbor Southern Water has shown a similarly poor record, with Hastings experiencing a severe power outage on December 23 that lasted until Christmas Day. This follows a major power outage in May 2024 that left approximately 32,500 properties without water for five days.
The company was recently involved in the catastrophic spill of millions of plastic biobeads used in water treatment facilities, which are now washing up along the south coast, raising serious concerns about the environmental impact. case after case sewage pollution and Failure to properly monitor sewage Overflow, meaning waterways and oceans are also regularly drained of human waste.
Helena Dollimore, Labor MP for Hastings, said: “Time and time again Southern Water has failed in Hastings, Rye and other villages. We’ve had major water cuts, we’ve had flooding in our town centres. We’ve had sewage in our seawater and millions of plastic beads washing up on our coastlines. These are things that people are completely frustrated about.”
“It’s clear to us that our town’s infrastructure and water mains have been neglected and not properly maintained for decades, and we are now seeing the consequences.”
She added: “For decades, funds intended to maintain and repair pipelines were instead diverted into shareholder dividends, payouts and bonuses.”
all over the country, Serious sewage leaks increased by 60% 2025.
The worst culprit was another company in the south-east, Thames Water, which was responsible for 33 of the 75 serious incidents recorded by the Environment Agency, accounting for more than a third of the total.
Facing collapse Struggling with huge debts and an inability to repair leaks and stop sewage overflows, the troubled water company has received permission from Britain’s water regulator Ofwat to increase water bills by 35% over five years, a move that has angered customers, not least because it has paid out an eye-popping £10bn to shareholders since privatization in 1989.
This week, survival poll Thames Water customers have discovered that the majority now want the water company to be nationalised.
Another thing these water companies have in common is that they are now looking to raise their bills
In October last year, Southern Water Company determined that the average water fee would rise by 53% in the next five years, but it still Seeking a further increase of 15% – but was allowed to raise the bill by a further 3%.
At the time, the Competition and Markets Authority said the additional funding would fund more resilient supply, reduce pollution and reflect increased financing costs.
Next week, the UK government will unveil a long-awaited plan on how to clean up Britain’s waterways, reduce pollution and improve infrastructure.
But campaigners fear the Labor government has not gone far enough and could effectively prop up “a broken system”.
Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfriders Against Wastewater independent The legislation will be a “significant milestone” that must set us on the path to no sewage discharge.
“We will not hesitate to condemn the premature steps taken by Keir Starmer and his government,” he said. “Any plan is doomed to fail if it supports a broken system that puts profits over people and the environment.”
“Tinkling around the edges is not enough. Governments must stand up to polluters, provide clarity on public health and deliver the systemic change the public demands and deserves.”
Mr Martin of Tunbridge Wells said a restructuring of the entire industry was the only way to get the UK out of the pollution hole it had dug itself.
He said: “The Lib Dems are campaigning for a public benefit model to restructure the water industry. Water companies will be run as not-for-profit organizations and profits from all common companies will be reinvested back into the water network for the public benefit. Debt will be returned to private companies to protect taxpayers and customers from financial mismanagement.”
UK regulator Ofwat this week launched an investigation into South East Water after repeated water supply failures in Kent and Sussex.
It will investigate whether the water company provides a high enough standard of customer service and support to meet its license conditions.
Following the announcement, Southeast Water said it would “always cooperate fully with any investigation by the regulator and provide any information required”.
An Ofwat spokesman revealed independent: “We are an economic regulator, so we continually ensure that companies meet their obligations to us and other regulators in the sector. Particularly in wastewater, we resolved six wastewater investigations in 2025 and secured over £250m in fines and compensation.”
But amid formal calls for change, public dissatisfaction with water company bosses, particularly their high pay levels, has reached new heights.
last week the times report Southern Water has assigned bodyguards to accompany chief executive Lawrence Gosden on trips following a recent incident in which angry campaigners arrested a citizen.
The group has also targeted other water company bosses, including Thames Water’s Chris Weston and Anglia Water’s Mark Thurston.
Dave Hinton, CEO of South East Water Facing increasing pressure to quit smoking.
Frustrated residents also angry He has not been seen in public for 20 days Local councilors and Kent County Council leaders called for his resignation following the December 2025 blackout, while councilors recalled him to parliament following an environment committee hearing in which he made comments amounting to “misleading parliament and showing contempt for the House of Commons”. MPs say.
A Defra spokesman said: “It is completely unacceptable that water supply issues are occurring in a number of areas across the South East and water chiefs must be held to account.
“However, nationalization is not the answer. It will cost taxpayers £100bn, divert funds from hospitals and schools, while years of removing the current ownership model will lead to investment drying up and sewage pollution worsening.
“Our water white paper will set out the long-term systemic reforms needed to permanently clean up our water resources, including prioritizing investment in our water infrastructure to build resilience.”
A spokesman for Thames Water told independent: “We remain focused on working with the London and Valley Water consortium and all stakeholders to develop a deliverable, holistic market-led solution that will restore Thames Water’s investment-grade credit rating and benefit customers, the environment, taxpayers and the UK economy.”
independent Southern Water and South East Water have been contacted for comment.