A message to our business water customers from South East Water

Update - please note that South East Water have removed their TUB, effective from 4 August.

Demand for drinking water in Kent and Sussex has reached record levels in June – with customers using a similar amount of water as in the drought last year.

As a result, South East Water have had to implement restrictions to the use of hosepipes and sprinklers in the Kent and Sussex regions. This is necessary to ensure we have enough water for both essential uses and to protect the environment.

The Temporary Usage Ban (TUBs) apply for both household and non-household customers.Whilst the majority of business are not impacted by these restrictions, it is important that all customers are responsible with water use over the next period.

South East Water CEO, David Hinton, has written a letter explaining why the TUB has come into force. He also explains what South East Water are doing to maintain a reliable water supply to their customers in the short to medium term. Click here to view the letter.

There are a number of exceptions that apply to our business customers, please see the links provided below to South East Water’s website and FAQ’s. For more information click here.

What can businesses do to help?

The main thing businesses can do to help is to reduce your water usage where possible, especially during our daily peaks of 7.30 to 10 both morning and evening.

Small changes make a big difference, for example:

  • Check for leaks on toilets, taps and urinals. Even a small constant dribble can waste up to 400 litres a day.
  • Educate your employees on being more water efficient – from turning off taps to using the small flush, there’s actions we can all take to save water
  • Delay any non-critical water use until the temperatures start to fall
  • Order some water-saving freebies

Taking these simple steps will help us keep taps flowing this summer – for you, and the rest of our 2.3 million customers across south east England.

Useful resources

For more top water saving tips, visit our non-household website.

And don’t forget to keep an eye on our website for daily updates.

For more information read our blog post, Water efficiency for businesses during a heatwave.