Many of my constituents are very worried about our environment and rightly protecting our precious resources such as water.
South East Water made a request to their customers on the 12th June, which I shared on my website here, which called for mindful use of water in the area due to the extremely hot weather and significantly increased demand on the systems. This I am told over the previous weekend had equated to enough additional water to serve FOUR towns the size of Eastbourne. Of course, more people working from home adds to this as we try to keep clean and cool as we would expect and want to, both at work or at home.
However, frustratingly matters have escalated and South East Water have now introduced a Temporary Use Ban across Kent and Sussex to help to manage the demand for water. Nearby East Sussex has recently had another appalling episode of poor service, no water and community stress.
I have been advised there is sufficient ‘raw water’ however this takes time to process, distribute and keep local storage tanks filled, especially so that those who are further along the system receive supplies, as is the case in, for example but not exclusively, areas such as Bolney, Warninglid & Staplefield.
I have repeatedly raised my deep concern on behalf of my constituents about the security of supply in this water stress area, both with South East Water and with DEFRA Ministers including Minister Pow and who again met with SE Water on this matter.
I will write to and engage again with DEFRA Ministers on this extremely concerning matter alongside highlighting, yet again, the impact of increasing demand from high numbers of new housing expectations placed not only on Mid Sussex but across the whole of the South East. Water suppliers are not a formal consultee for planning applications, in that they can’t ‘challenge’ an application, and they continue to be expected to deliver even in water stressed areas such as Mid Sussex. This cannot continue. I have greatly urged the company to be honest and open about their ability not only to supply connections but to be able meet demand from the new homes when they are built.
It is absolutely vital that deliverable, realistic plans for infrastructure and the required investment is made into the area so the disastrous water outages experienced when there are extremes of weather – not only the hot weather we have now but when the temperature drops too, and as experienced in the week running up to Christmas 2022 – are a rare, if not impossible, events. This insecurity of our supply in Sussex is just not acceptable.
DEFRA are aware of this Temporary Use Ban and a spokesperson at the department has confirmed:
“We are aware that South East Water plan to introduce a Temporary Use Ban in Kent and Sussex following an exceptional increase in demand on the water network due to hot weather.
“Upgrading infrastructure is key to ensuring a clean, plentiful water supply now and for future generations – and we are clear that water companies must invest in new supply infrastructure and step up their efforts to manage demand.”
They have further explained they continue to work with SE Water to ensure the company is taking all necessary steps to minimise impacts on customers with this Temporary Use Ban which was introduced because of increased demand for water due to hot weather and which is impacting how quickly storage reservoirs can be refilled – and not because of a lack of water resources or low reservoir levels.
I have been advised the Government rightly recognises and is actively working with the sector and holding them to account as we should. Focusing on the urgent need to improve the resilience of our water supplies further and is committed to a twin track approach of investing in new supply infrastructure and action to reduce leaks and improve water efficiency. The Plan for Water was recently launched by DEFRA to clean up our waters and ensure a plentiful supply for the future. This includes measures to increase our resilience to drought and the pressures on our water supply.
As part of this the Government are taking a number of actions to improve water supply such as:
- £1.6 billion of new, accelerated investment by water companies, to spend on new infrastructure to tackle pollution and increase our water resilience
- Launching a new National Policy Statement on water resources so that key water supply infrastructure – such as reservoirs and water transfer schemes – can be built more quickly.
- Reducing water demand by encouraging water companies to consider how to rapidly increase smart meter installations for household and non-household customers.
- Mitigating the impacts of future droughts through the National Drought Group which brings together senior decision makers, water companies, and key water user groups to reduce the impacts of drought
- Setting ambitious targets for water companies to crack down on leakage, facing financial penalties if they don’t meet them
- Improving water efficiency in homes by developing minimum product standards for showers, taps, and toilets
- Water companies, and regional groups have been consulting on statutory long-term plans, known as Water Resources Management Plans, to secure supplies.
You can read more about this here: https://www.mimsdavies.org.uk/news/mims-davies-mp-defra-announces-new-plan-water