Update 28th May 2026 - South East Water has warned residents that reservoirs could run dry and lead to water cuts. Water companies have built ZERO new reservoirs since privatisation. Instead, they have sold off 35 existing reservoirs. Time to end the madness of water privatisation.
Chris Train, the chair of SEW has resigned following a damning report by a committee of MPs. The company failed to properly maintain infrastructure, prepare for extreme weather and support vulnerable customers during outages. In one of the report's strongest criticisms, the committee said: "A company described by its leadership as having a 'family feel' is perhaps better described as an unaccountable clique."
A cross-party group of MPs also say they have no confidence in SEW bosses following a series of major supply outages.
But one resignation won't change things. Regulator Ofwat has already said SEW has one of the worst records in the industry for supply interruptions over the last decade. It needs bringing into public ownership.
Background information:
- 30,000 homes and businesses were affected in Kent and Sussex
- SEW boss still in line for a bonus, however badly the company performs
- SEW spent more on dividends and debt than on infrastructure
Comments
David 7 months ago
Have signed your petition and forwarded the email to others who will be interested. Meanwhile, South East Water is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It has paid its chief exec £400,000 in salary, £170,000 bonus and generous dividends to shareholders. Providing clean water is a means to an end – not a primary objective.
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Kathy Ludbrook 7 months ago
Repeated failure of private water companies to do what they are paid for damages public health and confidence in the Government. Take South East Water into public ownership and save individuals and companies a fortune.
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Sue Bennett 7 months ago
Yes - OF COURSE ALL the privatised water companies should be back in public ownership!! - with a considerable bonus to the taxpayer to say ‘thank you’?!!
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Tavish Simpson 7 months ago
Water is so basic to all our lives. Rivers and dams for storage need protection and heavy fines for those polluting. The water companies; private companies running these water systems are not what we need! The ‘ proof of the pudding. Etc…’ we see now. They are making a great deal of money out of the nations right to have clean and affordable water.💧
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Jackki Wachlarz 7 months ago
The water industry needs to be in public hands.
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Jean L Heyman 7 months ago
Disgusting how its chef exec receives such a huge salary, share holders get richer and the quality of water is rotten.
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Zoe Purdy 6 months ago
I’m all for responsible ownership of our utilities but I think we should ensure that the private companies pay for the damage from not reinvesting into the system otherwise we continue to pay for a problem we didn’t make. And we’d pay double or more…
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Maureen Broom 6 months ago
Get rid of South East water ASAP and put it in public ownership
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Andrew Knight-Latter 6 months ago
Not fit for purpose
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Gary MEAD 6 months ago
The failure of SEW to invest for the future is absurd; this failure has not only deprived current customers of potable water it will do the same again for future customers
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Suzanne Scoble 6 months ago
They should all be nationalised including gas , electric.
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monica 1 month ago
Hi,
I was wondering, IF / When the water get publicly owned, do we also have a say in how it is desinfected?
i.e. NO chloride & or Fluoride in our drinking water??
some tips:
Filtration
Pre-treatment: large dirt, such as plastic and wood, is filtered out first.
Sand filtration: the water flows through sand filters that remove small particles and contaminants.
Biological treatment
Activated sludge: bacteria are used to break down organic material in the water. This happens in special tanks where the water contacts these bacteria.
Natural purification
Infiltration: water is allowed to soak into the soil, where it is naturally purified further by the layers in the ground.
And then final step:
UV disinfection (UV light treatment) is a step where water is passed through a chamber with ultraviolet lamps to inactivate microorganisms like bacteria and viruses.
can we make this happen?
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