A summer to remember

Summer 2022 didn’t just break weather records – it smashed them.

It was the driest and hottest the south east has seen in many years. While long, sunny days were fun, it did put huge pressures on our water supply network. That’s why in August we had to put the brakes on and introduce a hosepipe ban in Kent and Sussex. We really appreciate our customers reacting positively to this restriction and want to thank you for your support.

The temporary use ban, as it is also known, has been lifted because our raw water sources have recovered enough, ready for next summer, whatever that may bring.

Every spring and summer as the temperature rises, so does demand for water. And this year demand was extremely high indeed. We all need to keep hydrated and clean and gardeners need to keep their plants watered, while farmers need to keep crops growing and livestock refreshed.

It’s really important we all pull together to conserve our precious resource to make sure there’s enough water for everyone and for our natural world too.

Long before the balmy days of early summer reached us, our experts were working to make sure our customers could be kept in water supply – however hot it got.

Demand for tap water always goes up in the summer months. Gardeners need to keep their plants and vegetables thriving, drivers like to give their motors a regular clean and children enjoy a splash around in a paddling pool among other reasons for water use to increase.

Our planning for summer included making sure our water treatment works, pumping stations and underground storage facilities were working as hard as possible. This involved completing scheduled maintenance plus increasing checks at the sites, replacing any equipment or fittings showing signs of wear.

Taking this action early would mean as well as producing more drinkable water, we would be in a good position to get water to customers as they needed it.

There are, however, always times when things go wrong unexpectedly, no matter how much we plan ahead.

The water network is very complex. From getting raw water to water treatment works, to making the water safe to drink then pumping to customers’ homes and businesses there’s mechanical and environmental pressures throughout the journey from source to tap.

Machines can breakdown, water pipes can burst or power supplies can be interrupted, for example. We have teams of experts monitoring our network 24/7 so when these issues come up we’re on it straight away. But it can take time to fix these problems.

That’s why we had more teams on standby ready to react rapidly when issues came up.

Pumping water to customers on higher ground can be particularly challenging, especially when demand is very high. That’s because the pumps need a minimum amount of water in the storage system to work effectively. It can be difficult to keep the levels high enough when water is going out very quickly.

We know it’s extremely frustrating to be without tap water whatever the weather - and more so when it’s hot and we need to keep hydrated and cool.

That's why were continually making improvements to our facilities and pipes, and working to reduce leaks across our network.

Across the region we’ve enjoyed an unusually warm summer, with lots of sunshine and dry weather. The mercury often rose into the high 30s, with warm sultry evenings becoming the norm.

In fact in the South East we’ve had so little rainfall during the summer that records were broken in both Kent and Sussex where the driest July since records began was recorded. And had it not been for the August thunderstorms and deluges we all experienced, the following month would have been the same.

Unfortunately this dry period at the very start of the summer put increased pressure on our local environment. To keep the taps flowing, we’ve been drawing more water from rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, which are normally helped out by summer rainfall.

These are the precious resources we rely on for our raw water sources to supply an average of 521 million litres of drinking water to our 2.3 million customers every day.

But it’s not just people who need these water sources. Trees, plants, crops, wildlife, livestock, fish, birds and insects – indeed all flora and fauna – depend on the same water to survive and thrive.

Our planet, the environment around us, needs us to care for it and protect it while we also fulfill our need for safe water to keep hydrated and clean.

When water sources run low from lack of rainfall, we see it in our rivers and reservoirs almost straight away. We see the rivers and streams are not as high or fast flowing and reservoirs and ponds may appear low with dry, muddy edges.

And underground the aquifers – the natural storage for a lot of our water in our area – will also be less full, although this can’t be seen from above. More than 75 per cent of the water we drink comes from these underground sources and it can take several years for them to fill up.

And although it’s started raining again, we need lots more rain to help recharge those underground aquifers and underground sources. We think that we’ll need at least 6 months of above average rainfall to start replenishing our underground sources for next spring, which in turn will support our ecosystems too.

We monitor all areas we take water from - called abstraction - and this is regulated by the Environment Agency.

Long before the temperatures soared at the height of summer, we were helping our environment by preparing for some tough times ahead.

Our Environment Team work with farmers to help them make the most of the water they need to feed us, and have come up with new methods to farm more water efficiently.

Did you know we're helping farmers by paying for winter crops to be sown where fields would otherwise be left empty?

Not only do winter crops help hold nitrogen in the soil, but they also bind the soil together helping it retain more water. This is called Catchment Management.

They were also monitoring fish and aquatic life, which can be trapped as water flows slow or die as algae thrives in warmer shallower waters.

Putting a hosepipe ban in place reduced demand for water and that in turn helped our environment.

As we go into the autumn and winter time - when our water sources usually recover – we will be doing all we can to prepare for next year, whatever weather that may bring.

The actions we took in the summer and the action we are taking now are essential to protect supplies and help the environment for the years ahead.