South East Water has applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a Drought Order to help conserve water stored in its Ardingly Reservoir and protect drinking water supplies for customers across Sussex.
The application follows the driest spring in the south east since 1893, which has placed significant pressure on local water resources. South East Water’s Ardingly Reservoir, which supplies around 228,000 customers in Haywards Heath and the surrounding areas, currently stands at 27.6 per cent full.
Earlier this year, the company was granted a Drought Permit by the Environment Agency to vary the conditions of its abstraction licence. Despite measures such as repairing leaks, transferring water between regions, injecting additional supplies into the network and introducing a hosepipe ban across Kent and Sussex, exceptionally low rainfall has continued to impact supply resilience.
“This year has been exceptionally dry, and the River Ouse catchment in Sussex has only experienced two years – 1976 and 1893 – with lower spring and summer rainfall in its 155-year record. Consequently, the River Ouse, where we take water from for supply and to refill our Ardingly Reservoir, is running low.
Therefore we are applying to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a Drought Order to help conserve the remaining water that is stored within our Ardingly Reservoir.”
Nick Price, Head of Water Resources, South East Water
South East Water, which serves 2.3 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire, is continuing to work closely with regulators and follow its official Drought Plan to ensure supplies are maintained.
The company has also announced plans to remove some of the current exemptions within its Temporary Use Ban for Sussex customers from Friday 17 October, further strengthening efforts to preserve local water supplies.
Customers are encouraged to play their part by using water wisely and following water-saving advice available on the company’s website.
