South East Water: Plea to use water for essentials only in heatwave

Douglas Whitfield said South East Water was struggling to keep up with rising demand

A water firm boss is urging people to use water for "essential" purposes only during the next week, as rising heat levels has seen demand hit unprecedented levels.

Speaking outside Bewl Water reservoir in Wadhurst, East Sussex, Douglas Whitfield, director of operations at South East Water said he was concerned.

"What we're worried about is keeping up with customer demand," he added.

Hot weather warnings are expected to stay in place until after the weekend.

Warning to use water for "essentials" only

South East Water supplies 2.2 million people across Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

Mr Whitfield added: "What we're seeing across our area, but particularly in the Kent region as the temperatures are climbing this week, is demand going to very high levels.

"In some cases higher than we've ever seen before.

"Really the problem for us this week is being able to physically pump the water into the system fast enough to keep up.

"My plea is for customers to really think carefully about their water use this week, not to use the hose to water the garden, and use water for essential use only, while this really hot period is on."

He said he expected it to be a "short-term" issue.

Surface water levels are "concerning", but ground levels are well stocked up over the winter.

Water shortages may only arise if the summer continues to be dry, or it may be an issue for next year if we also have a dry winter, he explained.

Meanwhile, a burst main on the Isle of Sheppey left some people with low pressure or no water supply on Tuesday morning.

Southern Water apologised to customers and said it was organising collection points for bottled water.

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