Southern Water CEO Pledges £9.7 Million After Supply Interruption

Southern Water’s chief executive acknowledged the company “failed” and “let our customers down” following a water supply interruption that affected thousands of residences. Lawrence Gosden issued a statement expressing regret for the service disruption, which impacted an estimated 58,000 properties across areas including Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey, and the New Forest. The chief executive revealed intentions to allocate £9.7 million for customer compensation, stemming from problems encountered at the Testwood Water Supply Works located in Totton. Ofwat, the industry’s regulatory body, confirmed that the Drinking Water Inspectorate is conducting an inquiry into the occurrence. On Wednesday, the day the supply interruption commenced, Nick Adams-King, leader of Hampshire County Council, characterized the disruption as “damaging and unacceptable”. He stated, “This is the second year in succession that there has been an issue with water supply in the run-up to Christmas.” This service interruption coincided with the announcement that Southern Water customers would see their bills increase by 53% over the forthcoming five years, representing the nation’s highest rise. Earlier, managing director Tim McMahon had stated that the Testwood facility was “very old” and that the water supply failure occurred during scheduled maintenance on Tuesday. Consequently, customers experienced a two-day period without water and depended on emergency bottled water distribution points. Numerous customers reported waiting over two hours in lines for bottled water, and certain priority customers indicated they did not receive an adequate supply. Mr. Gosden affirmed his commitment to “review this incident thoroughly and learn the lessons”. He declared in his statement that the scarcity represented the “single biggest water supply incident in our company’s history”. The Southern Water CEO noted that hundreds of Southern Water personnel had reacted swiftly and exerted a “huge effort”. He continued, “But we failed and we let our customers down.” He added, “With 58,000 properties left without water, opening just one bottled water station on the first day was far from adequate.” “We had a lot of willing employees ready to staff more stations, but we and our partners failed to obtain sufficient quantities of bottled water,” he explained. He concluded, “This left people queuing for hours, in cars or on foot. This fell far short of what the community needed.” An Ofwat representative stated that the regulator fully comprehended the worries of customers impacted by the recent service interruption, emphasizing that “as they rightly expect reliable supplies and appropriate help when there are interruptions”. The spokesperson further commented: “Southern Water are reporting back to us on this and we will then consider if any action falls within the scope of our regulatory powers – and will not hesitate if that is required.” Mr. Gosden acknowledged that vulnerable customers “were poorly served”, and indicated that the company would provide compensation to customers, contacting them in writing within three weeks. He asserted, “The new management team at Southern Water is determined to deliver improvements, and a turnaround for the company.” He elaborated, “But we have a lot of ageing infrastructure, like Testwood water works, which needs to be modernised or replaced. It should have been done a long time ago but investment was squeezed as customer bills remained static for more than a decade.”