Disgruntled customer launches petition against South East Water after five days of no supplies
Customer Jutta Wrobel asks why summer takes water company by surprise every year
A disgruntled South East Water customer has launched a petition against the company, calling for a ban on the payment of shareholder dividends until significant repairs and improvements are made to the water supply infrastructure.
It comes as the company imposes a hosepipe ban for thousands of customers across Kent and Sussex.
Customer Jutta Wrobel who lives in Wadhurst, Sussex, started the online petition demanding a change of ownership of South East Water after having no water supply for five days.
She said: "We know summer comes around, because it does it every year, and it has always done it every year.
"So it shouldn't be a surprise to a water company that as soon as there is some hot weather there may be more demand for water.
"This is where the operational mismanagement occurred. Who wasn't watching the weather forecast. Where is the water and where did it go?"
Jutta Wrobel calls on water regulator OFWAT to take action against South East Water
The petition calls on regulator Ofwat to impose "meaningful penalties - not fines - but a ban on paying dividends to their shareholders until repairs and building of new infrastructure has been agreed and overseen by an independent body."
Failing this the petition urges that South East Water be replaced by a company that is able to fulfil its public obligations.
In the face of the hosepipe ban, introduced relatively early in the summer the water regulator OFWAT has called for an urgent meeting with the South East Water.
The managing director of regulator OFWAT, Paul Hickey said: "We are looking at dividend policy, to make sure that dividends and indeed bonuses to senior leaders of companies is linked to performance".
He also said that after thousands of customers were recently left without water for five days during a heatwave: "When we call South East Water in we will be testing them on the level of compensation that they will be making to customers affected by this incident and that is appropriate to the experience that they have suffered".