Huge challenges ahead, says new South East Water boss

A chartered engineer for decades, Halsall has laid out the three main points on which he wanted to focus.

“I’ve spoken to loads of customers and the plan is clear – when they turn on their taps we need to make sure water comes out.

“We also need to make sure our response improves when things go wrong,” he told the BBC.

“Bottle stations running out and vulnerable customers not getting water delivered to their homes is not acceptable

“Thirdly, we need to rebuild those relationships, be more open and transparent with our communication, and not over-promise.”

In the longer term, Halsall said he would deliver the company’s largest ever investment programme of £2.1bn to “improve reliability and resilience”.

But, while that would mean “new service reservoirs, additional treatments and pipework to move water around the patch”, he said reducing the necessity of the likes of hosepipe bans was still a long way off.

“I’m genuinely upset that we find ourselves in the position we’re in,” Halsall said.

“I can’t promise to turn the situation around overnight, but I will do everything humanly possible to make things better for our customers.”

He says by 2030 he “really expects” South East Water’s performance to be “significantly better”.

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