Coronavirus update - a message to our customers
At this difficult time for everyone, we know that you, our customers and communities, are relying on us for the continued supply of high-quality drinking water. Indeed, our number one priority will always be the health of our workforce and our customers. I want to reassure you that we always respond quickly to put our contingency plans into action following the Government's latest advice. Like others across the water industry, our people are classed as key workers and we will be here 24/7, treating and distributing millions of litres to homes, schools, hospitals and businesses every single day.
You may need to speak with us of course and we are here for you, particularly those that may need extra help at the moment. I know some people will be concerned about paying their water bill. Rest assured that we already have financial support available to those that need it and have put more measures in place now too - have a look below at the ways we can help.
Lastly, I want to thank my colleagues at SES Water and our supply chain for their unwavering professionalism, commitment and flexibility during uncertain times - their extraordinary resilience means no one needs to worry about their water supply and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure this will always be the case.
Ian Cain, Chief Executive Officer at SES Water
Here for you and staying safe
The health and safety of our employees and customers is really important to us, and we’re asking for your help and support to protect them as well as you and your families.
As an essential service provider we are still allowed to work in customers' homes and will therefore continue to carry out all activity while taking the necessary extra precautions. This includes asking a few questions when we arrive to check that it is a safe situation for everybody. If we should call at your home and you’re unwell, please let our teams know immediately so that we can take the necessary precautions to keep you and our teams safe.
We are experiencing a high number of telephone calls at the moment so we encourage you to use our website to do the following very quickly and easily:
• Let us know you’re moving home
• Set up or change a direct debit
You can also contact us through our @SESWater Twitter account or use our online enquiry form.
Facing financial hardship
If you're having difficulty paying your bill at the moment, the sooner you let us know the better. We can't cancel it, but we can help. We also offer a range of other support schemes that you may be able to benefit from, depending on your circumstances. For more information visit our Help paying your bill page.
Higher than usual bill?
We know it can be worrying if your bill seems higher than usual but there might be a simple explanation for it. The most common cause of high bills is using lots of water so take a moment to consider the amount of water you have used recently. Many of us have been spending more time at home over the past year and we have noticed a 12% increase in household demand for water compared to before the pandemic started. For more support visit our Higher than usual bill page.
Priority Services
If you or any of your family and friends have particular health issues and haven’t yet registered for Priority Services, please let us know. Being on the register means we are able to offer you a range of extra services to support you. If you know of someone who isn’t online then you can register them on their behalf.
Join the Priority Services Register
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation and please continue to follow NHS advice www.nhs.uk/coronavirus.
Frequently asked questions
When will your service get back to normal?
The safety and wellbeing of our staff and our customers is of utmost importance to us and we are continuing with emergency work only that can be carried out in a safe way, in line with the Government's latest advice.
I’m on a meter, and I’m being told to use more water to wash my hands. Will this affect my bills?
The government has stressed the importance of high standards of cleanliness, including frequent, careful hand washing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This might mean you’re using more water than usual over the coming weeks or months, but washing your hands only requires a relatively small amount of water, so you shouldn’t see a significant increase in your bills.
I don’t have running water – how can I wash my hands to protect myself from the coronavirus?
We’re really sorry if your supply’s been disrupted at such a difficult time. We’re working as quickly as we can to restore normal service for you. You can check our homepage for updates on all major incidents, including the availability of bottled water. The NHS advise that soap and water is the best way to keep your hands protected, but if you have some available, you can use alcoholic hand sanitiser as an alternative when hand washing isn’t possible.
Can my water be contaminated with coronavirus?
The World Health Organisation has said coronavirus (COVID-19) can’t survive in disinfected drinking water and hasn’t been transmitted in this way.
We test our treated water regularly to check its quality, and all our staff follow governmental guidance, and our own high standards, for personal hygiene and health and safety.
I'm in isolation / I’ve contracted coronavirus so can't collect the bottled water you’re distributing because of an outage. Can you help?
We’re very sorry your supply’s been disrupted. We’re working as quickly as we can to restore normal service for you. You can check our homepage for updates to all major incidents.
We want to get water to as many customers as we can at this difficult time but we’ll need to prioritise those with water-dependent medical conditions. Please get in touch to let us know your situation.
If you need water urgently, it might be best to ask a family member, friend or neighbour to drop off some supplies for you.
Are you seeing a big demand for water due to people washing their hands more?
We’re not seeing a surge in demand due to hand-washing and our systems are designed to cope with increases in water usage. However, demand has been higher than normal this year because of the warm weather and more people being at home.
If you have lots of staff off sick, will you be able to continue providing water?
We’ve created specific, comprehensive plans to make sure we can continue to deliver essential water services during challenging periods, including pandemics.
We also have several water treatment stations, where we store clean treated water, to provide resilience for our supplies and make sure we can maintain a continuous supply of safe drinking water.
My water supply seems to be irritating my skin. Why is this?
We would like to reassure you the make-up of our water has not changed. The quality of our water is paramount to us and it’s a regulation that we continue to test and maintain it.
If you suspect contact with water is causing skin irritation it is advisable that you contact your GP. It is more likely that exposure to allergens from other sources would cause irritation to the skin such as soap or detergents. This could be especially likely at a time when we are all using more hygiene products.
However, a small number of people are sensitive to certain metals that can be picked up in water. For example, high nickel content can cause skin irritation. If you have had any recently installed plumbing this could cause the issue. It is however the homeowner's responsibility to have this investigated.
I can taste and smell more chlorine in my water than usual, why is this?
The levels of chlorine in our water supply have not changed and are not harmful to your health in any way.
However, you may be able to detect more chlorine in your water than usual due to a few factors:
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Chlorine prefers to be a gas rather than dissolved in water. Due to the increase in demand with more people at home, the water is taking less time to get to your taps from our treatment works so there has been less opportunity for the chlorine to 'escape' than normal
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Some of our customers may be receiving their water supply from a different treatment works than normal because Gatwick Airport isn’t using as much. Different treatment works use different levels of chlorine depending on the type of raw water they are treating, for example Bough Beech Reservoir in Kent is fed from a river so needs more than Elmer in Leatherhead which treats water from under the ground
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Chlorine is much better at escaping from warm water. Water will warm up while it sits in supply pipes, for example overnight. This means chlorine will be more noticeable when first used in the day as it’s escaping into the air rather than staying in the water.
To help reduce the taste or smell of chlorine you may want to try fully flushing your taps to bring cooler water in or keeping water from a mains fed kitchen tap in a fridge to cool down. Water should only be kept for a maximum of 24 hours and any jug should be emptied and re-filled after each 24 hour period. Any unused or flushed water need not be wasted and instead could be used for watering house plants or outside in the garden. There is more information on the water in your home web page.
My business is re-opening, how should I make sure the water supply is OK?
Water UK has provided guidance to businesses that have been closed or running on reduced staff about their water supply.
Below is a summary of the Water UK advice for unoccupied buildings, where water has not been in use for many weeks which may now be subject to stagnation:
- Run all taps to flush water through
- Remove aeration devices e.g. shower heads, before flushing
- Follow manufacturers' advice for all appliances – including internal filters or water softeners
- Make sure plumbers are approved under the WaterSafe scheme
Visit the Water UK website for more details, however if you have any concerns please contact us directly on 01737 772000.