Last weeks freezing weather continues to have an impact on water supplies with serious disruption in Mid Sussex, including in parts of East Grinstead and areas around Haywards Heath, although the most seriously affected area is Crowborough where 20,000+ households are apparently off supply completely.

South East Water is urgently asking us all of us to reduce our water usage where possible to allow the system to recover from the current supply issues. They report that because “the snow and ice rapidly thawed there was a 300 per cent increase in the number of bursts than normal both on our supply pipes and on our customers’ pipes. This in turn increased demand resulting in an extra 100 million litres of water leaving our treatment works in just 24 hours. This is the equivalent of adding almost three towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne to our network overnight. Usually, once treated, this water is piped to our clean water storage tanks while it waits to be pumped to customers’ taps. Due to the high number of bursts, the water shot straight out of these tanks at a very fast rate leaving them at a very low level or empty.”

This lack of stored water in the system is leading to disruption to water supply and we can all help by reducing water usage and reporting any water leaks online via South East Water’s interactive map. Where appropriate you can also consider registering as a vulnerable customer to get extra support.

The catastrophic effect of delays in moving to net zero were highlighted in a recent IMF report showing the UK’s reliance on gas is a root cause of the current crisis. Yet Conservative energy policies will make this worse, the proposed subsidy for energy companies helps high use consumers at the expense of direct help to those who need it most, and subsidies an industry making billions in profits. There solution to encourage fracking is wrong on both environmental and cost grounds.

UK energy costs are the most expensive in Western Europe, particularly for those on low incomes. Measures that could have reduced costs such as wind and solar power (which is NINE TIMES cheaper than using gas) have been actively delayed by the Conservatives who have also failed to implement a comprehensive insulation program, and we are still building new houses without any significant energy saving measures.

Liz Truss herself cut gas storage faculties when she was a government minister, this could have enabled prices to be averaged out, but instead forces us to export gas because we cannot store it. We need assertive government action that puts the cost of a freeze on the increase in the energy prices onto energy companies, not taxpayers, and brings forward measures to phase out expensive gas central heating with investment in alternatives, as well as funding insulation and conservation measures.