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South East Water Limited – Kingsnorth Reservoir Inspection

Notice under regulation 28(4) of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 (as amended)

Reference: SEW-2025-00014

Version Number: 1

Water undertaker as appointed under section 6 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (as amended): South East Water Limited, with registered number 02679874 (hereinafter called ‘the Company’).

Assets Affected:

Asset Name

Reference

Kingsnorth Reservoir

R548T01

Bewl Water Supply Zone

Z303

West Ashford Water Supply Zone

Z315

Weald Water Supply Zone

Z309

Table 1: List of assets affected and associated reference numbers

Details of this Notice:

  1. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (‘the Inspectorate’) has received a regulation 28(1) report of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 (as amended) (‘the Regulations’) from the Company dated 1 September 2024, which states that there is or has been a significant risk of supplying water from Kingsnorth Reservoir (and associated assets as applicable) that could constitute a potential danger to human health or could be unwholesome.
  2. Consequently, this Notice is served on the Company by the Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State, under regulation 28(4) for the assets listed above, for risks associated with:

Description of Risk

Hazard/ Hazardous Event/ Parameter

Hazard I D

Potential risks from storage of water in tanks; including contamination from ingress or egress, and microbiological re-growth.

Coliform Bacteria

C001

E. coli

C002

Enterococci

C003

Clostridia Perfringens

C004A

Colony Counts

C007

Residual Disinfectant (free and total)

C009

C010

Table 2: Table of the hazards, hazardous events, and/or parameters covered by this Notice, including the Hazard I D numbers and the description of risks.
  1. The Company are required to satisfy the following requirements.

The date given is that until or by which the requirements must be maintained or satisfied, as appropriate.

Requirements:

(a) To maintain the following measures for the period specified in each case:

  1. Operate tank in accordance with current company policy, standards and procedures, that align to recognised standards of good practice.
    Date: Ongoing for the duration of this Notice
  2. Maintain risk-based enhanced (in addition to routine regulatory sampling) sampling. This must include, as a minimum, colony counts, E. coli and coliforms (full scope of enhanced monitoring to be determined under Company’s audit strategy (measure (c)1).
    Date: Ongoing for the duration of this Notice
  3. Maintain proactive external site inspections, grounds maintenance, site security and asset maintenance. This must include periodic inspections of hatches, seals, redundant assets, sample taps, overflows, washouts and air valves.
    Date: Ongoing for the duration of this Notice
  4. Maintain appropriate contingency plans (including liaison with relevant stakeholders as appropriate) to protect human health.
    Date: Ongoing for the duration of this Notice
  5. Keep under review residual chlorine concentrations within tanks, to ensure appropriate set points and trigger values are in place to prevent a deterioration of drinking water quality.
    Date: Ongoing for the duration of this Notice

(b) To review, revise or make operational the following measures, by the dates specified in each case:

  1. Complete ROV inspection.
    Date: Complete
  2. Remove tank from supply for inspection and flood testing.
    Date: 30 September 2025
  3. Complete any required remedial works and return of reservoir to supply.
    Date: 30 September 2026
  4. Upon the discovery of active ingress into any of the company’s tanks;
  • Implement immediate short term mitigation measures to ensure human health is protected;
  • Design and implement a solution to stop the ingress; and
  • Complete a solution to stop the ingress.

Date: Ongoing until the Reservoir is removed from supply.

    (c) To audit whether the measures have been effective by the following means:

    1. Define an audit strategy to monitor the effectiveness of the measures specified in sections (a) and (b).
      Date: 30 April 2025
    2. Implement, and keep under continuous review, the audit strategy defined in measure (c)1.
      Date: Following completion of measure (c)1. onwards.

    (d) Not to supply water for regulation 4(1) purposes from Kingsnorth Reservoir, or not to so supply unless the specified conditions below are satisfied:

    1. Following inspection, the tank or reservoir will not be returned to service until all relevant issues which risk affecting water quality have been remediated.

    (e) To provide the following information in the time and manner specified below to enable monitoring of progress towards the mitigation of the risks:

    1. Provide a progress report annually.
      Date: by 31 January each year.
    2. Submit report confirming removal of tank from supply.
      Date: 31 October 2025
    3. Submit report confirming completion of remedial works and return of reservoir to supply.
      Date: 31 October 2026
    4. Where ingress has been found and the company are unable to take the tank out of supply immediately or keep the tank out of supply until the ingress has been stopped, this must be notified as an event to the Inspectorate under paragraph 9(1) of the Water Industry (Suppliers’ Information) Direction 2023. The company’s written notification under paragraph 9(2)(b) of the Direction must outline:
    • the immediate mitigation measure implemented to protect human health; and
    • the Company’s action plan to mitigate the risks associated with ingress in the medium to long term.

    Date: Ongoing until the tank is out of supply.

    1. Submit the audit strategy for auditing the effectiveness of the measures, as specified in measure (c)1.
      Date: 31 May 2025
    2. Submit any revisions of the audit strategy produced under measure (c)2.
      Date: Within 1 month of a revision
    3. Submit a report in the event that any completed measures of this Notice need to be altered in any way, for any reason.
      Date: Ongoing for the duration of this Notice
    4. Submit a satisfactory completion report accompanied by a revised regulation 28(1) report with Board level Director sign-off. This will include: Inspection report including remedial works completed where required. Return to service sampling results. Date: 31 December 2026

    Further Details of this Notice:

    1. Any product or substance used as a result of the requirements in this Notice must comply with regulation 31.
    2. Under regulation 28(6) the Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, may by notice served on the Company, revoke or vary this Notice.
    3. Failure by the Company to comply with this Notice may result in enforcement proceedings under section 18 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (as amended).
    4. [Contravention of a regulation 28(4)(d) requirement is an offence under regulation 33(1). If guilty of such an offence, the Company is liable on summary conviction, or on conviction on indictment, to a fine. Under regulation 33(2) it is a defence for the Company to show that it took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.]

    Signed

     

    Nicholas Adjei
    Deputy Chief Inspector, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
    4 February 2025
    Reference: SEW-2025-00014

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