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We cannot confirm SES Water's current position from its own published notice, so this page asserts nothing about it. That is deliberate: a wrong all-clear here would send someone out with a hosepipe under a restriction carrying a fine of up to 1,000 pounds, and a wrong restriction would cost them a brown lawn for no reason. Check SES Water's own notice, linked below, before using a hosepipe. Everything else on this page, the supply area, the exclusions, the penalties and the history, is stable information that does not depend on today's status.
What this site last recorded, on 30 July 2026, and which is what we can no longer stand behind today: Confirmed from SES Water's own site on 25 July 2026, which carries the customer notice: 'We're aware that South East Water has recently announced a hosepipe ban. Currently, SES Water are not planning to introduce a hosepipe ban.' That distinction matters in RH, CR, DA, SM, KT and GU, where SES Water shares postcode districts with companies that DO have a ban. Formerly Sutton and East Surrey Water; the two names refer to the same company.
We could not confirm SES Water’s current status from their own page, so we are not asserting a restriction. Check with your supplier before using a hosepipe.
We are an unofficial tracker, so SES Water’s own notice is the version that legally applies to you.
SES Water supplies 750,000 people across east Surrey and parts of south London, Kent and West Sussex, in a compact area that is almost entirely surrounded by companies with a different position. It is a water-only company, formerly Sutton and East Surrey Water, and the two names refer to the same business.
The overlap problem here is acute. SES Water shares the RH, CR, DA, SM, KT and GU postcode districts with South East Water and Southern Water, both of which have used statutory restrictions this season, and with Thames Water. So in this corner of the South East a postcode is close to useless as an answer, and a household can be a few hundred metres from a neighbour under a legal restriction while facing none itself.
Source: SES Water
The sections on why a restriction was declared, and on what it restricts, are not shown here: with the status unconfirmed there is nothing verified to describe, and inventing it would be worse than leaving it out. SES Water's own notice is the authoritative statement of its current position.
If a Temporary Use Ban were in force here, breaching it would be a criminal offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of £1,000 on summary conviction, under section 76(5) of the Water Industry Act 1991. It is not a fixed penalty: SES Water cannot issue one and would have to prosecute. In practice companies publish an enforcement policy that starts with a warning, so a first breach realistically produces a letter.
SES Water's own account is that it has avoided hosepipe restrictions for more than twenty years, which spans the 2005 to 2006 South East drought, the 2011 to 2012 drought and the dry summers of 2018 and 2022, all of which produced restrictions elsewhere in the region. For a supply area sitting between two companies that have restricted use this season, that is the single most useful fact on the page, and it is a consequence of the source mix rather than of milder local weather.
Source: SES Water
We could not confirm SES Water's current status from its own notice, so this site asserts nothing either way. Check SES Water's own notice before using a hosepipe.
Because we could not confirm it against SES Water's own published notice, and this site does not assert a status it cannot stand behind. A wrong all-clear costs a reader up to 1,000 pounds; a wrong ban costs them a brown lawn. Neither is acceptable, so it says so instead.
We cannot confirm SES Water's current position, so this page will not tell you either way. A watering can or bucket is safe whatever the status, because a Temporary Use Ban never restricts them. For a hosepipe, check SES Water's own notice first.
Up to 1,000 pounds, imposed by a magistrates' court on conviction under section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991. It is not a fixed penalty: SES Water would have to prosecute, and starts with a warning.
Usually, but not automatically everywhere. Most companies exempt Priority Services Register customers and Blue Badge holders who cannot reasonably use a can or bucket, some automatically and some on registration. SES Water's own notice sets the wording.
Your water bill, on the water supply line rather than the sewerage line: in much of England and Wales those are two different companies. SES Water supplies the ses water supply area across east surrey and parts of south london, kent and west sussex.
No. They are separate companies with similar names and adjacent supply areas, and SES Water published a customer notice specifically to make that clear when South East Water announced its restriction. SES Water was formerly Sutton and East Surrey Water.
Because about 85 per cent of its water comes from groundwater that recharges over winter, with only 15 per cent from Bough Beech reservoir. The company says that source mix has kept its supply steady through dry spells and has kept it clear of restrictions for over twenty years.
The supply area covers east Surrey including Redhill, Reigate and Dorking, parts of south London around Sutton and Croydon, and slivers of Kent and West Sussex, bounded by Thames Water, South East Water and Southern Water.
6 outward postcode districts resolve to SES Water here, as primary supplier or as one candidate among several. An outward code is the part before the space: SO14, not SO14 3AB.
Source: SES Water
Source of record: SES Water’s own status page, last checked 30 July 2026. We do not publish a hosepipe ban on the strength of a news report; every status rests on a primary source.