Southern Water Reviews 

Got no water? Don't worry we will only notify you of any works but only if you subscribe to our spam system... Struggling to pay the bills? Don't worry our bosses still get their millions of pounds bonuses... Hosepipe bans? Don't worry, we have plenty of water leaks....

After a recent bereavement SW closed MY account stating I had 'moved out'. Contacted them and they had to open a new account. Now they are sending me threatening emails claiming I owe money on the old account. How can they get away with this appallingly insensitive intimidation?

And today? A repeat of the same experience noted above although this was supposed to have been 'sorted out' by yesterday. Horrific company. I do not recommend in any way.

Very poor service from Southern water,
They customer service is there to clearly trap you !
They have lied to me twice regarding my status my funds I have !!
Clearly not looking after your customers !!

Abysmally poor service. I wanted refund of credit balance rather than reduce direct debit. Online chat facility seems non-existent, poor hearing puts me off phoning so emailed specifying need to avoid phone calls. Refund given but they then cancelled direct debit and insisted I discuss over phone.
Lodged a Formal Complaint only to be bombarded with phone calls in which I often mishear, no transcripts & usually lead to even more problems down the line. Dreadful company but monopolised "service", if you can call it that.

Trying to sort out the account following the death of my father. Received email congratulating me on my move! Tried to sort it this out. First agent promised an email outlining our discussions and next steps. Never materialised. Second agent (2 days later) confirmed that no details were taken. Allegedly they need to up to 20 working days to reinstate my father's account so I can submit meter reading!
I would try raising a complaint but it appears I will just be sent back to the same call centre.
Update: Letter delivered to my late dad's house (good job I visited and picked up post) saying that as no account for the address the water supply may be cut off. Thanks (not) Southern Water. When I reregistered as executor there was still no place for meter reading.

Well looking at all the comments it’s looks like a lot of customers are getting very high bills sent for which the do not owe , you try to explain they have it wrong but they still insist you owe it there saying we owe £2000 which in the 5 years we have lived here and the reading given she said we have used £600 and pay every month there’s only 2 of us and no bath , I have insisted they send someone to our address to sort this out ,so we wait and see if that happens. E are both nearly 80 and don’t need this stress

Very difficult to speak to a person and the online prompts didn't cover the issue I had (exceptionally high bill due to an inaccurate meter reading submitted by Portsmouth Water). When I did speak to someone I couldn't hear or understand what they were telling me. Very slow response times and poor customer service.

I’d give less than 1 if I could.
I once again have human sewage spilling into my garden as their waste pipes run under my property.
My bill has tripled in the last year and I have queued with their virtual assistant for over half an hour to try and get this resolved.
The last time I reported this issue, I was able to talk to a “human” they advised any further issues were southern waters responsibility’s and would be rectified immediately due to the health implications.
Yeah right!

They called me out of the blue on 12 September 2025 to say I owed them thousands of pounds for excess water usage in and around 2020/21. I exclaimed why it was that if I had in fact used these gallons and gallons of water every day that they were claiming (and I'm talking multiple football pitches worth, according to them), were they only coming to me 4-5 years' later and not jumping up and down at the time to try and get money from me. I'll tell you why - they're either liars or there was a leak that I didn't know about that they fixed (there was no leak within my property but there could've been one underground) because magically the usage dropped and me not being aware of it would not have changed my habits at that time, despite very much changing them now.

They did eventually wipe the majority of the debt but the other portion I had to pay over time and they had increase my monthly bill to recover the rest and yet they're STILL after money... now saying I need to pay almost £100 within 7 days! Turns out despite changing my direct debit details on 9 December 2025 and I don't pay my bills until the first of the month, it didn't take the direct debit on 2 January 2026 and that part of the payment was the usual monthly amount plus a little bit more in excess. I've since spoken to them and resolved it but it's just ridiculous that despite it being done in time for the next month, it fails their end and somehow I'm the one having to pay it within 7 days. They could've even taken it from the old account which I still had open and then just taken from the new account in February, but no.

They make you scared to even have a shower or do any washing up. It's ridiculous. I've even cut down how much I shower now and I'll just smell the rest of my life for fear I can't actually turn on the tap without them claiming I'm using too much water!

If I could shop around and move away from them like I can do with everything else, I would in a heartbeat. Genuinely, I might have to move out of area so I can be with a different water company because Southern Water are genuinely terrible.

Southern water are expensive and we do not have a choice.
Southern water are stuck to automatic answers and do not dare to s p e a k to anyone.
They are with horrible customer service, high prices to get high salaries, poor water supply as water stinks of chlorine all the time

Called southen water today due to blocked drain they were brillant the staff are kind and caring and the engener was caring and very help full and he did a fantastic job and very friendly southen water are prompt and very good they do look after there customers im very happy with the servis well done southen water keep up the good work

Continued diaruptuon . This company are shocking roseing bills by over 100%

Whipping faling to actually carry out repairs.

Same areas mylutaple repairs through out the year.

Constant blaming of customers for the companies failures

This company is not fit for purpose. Utilities should be tajen back under government control

This level of failure should not be rewarded by bonus and record bill increases

Shocking incompetence.

If I had options I would switch to a different service provider. Are there any options available?

I am a vulnerable OAP and I pay my bill to Southern Water once I have received the paper bill !
I suffer from anxiety issues.
Southern Water have sent me an emailed reminder that my bill has NOT been paid yet......BUT THIS IS BEFORE I HAVE EVEN RECEIVED THE PAPER BILL !!
WHY DO THAT SOUTHERN WATER ????
Think before you send out worthless unnecessary emailed bill reminders.......SHAMBOLIC !!!

Today (at 13:46) I called your helpline at 0330 303 0277 regarding my water bill. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely unprofessional and unacceptable.
• The representative I spoke with for 39 minutes refused to provide me with my water bill details.
• Instead, he insisted on taking my card details, which I did not provide.
• During the call, he spoke in a mocking and disrespectful manner, even making insulting remarks.
• When I requested to be connected to a manager to resolve the issue, he refused.

This behavior is highly unprofessional and unacceptable for a company dealing with customers’ essential services. I kindly request that you investigate this matter urgently, take disciplinary action against the employee involved, and provide me with a clear resolution regarding my water account.

If I do not receive a proper response, I will escalate this complaint to the relevant regulatory authorities.

I look forward to your urgent reply.

Feel embarrassed about writing this for this company . I heard about getting discount off my water bill if i live on my own . So phoned up and was told that i would be eligible, they said having a water meter would be the solution . They said they would send someone round to see if i could be done as i live in a small block of flats . The inspector came round and took off the inspection cover outside my flat , turned the water off and then checked his records to find i have a water meter . Thats strange i said as i have lived here for 27 years and have never asked to have one . He asked for my name and said this is odd the account name is different to the address . But registered to my house number . He then said they cannot fit a water meter to my property and said he does not understand why the water meter is fitted to my neighbors flat . He said they will have to remove it . Ok no drama but he assured me i will get the discount . A few weeks pass and still no confirmation of this . So i phoned to get passed around everyone i spoke to were totally clueless and said we will phone you back . I lost count on how many people i spoke to but none of them understood my issue . I asked has my discount been set up and can you send it to me in writing . Finally i think someone understood but i am not convinced . Only time will tell .

Two weeks ago I reported a small water leak. 24 hours a day later, this is no longer in the category of small. Although attended , nothing has happened to stop this leak. The incompetence is staggering.

This 5 stars IS NOT for SOUTHERN WATER but their Engineer Chris. Amazing young man, gave us the meter reading we've been asking for months. After endless useless Chatbot conversations with

SW saying our road based meter has to be moved due to
"safety reasons" ( one car up our road every hour is exaggerating), Chris came today, gave us a reading with no problem at all and our meter is fine where it is! Chris, you are a Godsend amidst the travesty that is Southern
Water, whose customer service dept is
now based in South Africa. Could they
get any further from the IOW?
Thanks again Chris you've almost restored our faith!

I received a phone call back in december 24 about my water bill and usage. I advised the Southern Water employee that the bill/usage was way over the top as i live in a small flat on my own and that it was impossible i used that amount of water. The employee said he would organise a engineer to check the meter, this was agreed to take place on the 18th of december. I waited in all day and no one came to the property to check what was going on.

On the 24th of july i received another call from Southern Water wanting payment. I explained the situation and it was agreed that they would send out a engineer to check the meter and they would put hold onto my account until the 14th of August so this could then be sorted out.

So please Southern Water can you tell me why i'm receiving letters from a debt recovery company demanding the payment before the engineer has been to clarify why the meter is giving a wrong reading? This is putting a strain on my nerves as I've never received letters like this before.

Customer Number: 22758670

I've had contaminated water since March. RedRock my maintenance company are crooks. Southern Water came out on the 19th of June. They said my water is contaminated. I asked for written proof. They won't give it to me. I need it for The Drinking Water Inspectorate after they won't do anything to help. I now need it to make a complaint to them. Everyone's corrupt. Southern Water text me a short while later. They gave me a new reference no. That's trying to cover up the fact that they have done nothing. I'm OK with that. I don't mind drinking Faeces, bathing in faeces, washing my clothes in faeces. It's totally fine. No problem. You carry on pretending to function as a proper company. Who owns you?