SES Water is the UK water supply company to its designated area of east Surrey, West Sussex, west Kent and south London serving in excess of 282,000 homes and businesses and a population of approximately 675,000 people.
An area of , extending from Morden and South Croydon in the north to Gatwick Airport in the south, and from Cobham and Dorking in the west to Edenbridge and Bough Beech in the east forms the company's supply area.
Corporate status
Sutton and East Surrey Water (trading as SES Water since 2017) is a public limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 2447875, that is not Stock Exchange Listed, and is East Surrey Water plc renamed following a 1996 merger..
In 2013, the Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp. acquired Summit Water UK Ltd, the holding company of Sutton and East Surrey Water plc for £164.5m. Later in the year Sumitomo sold half of the holding in Summit Water to Osaka Gas Co., with the joint venture being renamed as Sumisho Osaka Gas Water UK Ltd.
History
Surrey has few surface water sources, but two major aquifers, one of chalk and the other of Lower Greensand, across the county from east to west. To the north of SES Water's area, the chalk appears as outcrops from the tertiary beds which lie on top of it, and there are springs at the Bookhams, Fetcham, Leatherhead and Sutton as a consequence. Further south, the aquifers are reached by wells, with the deepest wells used to extract water from the chalk aquifer. That at Polesden Lacey is deep.
The area was initially served by a number of small water companies, each supplying water to its local population. The setting up of water companies was made easier by the Waterworks Clauses Act 1847, which enabled new companies to be created by obtaining a special Act, rather than needing a full Act of Parliament. The new legislation meant that the powers of such companies were standardised. Sutton and East Surrey Water has been formed by a number of mergers and takeovers of these smaller companies.
East Surrey Water
The development of a public water supply in the Sutton and East Surrey area can be traced back to 1859, when a small housing development took place on Caterham Hill. The builder, a Mr Drew, thought he would enhance the value of the development by providing a water supply, so constructed a borehole and some short lengths of water main, together with a pumping engine. However, the costs of running the plant were higher than he had anticipated, and he found a group of businessmen who were keen to buy it. Following the opening of the London and Brighton Railway in 1841, a community had been established at "Red Hill" or Warwick Town, and as it was growing fast, the businessmen were keen to supply it with water. They obtained a special Act in 1852, which established the Caterham Spring Water Company, with a mandate to supply drinking water to Bletchingley, Caterham, Chaldon, Coulsdon, Earlswood, Godstone, Nutfield, Redhill, Reigate and Warlingham.
Despite early struggles, the company developed, and by 1880 were supplying water to two-thirds of Redhill and a number of villages, but their water supplies were inadequate, and they looked to find other sources. A little to the north, the Kenley Water Company had several wells, but the area between Caterham and Purley was at the time sparsely populated, and so there were few customers for the water. Following discussions between them, there was an informal amalgamation in 1881. Parliament sanctioned an extension of their area of supply southwards to the Sussex border in 1884, and in 1885, the companies merged to become the East Surrey Water company. They continued to expand, taking over a number of smaller water supply companies.