Water management

Water management policy

To supply high quality drinking water, in sufficient quantity to meet the needs of our customers in all our operating areas.  Maintaining the security of water supplies is fundamental to the level of service we provide to our customers. The company minimises waste of water by optimising treatment processes, managing leakage in the distribution network and encouraging customers to use water wisely.

The company assesses the potential environmental impact caused by the abstraction, treatment and distribution of water. When abstracting water from the environment, our policy is to operate within our licence conditions and to protect the water environment and related habitats. The company also recognises the need to balance recreational use of assets with other interests and is committed to doing this.

Water management action plan

• Supply water to both domestic and commercial customers and to meet new demands for water arising from development.

• Supply drinking water that is wholesome, safe to drink and aesthetically acceptable, which is demonstrated by measuring compliance with standards for more than 50 parameters.

• Promote the efficient use of water to our customers as this leads to less water being abstracted, lower demand on the supply, and smaller amounts of chemicals and energy needed for treatment and pumping.

• Continue to manage demand and control leakage in our operating areas.

• Continue assessment of the possible impact of global warming on our own operations and those of key industrial and commercial customers.

• Continue to invest in projects to safeguard the future of water supply within our operating areas.

• Produce a Water Resources Management Plan which shows how future demand will be met by supplies over the next 25 years.

• Produce a Drought Management Plan which demonstrates how the company would continue to maintain supplies in times of drought.

• Continue to balance water demand with concerns for the environment in any areas where rivers or groundwater are at risk from low flows or levels.

• Engage stakeholders making them aware of how their actions impact on water supply in order to maintain the quality of supply.

• Manage our water resources, particularly in our southern operating area, to take account of the limited availability of water in summer.

• Manage use of Kielder Water and the ability to top up major rivers during periods of drought in our northern operating area.

• Ensure that a secure and sustainable disposal route for water treatment sludge is available in the long term.

Water management KPIs

• We will remain in the OFWAT Good Category for the number of properties at risk of receiving poor pressure.

• No prosecutions by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

• No prosecutions or formal cautions by the Health and Safety Executive.

• No prosecutions by the Environment Agency.

• Maintain leakage rate at or below 154.4 Ml/d in the north and 67.9 Ml/d in the south by March 2008.

• Exceed 99.9% compliance with the water quality standards.

Water management case study

Langford Recycling

The Essex part of our southern area is one of the driest counties in the country and used to import over 50% of its water from outside its boundary.  Due to environmental constraints, no additional water was available within Essex so innovative solutions had to be found.

The Langford recycling scheme uses biological, chemical and ultra-violet light treatments to disinfect, and remove phosphate, nitrate and ammonia from waste water that is currently piped into the Blackwater Estuary. The treated water is released into the River Chelmer, providing more water for pumping to our Hanningfield reservoir and for our Langford water treatment works, further downstream.  There, the abstracted water undergoes treatment to bring it up to drinking water standards. 

The scheme is the first of its kind in the UK and is the result of 10 years of research and development.  We worked closely with the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate during the development of the scheme. It will provide up to 30Ml of water a day, equivalent to 17.8 Olympic-sized swimming pools and represents 8% of additional water resources.

Construction on the scheme began in the autumn of 2000.  The contractors were members of the Construction Federations’ Considerate Construction Scheme and the scheme won the bronze prize at the annual Considerate Construction Awards.  We regularly liaised with local people, keeping them informed of activities on the site and ensured that we protected the environment.  Working with English Nature and Essex Wildlife Trust we relocated slowworms and lizards and re-routed a pipeline to avoid disturbing a badger sett that was found on the site.

The Langford recycling plant, which cost £14.5 million, was opened by Jonathan Porritt in 2003.  The plant's state of the art technology has attracted national and international attention and has won several big awards including a golden apple at the Green Apple Environmental Awards.