£104 Billion Of Investment Upgrades For The Water Sector

Industry watchdog Ofwat has announced that £104 billion has been approved for essential infrastructure upgrades to the water network, with 90 per cent of the funding set to go towards meeting new requirements detailed by the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Natural Resources Wales.

Some £12 billion will go towards reducing storm overflow spillages by 45 per cent come 2030, while £2 billion will be set aside to drive £50 billion worth of investment for water supply projects, with 30 initiatives developed to build greater drought resilience around the country, ensuring that sufficient water is provided to meet the daily needs of approximately one-third of the population in England and Wales.

Furthermore, £6 billion will go towards upgrades that will tackle nutrient pollution, £3.3 billion will help support nature-based solutions to improve biodiversity and £456 million of additional funding will be used to increase the rate at which water mains are replaced. Over the next five years, the aim is to improve 8,445 km of pipes across the network.

In order to help finance these investments, customer bills will increase by £31 on average each year before inflation between now and 2030.

David Black, Ofwat chief executive, said: “Water companies now need to rise to this challenge, customers will rightly expect them to show they can deliver significant improvement over time to justify the increase in bills.

“Alongside the step up in investment, we need to see a transformation in companies’ culture and performance. We will monitor and hold companies to account on their investment programmes and improvements.”

Regarding bill increases, Mr Black observed that the organisation is “acutely aware” of the impact that these hikes will have for some, which is why water suppliers must now step up support for those who find it hard to pay.

“We have robustly examined all funding requests to make sure they provide value for money and deliver real improvements, while ensuring the sector can attract the levels of investment it needs to meet environmental requirements.

“This has seen us remove £8 billion of unjustified costs compared with companies’ most recent requests. In addition, our approach to setting a rate of return has saved customers £2.8 billion,” he went on to say.

How can businesses reduce their water bills?

With bill increases just around the corner, now’s the perfect opportunity to see how you can reduce how much you have to pay… and the good news is that there’s a lot you can do to drive down your bills and relieve pressure on your business.

Using less water is, of course, an excellent place to begin and you can potentially save significant amounts of water (and money) by switching water supplier.

This process involves a water audit of your site, which will help you understand where and how you use resources across your site so you can identify the appropriate water-saving solutions, which can be adjusted over time as the needs of your business change.

Different measures to save water include rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling and water leak detection and repair. Water monitoring can also prove particularly beneficial, with remote monitoring equipment installed on your site that tracks water flow hourly for ten years. This can help maximise site efficiency and potentially save you thousands of pounds.

It’s often possible to save more than 30 per cent of your current water bill by enacting steps such as these, so it’s certainly worth investigating to see what can be achieved.

Switching supplier can be a little tricky, however, especially if you’ve never done it before. New retailers enter the market all the time and it can be difficult to know which one would serve your organisation the best.

The Switch Water Supplier team can walk you through every step of the process, making sure that you secure the best deals available. The added benefit of switching is that you can take advantage of better customer service and value-added services, as well as saving money.

If you’d like to find out more about what the process involves, get in touch with us today.