Environmental priorities

• See our vision for PR09 - Water futures (PDF, 158KB)

Our priority for PR09 is to secure the best deal for the environment and consumers – both now and for future generations. We have four key priorities for water companies that will inform their business plans: Balancing supply and demand; National Environment Programme; Maintenance, improvement and protection of infrastructure; and Climate Change.

Climate change, growing populations and high leakage levels compared with many parts of Europe, mean that there is an urgent need for water companies to ensure that water supply matches demand. This will need to involve a combination of investment in new resources, but also more efficient use of water, for example greater use of metering and less leakage.

In the last price review for 2005-2010 water companies invested £3.5 billion. This was mainly used to improve sewage treatment works and sewers that discharge into rivers and bathing waters across the country. This had a massive impact on the quality of our rivers, beaches and other water bodies. However there is still more to be done to improve our environment in certain areas, as well as meeting the requirements of new legislation that has come out of Europe.

In the past we have seen considerable investment in water company infrastructure such as sewage treatment works. However, it is important that infrastructure is correctly maintained and, where appropriate, improved to ensure that we don’t begin to see an increase in pollution incidents and deterioration in water quality. The summer floods in 2007 also provided a real reminder of how important it is for water companies to protect key assets such as water treatment works.

Climate change is happening now. Water companies need to ensure that they can cope with both droughts and floods as weather patterns become more unpredictable. This means water companies producing long term 25 year plans that address this issue as well as being more energy-efficient in their operations.