Shaping your future tap water
Every five years we update our water resources management plan (WRMP) which looks at how we’ll keep your taps running while striking that delicate balance between protecting the environment and keeping bills affordable.
Normally we look 25 years into the future, but because the south east faces a number of unique challenges we’ve looked 60 years ahead to 2080. By doing this we can make sure the work we do now lays the best foundation for future generations.
Between February and May 2018 we consulted on our latest draft plan, speaking to hundreds of customers and stakeholders across our supply area to gather their thoughts and opinions on our proposal.
In total we received 149 responses and we’d like to thank every single person and organisation for taking the time to read our plan, visit one of our public exhibitions and let us know their thoughts.
To view the full document library including the technical appendices for our 2019 Water Resources Management Plan 2019, click below.
Changes to our draft plan
We made a number of changes to our plan after reviewing representations and new data which was made available to us. These included:
- Reducing the amount of leakage by 15% by 2025
- Halving the amount of leakage from our current position by 2050 to 44 million litres a day
- Removing all effluent re-use and desalination schemes from the plan
- Adopting a more ambitious target for water efficiency which, in the long-term, could save around an extra 150 million litres a day by 2080
Plan highlights
2020 to 2045:
- Encouraging greater water efficiency amongst our customers while we work to reduce leakage even further, together this will save an additional 92.6 million litres of water a day
- Construction a new water treatment works at the former Aylesford Newsprint site via a new licence trade arrangement. This will provide an additional 18.2 million litres of water a day
- Developing and improving an existing water treatment works at Bewl Water in Kent, providing eight million litres of water a day
- Creating a new reservoir at Broad Oak, Kent by 2033 to provide 19.6 million litres of water a day
- Building a new reservoir adjacent to our existing Arlington Reservoir, East Sussex, by 2035 to provide 16.1 million litres of water a day
- Developing a regional water transfer scheme from SES Water to provide nine million litres of water a day by 2042
Long term considerations between 2045 and 2080
We will continue delivery of our ambitious demand management programme to achieve further leakage and water efficiency savings of 101.5 million litres of water a day.
Your ideas welcome
Although the consultation has now closed, we still want to hear from you.
If you have any thoughts, ideas or comments on our revised plan, please pop them in the comments box below and they’ll be emailed straight to our water resources team.
We will not use your personal data for any other purposes or share it with third parties.