Water company business plans have been submitted to Ofwat. The five-year plans cover the period 2025 to 2030 and collectively amount to £96 billion of proposed investment, an 88% increase on the previous five years.

According to the sector body Water UK, the investment “will secure water supplies against the rising prevalence of drought, ensure we maintain the world’s best-quality drinking water and radically reduce sewage entering rivers and seas.

These plans will: 

• Fund the development of up to ten new reservoirs and major new national water transfer schemes
• Upgrade England’s ageing pipes to reduce leakage by 28% with similar reductions in Wales
• Remove a million tonnes of phosphorus from English rivers, while eliminating an average of 140,000 sewage spills each year and funding the construction of 28 wetlands to improve water quality and biodiversity”

Proposed bill increases would be £84 per year on average in 2025, rising to £156 by 2030, although there are substantial regional variations. Ofwat will make the final decisions about which projects should go ahead and the final levels of bills that will be required to pay for new investments. Ofwat will announce this decision before the end of 2024.

Water UK press release

Link to business plans on Ofwat’s website

Coverage from the BBC and the Guardian