News shared by Southern Water, in their own words. Ed
On the eve of a vital year for the UK’s water industry, Southern Water has revealed just how much it has spent over the last four years on its Isle of Wight networks – so customers can see exactly what has been delivered in their communities.
The 2024/5 financial year marks the final stretch for both water companies’ current five-year spending period, and Southern Water’s own Turnaround Plan – designed to deliver fast-tracked performance improvements across the board. Meanwhile, it also promises a General Election, as the various challenges facing our industry raise debate among politicians and voters.
Spending on planned infrastructure projects
This backdrop provides the ideal moment to reflect on what we have spent since spring 2020 on planned infrastructure projects, broken down county-by-county, as we strive to live up to our customers’ expectations – and what we are planning to spend in this space by this time next year.
On the Isle of Wight, we have spent £5.6 million in four years on major waste and water improvement projects – including £3m on improving the resilience of water supply sites so they better withstand extreme weather events such as the recent Storm Ciaran – and have allocated a further £15.9 million for spending by this time next year.
That would take overall spend on the Island to £21.5 million in just five years.
Directly benefiting from Hampshire schemes
Meanwhile, Isle of Wight residents are also directly benefiting from a number of Hampshire schemes, where a total of £251 million has been spent in four years, plus a further £179 million planned for the next 12 months.
Across the entire Southern Water region, the total five-year figure is likely to surpass £1.5 billion.
This spending accounts only for planned construction projects relating to our water and wastewater infrastructure.
Reactive projects and workstreams
It does not include regular reactive projects and workstreams, the £45 million innovative approaches of our Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force to cutting storm overflows, or the money we are spending above and beyond what we agreed with regulators before 2020 to drive forward our Turnaround Plan, particularly in combatting pollution and flooding incidents.
Penicud: Targeted and evidence-based spending
John Penicud, Southern Water’s Director for Wastewater Operations, said:
“As we enter an absolutely crucial year for Southern Water and the wider water industry, it is right that we are open with our customers about what we are spending on improving our performance and where the money is going.
“Contrary to some claims aired in the media and among the public, I’d like to reassure you that we are spending our bill payers’ and our shareholders’ money in an ambitious, targeted and evidence-based way to fix the issues we know we face. These figures on planned infrastructure projects demonstrate that very clearly, and we will keep pushing ahead to achieve the results everyone wants to see.”
Investment since 2020
Investment highlights on the Isle of Wight since 2020 include:
- £3.75m on updating our water sites and networks so that they run more smoothly, limiting interruptions to water supplies, by upgrading equipment, installing back up power generators and future proofing them to better withstand extreme weather events such as flooding and drought
- £9m on improving our wastewater treatment processes to boost the quality of final effluent discharged at three sites
- £7.5m on prevented storm overflow during dry weather by increasing treatment capacity at four sites, including a new storage tank at Sandown.
We’ve also completed planning, surveys and designs for a new reservoir to replace Cooks Castle and a new water storage system at Sandown, increasing the resilience of supplies on the Island.
Many of these schemes, initiatives and programmes will not stop in spring 2025. They will continue under our future business plan, sent to Ofwat in November and which we hope will be agreed next winter.
Largest and most ambitious plan ever
This is our largest and most ambitious plan ever. At £7.8 billion, it is double the size of our previous programme and will deliver the single biggest enhancement investment in our environment of £3.3 billion in our history.
Southern Water’s Chief Executive Lawrence Gosden has discussed this spending further in a special blog on the Southern Water website. Meanwhile, for a more detailed breakdown of this 2020-24 spending, visit the news pages of our website.
Water services
Southern Water serves 2.6 million customers with drinking water and 4.6 million with wastewater services, covering Kent, East and West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
On an average day we supply 556 million litres of water and treat 13371 million litres of wastewater.
We invest to serve our customers, protect the environment and boost regional economies. Between 2020 and 2025 we are injecting £2 billion into improving our performance.
