Water companies have proposed a £96 billion investment over 2025 to 2030 to reduce sewage spills and improve infrastructure.
Industry body Water UK’s proposal to Ofwat is a 90% increase on the current period, making it the largest ever in the sector and is equivalent to more than 40% of total investment in the rest of Europe.
If approved by Ofwat, the plans will build 10 new reservoirs to secure water supplies, cut sewage leakage by over a quarter by 2030 compared with the start of the decade, invest £11 billion to reduce overflow spills and install advanced technology at sewage works to remove over a million tonnes of phosphorus from rivers.
The BBC reports that water bills will increase by £156 a year by 2030 to pay for upgrades and reduce sewage discharges.
Water UK chief executive David Henderson said that will increasing bills is “never welcome” the investment will “ensure the security” of the country’s water supply.
“Water companies are seeking regulatory approval to reduce overflow spills into rivers and seas as fast as possible and to doubling the number of households receiving support to pay their bills,” he added.
“Approving the plans is necessary so that we can provide the highest quality drinking water for a growing population, ensure the security of our water supply in the future and reduce the use of storm overflows as much as possible,” Henderson continued.
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The BBC reported environment secretary Thérèse Coffey welcomed the investment plans but said Ofwat should ensure customers don’t “pay the price for poor performance.”
She added that Ofwat should “use the full powers we have given them on behalf of consumers.”
Clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey told the BBC’s Today programme he thought the proposals were a “breathtakingly catastrophic strategy” for the industry.
He said Ofwat had previously said that “we’ve already paid these companies to develop, build and maintain a sewage system capable of properly dealing with our sewage”.
“So I don’t know why Ofwat would ever agree that the customer should pay again for a second time for a service we’ve never received,” Sharkey said.
