Since 1989 we have invested £8.6 billion in making our water and wastewater operations world class. And we will spend another £14 billion over the next 25 years.
Drinking water quality
We are very proud of our record on drinking water quality performance. In the latest results to be published we achieved 99.96% overall compliance with regulatory standard.
Our new state-of-the-art water treatment works at Wing in Rutland was commissioned early in 2010. Five new nitrate reduction schemes completed our drinking water quality programme for 2005 to 2010 ahead of schedule.
We’ve invested almost £100 million since 2005 in new water treatment processes targeting nitrate and also pesticides to make sure that our drinking water meets strict regulatory standards. We will invest £123 million more in drinking water quality enhancement by 2015. Initiatives include anew water treatment works for customers in Suffolk and equipping other works in our region to reduce levels of pesticides, nitrate, nickel and selenium and to treat Cryptosporidium.
We’ll also be working with a wide range of other agencies in our region, including the agricultural community and owners of buildings, tackling issues such as pesticides and nitrate in water sources and lead piping in pre-1970s buildings.
100% wastewater compliance
Since 2007 investment has brought significantly improved performance on meeting wastewater regulatory standards. This year, our wastewater treatment works were 100% compliant with the Water Resources Act Look-up Tables limits.
Over the last five years, improved data on our infrastructure means we can prioritise sewer replacement scheme more effectively. As a result we’ve steadily reduced the number of sewer collapses.
Ensuring the quality of wastewater effluent discharges will continue to be of paramount importance to us, and we will aim to comply with, and exceed where possible, required standards for the quality and quantity of treated effluents we discharge.