Where our water comes from

To make sure there’s enough water for all of us in our ever-growing communities, we borrow water from the environment as it navigates its journey through its cycle.

50% from rivers and reservoirs

Water passes through complex treatment processes to make it safe to drink.

50% from underground sources

This water needs less treatment than water from rivers or reservoirs.

Protecting every drop through its cycle

Our scientists work round-the-clock to monitor and test your water, using the latest technology to make sure the water is healthy and of high quality. Then we deliver it to your taps through a complex network of pipes underground. After you’ve used it for cooking, cleaning, and drinking we recycle it back to nature.

How we treat our water

We supply more than a billion litres of safe, clean drinking water every day. And how we treat the water at our sites depends on where it comes from.Water sourced from underground can be so clean that we only need to add a small amount of chlorine to make it safe to drink. Other underground water sources, and all river and reservoir water, need more complex treatment.

Storing and supplying our water 

We store the water we supply to our millions of our customers in water towers and service reservoirs across our region. This means we always have supplies of water on standby, ready for times when demand is particularly high. But a changing climate and a growing population means sometimes it can still be difficult for us to keep up with demand. That’s why it’s important for us all to save water, to protect our water for both today and tomorrow.

 

To get water to you, and to keep it moving through its cycle, we make use of gravity where we can. Our water towers help, but to keep water pressure constant in this mainly flat region, we pump water through thousands of kilometres of water mains. One of our latest projects, The Strategic Pipeline Alliance, will help secure water supplies for future generations by diverting water from the wettest areas in the north of our region to the driest areas in the south and east, where water isn’t as easily sourced. A lot of energy would normally be needed to pump water from place to place. But our teams have been using smart engineering and cutting-edge technology to design these pipes to be energy efficient to minimise the carbon impact of this project. Read more about how we are reducing our carbon footprint.

Keep water healthy

Before it gets to your tap, your drinking water is cleaned, disinfected and tested. But sometimes it might not taste, look or smell right, if you are worried about your water use our easy-to-use self diagnosis tool to see what the answer might be. Find out how to keep your water healthy and your supply at its very best – sparkling clean and healthy!

File icon Water in businesses and homes safe