Quenching thirst

Water companies in England and Wales have submitted their most ambitious business plans to date to their regulator, Ofwat. If approved, the investments could increase by +88% over the next 5 years compared to the prior two decades, where the average total expenditure have consistently been running at around GBP 10 billion per year. The new investment programme would be the largest program ever made in water infrastructure in Europe. The UK water sector needs to step up investments to tackle a number of challenges, such as securing the water supply (by building additional water reservoirs), reducing leakages (by upgrading pipes), and modernizing the sewage infrastructure to limit the use of controlled sewage overflows, where untreated water is dumped into the rivers. Regulator Ofwat should give a first indication of the investment package for 2025-30 by May-June 2024.

Source: Robeco, Ofwat, January 2024.