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Portsmouth Water has set out plans to avoid water restrictions in the coming 25 years during even “the most severe of droughts”.
The company’s vision to bolster water security in the region for the coming decades outlines how Portsmouth will ensure supplies are sustainable, reliable and affordable for all its customers.
The 25-year plan was created as part of the price review business plan process. Ofwat was clear that each five-year plan should be a building block within longer-term thinking to allow the sector to prepare for a changing future and adapt to pressures brought by the climate and population growth.
As part of its vision, Portsmouth said it would prioritise catchment management over pouring concrete, eradicate water poverty and commit to not needing to implement water restrictions “even during the most severe droughts”.
Portsmouth’s region was declared in drought earlier this month after a prolonged dry period across much of the UK. The company ruled out the need for a hosepipe ban this year.
“The recent weeks of prolonged high temperatures coupled with very little rain have highlighted the importance of securing sustainable, reliable and affordable water supplies for customers in the future,” said Bob Taylor, chief executive.
“This is a challenging time of all water companies and making sure we have an ambitious, robust business plan in place to adapt to our rapidly changing world is vital. Our vision, against the backdrop of climate change and population growth, is to provide an affordable, reliable and sustainable supply of high-quality water for our customers,” he added.
The plan predicted the region would need an additional 70 million litres of water daily by 2050 due to increased demand from population growth as well as abstraction restrictions to protect chalk streams and rivers.
As part of its vision to ensure plentiful supplies the company outlined implementing universal metering, updating infrastructure and using artificial intelligence to locate leaks.
“Not investing is not an option. Our infrastructure is ageing and wasn’t designed to meet the more frequent extreme weather events we’re facing,” the vision said.
The company said it plans for the organisation to be net zero both operationally and for embedded carbon.
To ensure water bills are affordable for all customers, Portsmouth said it will reinvest money from regulatory rewards in customers’ priorities or to reduce bills. It added it will keep bills low by embracing innovation to deliver services efficiently and help households to save money on bills by reducing consumption including with the use of smart meters.
The company is inviting stakeholder and customer feedback on its Vision through a consultation until 7 October.
Ofwat released the framework for PR24 business plans in July that set out early thinking on what company plans for 2025-30 should look like. Plans will remain in five-year periods but with a view to longer-term planning to ensure investment decisions are taken at the most appropriate moments.
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