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Page 1: Shape your water future. - Thames Water · Shape your water future. Draft water resources management plan 2019 ... In London, about 80% of our water is taken from the River Thames

Shape your water future.

Draft water resources management plan 2019

Overview

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We take water from rivers and under the ground, treat it and distribute it to homes and businesses across our supply area through a network of underground pipes. Every day we supply our customers with more than 2,600 million litres of water - enough to fill 1,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.

Introduction

Water is essential for everything we do - from having a drink, to washing our clothes, and flushing the loo. It’s also essential

for a healthy environment and a prosperous economy. It’s our job to provide a reliable supply of safe drinking water to around 10 million household customers and 215,000 businesses in London and across the Thames Valley.

Many people think there is plenty of water in the UK, but the South East of England is one of its driest regions and London gets less rain than Rome, Dallas and even Sydney. Our water supplies are being stretched further and further as the number of people living in our area increases. We have to plan ahead, because the choices we make today will shape the water supply we can provide in the future.

This document is an overview of our draft Water Resources Management Plan 2019, referred to in this document as our ‘water plan’. It sets out how we plan to provide a secure and sustainable supply of water for our customers over the next 80 years from 2020

to 2100. We have to comply with legal requirements and have followed the government’s guidelines in preparing our water plan.

We want to hear what you think, and are running a public consultation on our water plan, starting in February 2018 and closing on 29 April 2018. Your feedback will help us decide how to meet our customers’ needs in the future.

We’re also developing our draft Business Plan, which focuses on the first five years (2020 to 2025) of the period covered in our water plan, and sets out what we are going to do for both our water and wastewater services. We’re also seeking your views on this plan.

Your current water supply

This document is an overview of our water plan.This symbol signposts the relevant sections of the more detailed report if you want to read more. The report is available on our website thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture

3 Your current water supply A closer look at your current water supply area

4 Looking ahead The future challenges

8 What our customers want An overview of your priorities and preferences

10 Options available to help manage future water supply An outline of the options we have considered

16 Deciding on our preferred programme A description of how we have made

our decisions

20 Our proposed plan Our proposals to provide a reliable water supply

23 Shape your water future Details of how to participate in the public consultation

Contents

Throughout this document you will see this symbol, which highlights the questions we would like your response on as part of this consultation. You can find out more about the consultation on page 23.

London

River Lee

River Wey

RiverSevern

RiverAvon

Oxford

GuildfordHampshire

Surrey

Kent

Essex

Swindon

CotswoldsChiltern Hills

Gatehampton

GuildfordGroundwater

SE LondonGroundwater

BecktonDesalination

Lee ValleyReservoirs

LowerThames

Reservoirs

FarmoorReservoir

North Londongroundwater

storage

RingMain

we export to A�nity Water

we export to Essex & Su�olk Water

Banbury

To boost water supplies, we built a desalination

plant in 2010. This takes water from the Thames

estuary, removes the salt, and treats the water. It is an important reserve

but is a last resort as it is expensive and uses lots

of energy.

Section 1: Introduction and backgroundSection 2: Water resources programme 2015-2020

Water is stored in reservoirs to use when the flow in rivers is low, or of poor quality. Our

reservoirs hold about 100 days supply of water.

In London, about 80% of our water is taken

from the River Thames and the River Lee.

In the Thames Valley, around 70 % of our water is taken from

underground sources in the Cotswolds and the

Chiltern Hills.

• Our area and the wider South East are classified by the Environment Agency as “seriously water stressed”.

• The Thames river catchment is the most intensively used water resource system in England. Around 90 per cent of water that is abstracted is for public water supply. The remaining 10 per cent is for energy generation, agriculture and other uses. The Environment Agency regulates these abstractions.

• About 38 per cent of our household customers have a water meter.

• On average each of our customers uses 146 litres of water every day.

• Around 25 per cent of the water we put into supply is lost through leaks from our water supply pipes and our customers’ pipes.

Key facts

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Our water supplies are already under pressure, and this will increase in the future. The number of people living in our area is growing rapidly and they will all need water.

Population growth - London and the Thames Valley is already one of the most densely populated parts of the country, and the number of people living and working here is forecast to grow significantly. By 2045 we forecast that there will be around two million more people living in our area. That’s the equivalent of Birmingham and Glasgow moving in. And by 2100 we forecast that there could be more than 15 million people living in our area.

Climate change - Our climate is changing. Hotter, drier summers in the future will mean that there will be less rain when we need it most, and extreme weather events are likely to be more common.

Looking ahead

This shortfall will start in the next five years and is forecast to grow to around 360 million litres of water per day by 2045. That’s

equivalent to the amount needed by over two million people. The shortfall is forecast to increase to 864 million litres of water per day by 2100, the end of our planning period.

The challenge is most severe in London, but we also forecast a significant shortfall in the Swindon and Oxfordshire region, and other parts of the Thames Valley.

2019

10.2mpeople

Forecast population growth:Thames Water supply area

2045

12.0mpeople

2030

11.0mpeople

2080

15.3mpeople

2100

15.4mpeople

We have used data from the Mayor of London and local authorities to develop our

forecasts of population growth.

Environment - Wildlife in wetlands and rivers relies on a healthy environment with plentiful water. We need to balance the water we take for our customers with what we leave in the environment. We will continue to reduce the amount of water we take from rivers in parts of our region where the environment is under pressure.

litresper day

e.g

or

without water for a day

x11million

x6million

864million

Supply demand shortfall:Thames Water supply area

DEMAND = Amount of water we need

By 2100 we forecast that there willbe a shortfall of:

SUPPLY = Amount of water available

2019

10.2mpeople

2045

12.0mpeople

2030

11.0mpeople

2080

15.3mpeople

2100

15.4mpeople

Taking all these factors into account, we predict there will be a shortfall between the amount of water available and the amount we need – unless we take action.

Section 3: Current and future demand for water

Section 6: Baseline supply demand position

One mega litre equals one million

litres of water and is equivalent to the water used by about 7,000

people each day.

At the same time, the amount of water that we can take from rivers and underground sources is reducing, due to changes in the climate and the need to protect the environment.

Section 4: Current and future water supply

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There are also other factors which affect our water plan.

A regional perspective - The pressures of population growth and climate change are affecting the whole of the South East of England – not just our area. In our water plan we have aimed to meet the growing water needs of the wider South East of England, taking into account opportunities to transfer water from across the region and beyond. By working together with other water companies across England and Wales we’re taking a coordinated approach to planning for the future and making sure all our plans offer customers the best possible value for money. Some of our neighbouring companies have asked us to provide water to them in the future, which their customers would pay for, and we have included their needs in our water plan.

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The UK is often thought of as rainy, but we do have dry spells and droughts when the amount of water in the ground and rivers is low. In severe droughts we might need to put in place water restrictions. This would mean that water for everyday activities would be rationed and your water might be turned off for periods during the day. These restrictions could last for several weeks. As well as disrupting our customers’ lives, restrictions would also have a damaging effect on the natural environment, and could cost London’s economy alone up to £330 million every day. We know that there have been severe droughts in the past and these are likely to happen more often in the future. We need to plan ahead to protect our customers and the environment from their effects. Our customers have told us that they would like us to plan to provide a more reliable water supply to cope with the effects of a severe drought. This is also supported by the government.

The pressures on water supplies

are expected to become very serious in the future

and we need to act now to make sure there is a safe

and reliable supply of drinking water for our

customers.

Our proposed plan is designed to maintain all of our customers’ water supply, with no need for it to be rationed, during a severe drought (the kind that might happen once in every 200 years). We have some options about how quickly we achieve this:- Ensure that we can maintain all of our customers’ water

supply during a severe drought, by 2030- Delay the work so we can maintain all of our customers’

water supply by 2035.- Speed up the work so we can maintain all of our customers’

water supply by 2027, the earliest we can deliver suitable options.

Please give us any comments on this.

Section 4: Current and future water supply

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We have worked closely with our customers to understand their views and preferences. We have asked them what we should consider in developing our water plan; whether and how often they are prepared to accept restrictions – like hosepipe bans – during a drought and where they think we should get the water from. We have listened to their feedback and used this information to develop our water plan. Here’s a summary of what our customers have told us.

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What our customers want

As well as listening to our customers, we have also listened to our regulators, who are responsible for making sure customers get good value for money, and protecting the environment. We have also spoken to lots of other interest groups. These include environment groups like RSPB and WWF, organisations representing businesses, such as the Chambers of Commerce, and many more. We have done this to make sure we understand their different interests, and have used their feedback to help prepare our water plan.

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Appendix T: Customers priorities and preferences Appendix S: Stakeholder engagement

We’ve engaged with over

18,000 customers in developing our future plans through research, day-to-day interactions and local community events.

Most customers do not want more frequent restrictions on their water use.Over 60% told us that this would affect their daily lives.

The bill is important in deciding future plans, but it is not the only factor. Customers support ‘best value’ planning. Best Value

Once they understand the challenges, they want to know that we are planning for the future.

Most customers are unaware of the challenges for future water supply.

Communities that would be affected by future development would like to be engaged on plans.

Customers think that the current levels of leakage are too high and would like us to do more to fix leaks.

Alongside leakage reduction and helping our customers use water efficiently, customers also support the development of new water resources.

Over 70% of customers said they want help to reduce their water use.

In 2016 we visited over 60,000 homes and installed more than 200,000 water saving devices

helping our customers save water and

money.

Please give us your comments on our summary of our customers’ views.

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Options available to help man age future water supply

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Demand management options – Our first priority is to make sure that we make the best use of the water we already have. We’ll do this by:· Continuing our work to reduce the amount of water lost through leaks from our pipes. This

year we did not meet our target to reduce leaks for the first time in 11 years but we have a detailed plan to reduce leakage to 646* million litres a day by 2020. We are investing in new technology to help find more leaks and employing additional people to repair them. In our water plan we have considered a number of options to continue to reduce leakage, and have set out how much more we can reduce leakage by, and how quickly we can do it.

· Installing meters in our customers’ homes. Smart meters help us to understand where water goes, helping us to tackle leakage, they also help our customers understand how much water they use and how they can reduce it, saving both money and water. Since 2015 we have installed more than 145,000 smart meters in our customers’ homes and around 38 per cent of our household customers are metered. In our water plan we have considered how we will continue to roll out this programme.

· Helping our customers use water efficiently. We are currently delivering the UK’s largest ever water efficiency programme. This includes a wide number of activities and promotes the benefits of saving water at home and in the workplace. This year we visited more than 60,000 of our customers’ homes, provided specific advice, and installed more than 200,000 free water saving products. In our water plan we have considered how we can continue to develop our programme, looking at new and innovative approaches to help our customers to reduce their water use.

We looked at more than 200 options to help to fill the shortfall between the amount of water available and the amount we need. These include ways to make the most of the water supplies that we already have available, called demand management options, and new sources of water, called water supply options.

Water supply options – We have looked at a large number of options to boost our water supplies, from traditional techniques to more innovative and unusual approaches. They include turning seawater into drinking water (desalination), reusing treated wastewater from sewage treatment works, and building a large storage reservoir. We have also talked to other water companies to see if they have spare water that we could buy, including moving water from North West England, and Wales, to the South East of England. Some of the water supply options we have considered are shown on the map on the next page.

• cost • time to make the water available • ability to cope with a changing future

• effects on the environment and society • confidence that it will work as expected

We have assessed the options in terms of:

This assessment produced a preferred set of options.

Please give us your comments on the options we have considered.

Section 7: Appraisal of Resource OptionsSection 8: Appraisal of Demand Management Options

* We are working to reduce our leakage to 606 million litres per day by 2020. However, the way water companies calculate leakage is changing. This resets our starting position to 646 million litres per day from 2020.

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Some of the water supply options we have considered

WALES

London

Warwick

Birmingham ENGLANDRiverSevern

RiverAvon

RiverThames

New desalinationplant at Crossness & Beckton

Water reuse at Beckton & Deephams

Aquiferstorage &recovery

River abstractionabove Teddington Weir

Groundwater abstraction at Ashton Keynes, Moulsford & Datchet.

Water transfer from River Severn

New reservoir storage at Abingdon

Aquifer recharge at Merton & Streatham

Water transfer via Oxford canal

Groundwater at Addington & Southfleet

Water transfer – water is moved from one area to another via a pipeline, canals or rivers. Reservoir – water is stored in reservoirs and used when there isn’t enough water in the environment. Groundwater abstraction – water is taken from natural underground reservoirs. River abstraction – water is taken from rivers. Water reuse – treated effluent from sewage treatment works undergoes further treatment, is returned to the river, re-abstracted and treated to produce drinking water. Aquifer recharge/storage & recovery – treated water is added to a natural underground reservoir and is available for abstraction when it is needed. Desalination - salt is removed from estuarine or sea water to produce drinking water.

Jargon buster

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We can’t be certain of how the future will

be, but it is clear that there is a growing water shortfall. We need to plan ahead to provide a secure water supply.

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Deciding on our preferred programme

We have used computer models and decision support tools to help develop programmes of options, assess them, and

decide on our preferred programme. A programme is made up of a number of options and sets out when each option is needed, and how much water it can provide.

To start with we developed the lowest cost programme. However, our customers told us they wanted us to consider a range of factors in planning future water supply. This was also widely supported by the government and stakeholders. We therefore considered a number of additional factors to ensure our water plan provides the best value for money for our customers over the long term.

We developed a number of alternative programmes which:

• met the water shortfall we forecast

• improved our ability to cope with a severe drought

• looked beyond our supply area, considering the needs of the wider south east region.

We assessed the pros and cons of each of the alternative programmes, and tested them to see how they would cope with different possible futures. This helped us understand, for example, which programmes would be able to cope with more severe droughts, and which programmes would be best for the environment.

We worked with industry experts to review the alternative programmes. The experts challenged us to make sure our approach was fair and balanced. From this work we have focused on the four best programmes.

The diagram opposite shows the four best programmes:• lowest cost

• least environmental effect

• most able to cope with future challenges

• most sustainable - this programme shares costs with future generations in the fairest way

Factors considered in deciding on our preferred programme

Cost – both building and operating costs

Customers’ preferences – which options our customers prefer, and how they feel about the risk of drought

Impact on the environment – both positive, such as recreational opportunities, and negative, such as loss of land

Deliverability – confidence that the programme will provide the water it is expected to

Resilience - ability to cope with a range of challenges, such as droughts

Inter generational fairness – how the costs are shared between customers now and in the future

We also looked at how flexible the programme is to possible future changes. We call this adaptability.

Section 9: Environmental appraisalAppendix B: Strategic Environmental AssessmentAppendix C: Habitats Directive AssessmentAppendix BB: Water Framework Directive Assessment

2020

2030

New groundwater

MeteringLeakage reduction

Water efficiency

Buy water

All programmes include:River abstraction above

Teddington Weir

Water reuse Deephams

Water reuse Deephams

Reservoir

Reservoir

Desalination BecktonReservoir

Reservoir

Oxford canal transfer

Oxford canal transfer

Desalination Beckton

Oxford canal transfer

Water reuse Beckton

Water reuse Beckton

Water reuse Beckton

River Severn transfer

River Severn transfer

The size of the circle indicates how much water each of the options can provide.

Lowest costLeast

environmental effect

Most able to cope with future

challengesMost sustainable

2030

2040

2050

2060

2070

2100

Four best programmes

In the first 15 years of the water plan, from 2020 to 2035, all the programmes concentrate on making the best use of the water that is already available by reducing leakage, installing more water meters, and providing more help for people to use water efficiently.

To support this work we completed detailed assessments of how the different programmes would affect the environment, including a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). These considered the environmental and social effects of options, preferred programmes for each water resource zone, and the preferred plan as a whole.

This is combined with small schemes to take more water from underground sources and buy water from other organisations who have spare licensed capacity. We also plan to develop a new large supply scheme to take more water from the River Thames above Teddington Weir in west London.

From 2035 onwards, all the alternative programmes include the development of new large water supply schemes. They all include a new reservoir, in combination with other supply schemes.

We analysed the four programmes and concluded that the most sustainable programme is the best one for our area. This is because it:• reflects the preferences of our customers;• is flexible enough to deal with a range of risks;• is among the lowest cost programmes; and• fairly shares the costs between customers now and future generations.

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Every 5 years we review our plan to see if it is still the

right approach

And if not, make changes

There are lots of uncertanties in

developing long term plans

WRMP24WRMP19

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One thing we can be certain of is that we can’t predict exactly how the future will be. There are lots of uncertainties, including how quickly the number of people living in our area will grow, changes to the amount of water we can take from the environment, the weather patterns we will see, and the the timing and amount of water that neighbouring water companies may need from us. But

we can’t delay making decisions. It is clear there is going to be a growing water shortfall, so we need to plan and act now. We have tested our preferred programme and are confident it can cope with a wide range of possible futures. We will review our plan every five years and will make adjustments to take into account changes to our projections.

But what if the future is different?

Section 10: Programme appraisal and scenario testing

Please give us your comments regarding the approach we have taken to develop our proposed water plan.

Do you have any specific comments on:1. How we have reflected the priorities of our customers 2. The way we have shortlisted options 3. How we have considered environmental and social impacts 4. The alternative programmes of options we have considered

WRMP19 - Water Resources Management Plan 2019

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Our proposed plan

Unless we act now, there will be a significant shortfall between supply and demand, and it will not be possible to provide a safe

and reliable water supply to our customers.

Our top priority is to make the best use of the water we have available. We understand how important it is to our customers and other stakeholders that we use the water resources that we have as

efficiently as possible, and reduce waste. We have set ambitious targets to reduce leakage from our water pipes and our customers’ own private pipes, install more smart water meters and give our customers practical help and advice to reduce the water they use. Our proposals are summarised below.

Leakage• We manage more than 31,000 km of water pipes. The pipes in many areas of London,

and some parts of the Thames Valley, are amongst the oldest in the UK. Leaks are inevitable on a network of this size and age. In 2020, of the 2,600 million litres of water that we put into the network every day, we will lose around 646 million litres through leaks – that’s about 25 per cent.

• Reducing leaks is our highest priority. This reflects the views of our customers, who expect an ambitious step-change in the amount of water that we lose through leakage. Customers told us that they would like us to reduce leakage to around 15 per cent of the water that we put into supply, though they recognise that traffic disruption and cost may limit what is possible in the short term.

• Our ambition is to reduce leakage by a minimum of 15 per cent by 2025*. This means we’ll reduce the amount of water lost from 646 to 549 million litres every day, or from 25 to 22 per cent of the amount of water that we put into supply. We will do this through a major programme to replace and repair our water pipes. In the future we want to reduce leakage further, and are working hard to understand how much more we can achieve, by when and at what cost. We will include this in our revised plan.

Metering• Smart meters provide customers with information that helps them take control of their

bills and reduce their water use. On average, households who have a smart meter reduce their water use by between 15-20%. Meters also provide us with vital information to help manage our water supply network, including pinpointing leaks.

• In the next five years, by 2025, we will install a further 400,000 smart meters in customers’ homes saving 49 million litres of water.

Water efficiency• Our customers have told us that they would like help to reduce their water use. We are

already running an industry-leading programme to promote the efficient use of water to our customers and we plan to do more.

• We will provide information, support and tailored advice through our Smarter Home Visit programme, which includes a free water audit and installation of free water saving technology, helping our customers use less water. We are also developing new approaches, such as an incentive-based reward scheme to encourage changes in water use and opportunities to use water treated to a lower standard to flush the loo. We will also continue to work with local authorities, housing associations, schools and businesses to promote the efficient use of water.

• In the next five years, by 2025, we will visit nearly 300,000 customers’ homes and businesses to promote water efficiency. The programme is estimated to save 24 million litres of water every day.

Direct river abstraction at Teddington

Mogden Sewage Treatment Works (STW)The wastewater, collected from houses and businesses, is treated at the STW so that it can be put back safely into the River Thames

1

Richmond

London

Twickenham

Teddington

Some of the treated wastewater e�uent is pumped, via underground tunnel, upstream to Teddington

New abstraction from the River Thames. This water is transferred via an existing underground tunnel to supply customers with drinking water

TeddingtonWeir

Existing underground pipe to transfer water to the reservoirs in the Lee Valley

2

34

River Thames

Direction of flow of the River Thames

Treated e�uent to support flow in the River ThamesUnderground pipe

The treated e�uent is put into the River Thames above Teddington Weir to make sure there is enough water in the river for environmental and navigational purposes. This is required to allow us to abstract water for drinking water supply

New water supplies In the next five years, by 2025, we plan to:• develop new groundwater sources in London which will provide around 12 million litres

of water per day.

• buy water from other organisations who have spare licensed water which will provide around 17 million litres of water per day.

• make preparations for a new scheme to take more water from the River Thames above Teddington Weir in west London, which will provide around 270 million litres of water per day from 2030. An outline of the scheme is shown in the diagram below.

But actions to manage demand for water won’t be enough on their own, and we will also need to develop new sources of water. There is no single new water supply option which can solve the shortfall so our proposed approach includes a combination of options.

*In the detailed report of our draft plan we set out our intention to reduce leakage by 9 per cent by 2025. Over the last few months we have listened to customers and stakeholders and as a result are now aiming for a minimum of 15 per cent reduction in leakage by 2025.

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A safe and reliable water supply is essential for all our customers, a healthy environment and a prosperous economy. Tell us what you think about our water plan.

The public consultation starts in February 2018 and closes on 29 April 2018. We will publish the information on our website at thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture.

How you can take part You can tell us your views in one of the following ways.

Note - All responses to the public consultation will be shared with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Complete our online feedback form thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture.

Send your feedback by email to both Thames Water at [email protected] and to Defra at water. [email protected]

Write via the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

WRMP c/o Water Resources Policy, Area 3D Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR

A paper copy of the water plan will be available to view in our main office in Reading. To book an appointment please email: [email protected].

We will be holding several local drop-ins and discussion forums throughout the consultation period to give you the chance to talk to us about our water plan and give us your feedback. Go to thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture to find out where we will be and when.

What happens next? We’ll carefully consider all the responses we receive. In August 2018 we’ll publish a report setting out the comments we received, and explaining how we have taken these into account in revising our plan. The report will be sent to everyone who has participated in the consultation and will also be published on our website.

We are also consulting on our draft Business Plan, which looks at what services we will deliver for our customers and how we will deliver them over a five year period from 2020 – 2025. Any comments received on water resources matters from this consultation will be taken into account in our water plan.

We will then submit our revised water plan to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, based on advice from the Environment Agency, and with consideration of the responses to the consultation, will decide if it is necessary to have further discussion on our water plan or approve it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this document and helping us to shape your water future.

Shape your water future

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Please give us your overall comments on our proposed plan.

Our draft Water Resources Management Plan 2019 covers an 80 year period, from 2020 to 2100. It has three parts:Overview (this document)Main report - Executive summary and Sections 1-11Technical Appendices – A to BB Go to thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture to view and download the documents

Please give us any specific comments on our plans to: 1. Reduce leakage 2. Continue our household metering programme 3. Promote the efficient use of water 4. Take more water from the River Thames at Teddington Weir 5. Provide new water supply in the longer term Please give us any comments on the option to transfer water from other water companies in the Midlands, Wales or the North West.

In the longer term we will need more new water supply.

As set out on page 17 our preferred programme includes the development of several new water supply options:

• a reservoir in Oxfordshire which would provide up to 300 million litres of water per day in the 2040s

• a water transfer from the Midlands using the Oxford canal which would provide 15 million litres of water per day around 2060

• a water reuse scheme at Beckton in east London which would provide up to 285 million litres of water per day over a 10 year period from the 2060s

• an aquifer storage and recovery scheme in south east London which would provide 3 million litres of water per day by 2070

We will also continue to reduce leakage from our pipes, help our customers to reduce their water use as well as explore innovative approaches to new working practices.

We have used the most accurate and up to date information to develop our plan but it is impossible to be certain when you are looking a long way ahead. We will update and improve our forecasts as we learn more over time, from government and our own analysis, and will continue to examine other new water supply options such as water transfers.

The water transfers we have looked at involve buying water from other water companies in the Midlands, Wales and the North West and transferring it to the River Thames. At this stage these transfers are not included in our plan as they were shown to be more expensive than the reservoir and further work is needed on how and when they would operate to ensure the water is available when it is needed. We will continue to work closely with the other companies to examine these options.

Section 11: Preferred programme

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