Agenda item

 

·       Presentation from South East Water

o   Douglas Whitfield, Director of Operations

o   Nick Price, Head of Water Resources

o   Jo Shippey, Community Engagement Manager

·       Questions and Answers session

 

·       Presentation from Southern Water

o   Tania Flasck, Director of Water Operations.

o   Sandra Norvall, Water Strategy Manager

o   Hannah Morely/Mike Russell, Stakeholder Engagement Manager

·       Questions and Answers session

 

21.1     The Committee received presentation from South East Water (SEW) and Southern Water (SW) on their plans for future water supply in East Sussex and details of their response to recent water supply interruption incidents in the County. Both water companies are responsible for supplying water to different parts of East Sussex. Southern Water is responsible for providing waste water treatment services for the whole of East Sussex.

Presentation from South East Water

21.2     Douglas Whitfield, Director of Operations and Nick Price, Head of Water Resources gave a presentation to the Committee on the water supply future demand planning for South East Water. A summary of the presentation is given below.

21.3     South East Water supply drinking water over a large part of the southeast region. The east region is split into two areas, Sussex and Kent. Historically South East Water has developed over a number of years with the merger of a number of smaller water companies. This has meant that the design of the water supply network has evolved over time and would not be the way in which it would be designed today if starting from scratch. For example, the network has 86 water treatment works which is about the same number as Thames Water which supplies water to a much larger area.

21.4     There have been a number of water supply interruption incidents, including in East Sussex, as a result of weather extremes and water main bursts. In summer 2023 there was a short sharp hot spell which meant the demand for water increased. The Wadhurst area which was affected by a supply problem is on the edge of the boundary of the area that South East Water supplies, and it was not possible to pump enough treated water into the system to meet demand. This was not something South East Water wanted and was a result of a level of demand that had not been seen before. Post Covid there has been a change in the pattern of demand and periods of weather extremes (wet weather and spells of hot dry weather) have brought forward future demand issues. In response to this South East Water has brought forward a scheme to feed the water supply for the Wadhurst area from the Kent area to provide resilience.

21.5     In August 2024 there were multiple burst mains which affected the Robertsbridge area of northern Rother. South East Water’s staff responded to these bursts as quickly as possible, but the provision of bottled water was complicated by the subsequent burst of the initial burst main which was fixed and then failed again, and having to move the bottled water supply site.

21.6     South East Water has undertaken a review of its emergency plan to improve the response to water supply interruptions and is trying to react better to supply issues until infrastructure projects are completed to improve the resilience of the water supply network. The company has purchased two additional water supply tankers and has a further ten on order to improve its response. An Alternative Water Supply Manager has also been appointed who will be working with resilience forums and councils on plans for water supply interruptions. This includes plans for when to implement bottled water stations and there has been a good uptake of vulnerable people registering to be on the Priority Services Register. Other actions for improving alternative water supply in the event of a water supply interruption include:

• More water tankers which can inject water into the water supply network
• Dealing with livestock issues by working with larger farms e.g. to become more resilient in water supply
• Working with neighbouring water companies including putting in place agreements and arrangements for mutual aid
• Working with schools and care homes; and
• Developing the Aqualerter messaging tool to provide better information in the event of a water supply interruption, which can send bespoke messages to those registered with the tool.

21.7     Douglas Whitfield provided a project overview of a number of schemes that are taking place to upgrade and improve the resilience of the water supply network. The aim of these schemes is to link up areas in the west region to make the existing spine network of water mains more resilient. More detail of these projects is contained in the Business Plan. The Wadhurst scheme to install a new water main is three quarters complete and will be ready for summer 2025.

Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP)

21.8     Nick Price, Head of Water Resources gave an overview of the work being undertaken to ensure sufficient water supplies for the future and for nature. The Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) is a long-term strategy which looks at the future demand and supply of water that also identifies any deficits that there may be and the actions to remedy them. Developing a Water Resources Management Plan is a statutory process which is open and transparent. WRMPs are updated every five years and South East Water has worked with other water companies in the south east when developing the Plan. The final WRMP 2024 was published in October 2024 following Secretary of State approval.

21.9     The two key challenges in terms of supply management are meeting the environmental requirements to leave sufficient water resources in rivers and habitats and meeting increased demand from population growth and climate change. There is a Government expectation that water companies will take a regional approach in developing their WRMPs and that water companies will work together to produce a regional plan which will cover things such as population growth, climate change, new infrastructure, protection of the environment, dry weather/drought resilience and water catchment solutions.

21.10   One of the other challenges in developing a WRMP which looks 50 years ahead is the uncertainty especially around the impact of climate change. In order to respond to this, South East Water are using an adaptive planning approach which uses nine different future scenarios for planning. Using the most up-to-date and relevant tools, methods and data to produce supply and demand forecasts, the regional deficit by 2075 could range from 0.8 billion litres to 2.7 billion litres. Factors such as population growth, environmental needs and climate change impacts will be monitored over the course of the Plan, and the delivery of the Plan will be adjusted accordingly.

Future water supply challenges

21.11   One of the challenges in the Sussex area comes from future supply availability. Currently around 63% of water comes from groundwater sources such as the chalk aquifer and the sandstone aquifers in the north and north-eastern parts of the area. Around 30% of the water supplied is from two surface water reservoirs at Arlington and Ardingly and the remaining 7% comes from two bulk water imports from other water companies. However, the water supply is forecast to reduce as a result of climate change impacts and to ensure water abstractions are sustainable.

21.12   Nick Price outlined the predicted water supply and demand balance up to 2050 is based on the nine scenarios, with Situation 1 being the most challenging and Situation 9 being the least challenging. Under the nine scenarios, from 2030 Sussex will not have enough water to supply customers in a dry year without interventions. The baseline prediction shows a 15% increase in population by 2050 and a 22% increase by 2075 leading to a 14% increase in need for water. The WRMP is required to have a balance if not a surplus of water supply against demand.

21.13   To meet this challenge South East Water are planning to invest £1.1 billion in demand management interventions and to make the best use of the existing water supply. Plans include:

• Reducing leakage by 50% by 2050;
• Reducing water usage from 140 litres per person per day to 110 litres per person per day; and
• Working with businesses to reduce consumption by 15% by 2040.

21.14   There will also be increased spending on large scale infrastructure of £1.2 billion to address water supply issues such as building new reservoirs such as the new Arlington reservoir; new water transfers from other areas and; protecting water resources zones and increasing resilience. 

Business Plan

21.15   Douglas Whitfield outlined that the way in which the WRMP is translated into investment is done through a five- year investment plan also known as an Asset Management Plan (AMP). We are just coming to the end of the seventh investment plan period and the plan for 2025-2030 (AMP8) was submitted to the regulator Ofwat in October 2023 for approval. This contained increased investment plans of £1.9 billion, which would mean an average increase of 19.6% on customer bills equivalent to an increase of £3.79 per month.

21.16   There are nine key areas of investment covering both base cost investment to maintain existing infrastructure and enhancement cost funding to try and develop more water resources such as the new reservoir in Broad Oak near Canterbury in Kent by 2025, as well as more network resilience and connectivity. Other investments include more drinking water storage facilities in Kent and rolling out smart meters to model usage and detect ‘customer side’ water leaks more quickly. Ofwat have responded through their ‘Draft Determination’, granting approximately £1.4 billion, a difference of £618 million, or 30 per cent less than was requested. The Committee were shown the impact of this in the project proposals specific to Sussex to improve resilience.

21.17   The roll out of smart meters should enable customers to be more aware of their water usage, but as water is relatively not very expensive, this may not have an impact on peak demand. Other measures in the investment plan include reducing leakage; increasing the quality of raw water; more support for unplanned water supply interruptions and; enhanced water poverty schemes.

21.18 The next stages in timeline for the Business Plan and approval of AMP8 are for Ofwat to consider the water company responses to the draft determination and then for Ofwat to publish their final determination which is expected on 19 December 2024. Water companies can appeal the final determination, but that would delay the start of the investment plan AMP8 which starts in April 2025.

Climate Change Adaptation Report

21.19   South East Water will soon be publishing their Climate Change Adaptation Report Round 4 which includes a range of measures to manage the impact of climate change, including:

• Expanding the behaviour change campaigns and leak reduction measures
• Flood defence work has been completed at 59 sites, 33 remaining sites to be completed by 2030
• Working with UK Power Networks on resilience planning
• Installed new generators at key sites
• Installing ultrasonic probes to reduce algal blooms
• Installing 215 chlorine residual monitors which check saltwater levels as sea levels rise

Questions and comments from the Committee on the South East Water (SEW) presentation

21.20   The Committee asked a number of questions and made comments about the presentation. A summary of the discussion is given below.

21.21 The Committee asked whether SEW are installing generators and back-up power supplies in its water treatment and pumping stations to deal with water supply interruptions caused by power failures. Douglas Whitfield responded that the problem also extended to power surges, caused when the power networks re-route power through the grid, as water treatment equipment is sensitive to power ‘blips’. There appears to be more power ‘blips’ which can lead to a 4 hour outage whilst the water treatment plant is re-started. SEW is looking at installing generators as part of the solution and is also looking at battery storage and Uninterruptible Power Systems (UPS) solutions as well as talking to the power companies.

Saving water and reducing demand

21.22   The Committee asked how SEW are planning to reduce water consumption levels and whether it is considering the use of progressive pricing and grey water systems. Douglas Whitfield outlined that SEW are planning to reduce the demand for water through a number of ways. One of the ways will be through communications and education to reduce demand and explain the environmental impact and impact on carbon emissions. However, there is not an easy answer to this and it is a long-term challenge. SEW has been working with other water companies and has been speaking to Australian water companies about this issue. Grey water systems can be implemented, but they require investment. Nick Price added that collaboration with partners on this issue is important and there has been a lot of discussion and work on trials to tackle this. Part of the solution is about technology, and another is around tariffs to engender a new culture that considers water as a precious resource. When considering progressive pricing and tariffs, one needs to be careful of the thresholds for hygiene requirements that a large family may have. The WRMP does consider what happens if the planned reductions in water demand are not achieved.

21.23   Some Committee members commented that customers do not believe the messaging around the need to reduce water consumption, especially in the light of wetter weather and flooding incidents when there appears to be plenty of water.

21.24   Tania Flasck, Director of Water Operations at Southern Water commented that it might be worth the Committee looking at the Waterwise web site resources which have been developed in collaboration with water companies and other partners. Going forward, collaboration will be key on issues such as ensuring new housing developments are as water efficient as possible.

Water Leaks

21.25   The Committee commented that it will be important for water companies to tackle leaks first, especially where there have been long-standing leaks. It asked whether there was a definition of a leak verses a burst and whether there was a threshold in the amount of water lost for action to be taken in repairing a leak. Douglas Whitfield responded that there was always more that could be done to tackle leaks. SEW will repair leaks in the most economic way possible. The cost of a repair is often higher than the cost of the water lost (£1 per 1,000 litres). Therefore, there is an economic level of leakage verses the investment required in the water supply infrastructure. In order to tackle all leaks, there would need to be investment in the network at a much higher level. SEW will continue to reduce leakage and invest to tackle unacceptable levels of leakage, but it will not be possible to get to zero leakage without substantial investment which would affect customer bills. Therefore, there will continue to be a level of leakage from the network. However, the plan for Sussex is largely to reduce leakage.

21.26   Douglas Whitfield also outlined that pressure reduction work is being carried out to reduce the likelihood of further water main bursts after repairs have been carried out and SEW would like to do further work on this. Water pressure is also reduced in periods of drought.

Aqualerter

21.27   The Committee asked what SEW were doing to publicise the Aqualerter system. Jo Shippey, Community Engagement Manager responded that Aqualerter is being promoted through customer newsletters and is mentioned in all press releases. Information on the system is also being provided through social media channels and through local authorities to get people to sign up to Aqualerter.

Water Supply Interruption in Northern Rother

21.28   The Committee commented that the bottled water stations set up initially for the northern Rother water supply interruption were in the wrong place and required an 8 mile round trip from Hurst Green. It asked whether more pre-planning on the location of bottled water stations in the event of a water supply interruption could be carried out. Douglas Whitfield outlined that SEW is working with Parish Councils and resilience forums to plan in advance where to set up bottled water stations and wants to provide a better response to water supply interruptions through alternative water plans. Alternative water plans are being rolled out to other areas in Sussex.

Priority Service Register

21.29   SEW confirmed that they do have lists of care homes and other vulnerable users who need alternative water supplied to them in the event of a water supply interruption. SEW can deliver water to people if they are on the Priority Service Register.

Water Desalination

21.30   Douglas Whitfield confirmed that water desalination is in the Water Resources Management Plan, but SEW will look at the most efficient and cost effective measures to increase water supply first before considering de-salination. Measures such as the new reservoir at Arlington and exploring the re-use of waste water will be considered before looking at desalination.

New Arlington Reservoir

21.31   Nick Price outlined that the plan is to construct a new second reservoir just to the north of the existing one and will capture excess flow from the River Ouse. Planning for the reservoir is in the early stages and further work is planned to review alternatives in order to confirm that it is the best option. A workshop has been held with Lewes District Council, Eastbourne Borough Council and Southern Water to look at the best option and the preferred solution. If construction goes ahead, the new reservoir would not be in operation until 2057 in Situation 4 (the reported preferred pathway) of the adaptive plan. SEW has also carried out sensitivity testing in its decision making and programme appraisal to look at the potential impacts and adjustments that would be needed to investment plans in the event that lower levels of demand reduction are realised. In this assessment, SEW has identified the earliest need to deliver the scheme is by 2041.

Source Protection Zones

21.32   Source Protection Zones (SPZs) exist to protect the quality of raw water from groundwater sources such as boreholes and aquifers. Some SPZs are increasingly subject to development and planning applications on land that is within or near these protection zones, threatening water quality.

Water efficient appliances

21.33   The Committee observed that it might be helpful to have water efficient domestic appliances that save water and commented that current gas combi boilers were wasteful of water due to the need to run the water for a period of time before the water was hot enough. Douglas Whitfield outlined the SEW works well with other bodies to promote water efficient devices and has lobbied Government for water efficiency rating labelling of white goods. Tania Flasck commented that Southern Water is undertaking a trial to look at the impact of combi boilers. She noted that all water companies are members of Waterwise who work collaboratively on water efficiency issues.

Climate Change

21.34   The Committee noted that there were three different climate change scenarios contained in the WRMP and asked what data sources were used in the modelling. Nick Price outlined that SEW do use different climate scenarios and follows independent guidance and Environment Agency advice in the development of its plans (e.g. the latest UK climate change projections). More detailed information can be provided on the data sources used after the meeting to the Committee. Action Nick Price.

 

Presentation from Southern Water.

21.35   Sandra Norval, Water Strategy Manager outlined that Southern Water (SW) is in the process of developing its latest Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) which is currently out for consultation. This is a little behind SEW as more work was required on the Hampshire part of the WRMP. The consultation on the Southern Water WRMP is running between 11 September 2024 and 4 December 2024 so there is time to provide feedback on the Plan.

21.36   The Environment Agency (EA) has designated large parts of the SW water supply area as Water Stressed, which has an impact on demand management and implications for the way people behave regarding water consumption and water saving measures. SW is taking a twin track approach in the WRMP to look at demand and leakage. One of the main drivers in the South East is what the EA defines as “Environmental Destination” which means improving and enhancing the natural world and looking at the impact of water abstraction on the environment. These issues affect mainly the west of the SW area. Other key factors that affect demand are climate change, household population growth, business growth and drought resilience.

21.37   Reducing water leaks is a key issue over the life of the plan. There is also a Water Neutrality position statement which affects the abstraction in the north Sussex part of the area as abstraction is affecting habitats such as chalk streams. The position statement is intended to make developers think about limiting increases in demand and this has links to Local Plans and flood management.

21.38   Councils can help with these issues through planning policy which is moving in the right direction. There are opportunities to think differently such as capturing highways run-off, treating it and using it elsewhere. The Plan also includes catchment schemes to keep water in the best quality possible and to reduce the need to treat it through groundwater improvement schemes.

The East Sussex area Water Strategy for the period 2025-2035 includes:

• Reducing leaks
• Helping customers to use less water e.g. through communications and messaging
• Catchment schemes to address nitrates and pesticides and improve the resilience of water sources
• Groundwater improvements to provide more water.

For 2035-2050 it includes:

• Reducing leaks
• Helping customers to use less water through demand management
• Importing water from SEW to Canterbury and Rye
• Improve groundwater sources near Rye to provide more water
• Build a new reservoir in Sussex to store water from the River Adur

For 2025-2075 it includes:

• Reducing leaks
• Helping customers to maintain a sustainable level of water use
• Recycle water using new technology and store it in Darwell reservoir before treating it
• Catchment management and nature based solutions to improve the environment
• Import water from SEW to Brighton

21.39   SW do have Kent schemes for desalination in their WRMP but water recycling is more efficient. There is an Ofwat innovation fund bid to understand the impact of desalination and what you do with the hyper saline by-product from the process. SW is targeting investment to reduce water supply risks as it cannot abstract enough water to meet future demand due to the environmental requirements.

Hastings water supply interruption.

21.40   Tania Flasck provided further information on the water supply interruption in Hastings in May 2024. Hastings is supplied by two surface water reservoirs at Darwell and Powdermill. The burst main occurred in the main that links Darwell to the Beauport water supply works and was challenging to fix because of where it was located. SW has submitted a resilience case to Ofwat which includes the requirements for Hastings that include the complete replacement of the main. Going ahead with this work will be dependent on the final determination by Ofwat of the SW Asset Management Plan (AMP8).

21.41   The actions being taken to address the Hastings water supply issue include (depending on the Ofwat determination):

• Replacing the strainers at Darwell
• Addressing high risk water quality actions and updating the dosing system
• Installing water pressure monitors on the Darwell to Beauport main to provide early indication of problems
• Undertaking a variety of feasibility and design studies
• Increasing treated water storage; and
• By 2030 replace the Darwell to Beauport main, refurbish treatment plants and improve network connectivity, resilience and monitoring

 

Questions and comments from the Committee on the Southern Water presentation

21.42   The Committee asked a number of questions and made comments about the presentation. A summary of the discussion is given below.

21.43   The Chair commented that the residents of Hastings feel that Southern Water (SW) are not learning from incidents and that communications about the issues and the SW response have not worked as well as they could have. Tania Flasck, Director of Water Operations outlined that a lot of work is taking place on lessons learnt and there is a post incident review or ‘playbook’ on all major incidents. SW is trying to embed learning from incidents and to learn from others through the Resilience Forums and working with other water companies.

Protecting the environment

21.44   The Committee asked about the additional water supplies needed to enhance the natural environment. Sandra Norval, Water Strategy Manager responded that SW are required to plan to supply enough water for people to drink and for businesses, as well as to protect the natural environment and habitats from damage from over abstraction. There is a shift in emphasis towards water recycling and more efficient use of the existing water resource before returning it to the environment. For example, chalk streams are a precious habitat in which water flow is important. If aquifers are not being topped up, water abstraction from ground water sources has to take this into account.

Infrastructure condition

21.45   The Committee asked if SW is monitoring the quality of water supply mains infrastructure and whether the overall condition is improving, stable or declining. Tania Flasck responded that in terms of asset health, there has been a lot of work and investment in monitoring the condition of assets in the water supply network. Due to the history of the formation of the network SW does not know where all the assets are but the information is getting better. SW is looking to improve the monitoring of above and below ground assets such as the deterioration of pipes and to model the risk. However, this type of work is quite expensive.

Water recycling

21.46   The Committee asked about water recycling and the transfer of treated water into the water supply system. Sandra Norvall outlined that when considering the recycling of water, it has to be safe for the public to use. There is going to be work taking place on water smart communities together with Ofwat. Currently, there is some recycling of treated water for use in irrigation, but not returning it into the drinking water supply. It should be borne in mind that treated effluent is already returned to rivers and other water courses after which it can be abstracted for water supply use further downstream. Recycled water is of high quality and can be returned to reservoirs under current regulations. However, more work is needed on education and awareness with the public on the use of treated effluent in drinking water supplies.

Work with developers

21.47   The Committee asked what work SW is doing with developers on things like grey water systems and the local storage of rainwater for use by communities. Tania Flasck offered to provide more information on SW work with developers on things such as rainwater harvesting etc. after the meeting. Action Tania Flasck.

Water leaks

21.48   The Committee asked if SW take the same approach as South East Water in relation to repairing leaks. Tania Flasck responded that tackling water leaks is a complex process and SW try and fix the biggest leaks first and there is an economic balance to be made for smaller leaks. SW are doing their best to tackle leaks and to detect where the leaks are occurring in the water supply network. A lot of work and innovation is focussed on tackling leaks.

 

21.49   The Committee RESOLVED to note the presentations from South East Water and Southern Water.