United Utilities, Welsh Water announce £14bn investment

The two water companies have unveiled ambitious plans for much-needed infrastructure upgrades in the North West and Wales.

United Utilities published a £13.7bn investment plan on Monday morning. The plan includes upgrading more than 900 kilometres of water mains to reduce leakage. Starting in 2025, United Utilities said it would also invest in aqueducts to both safeguard and improve water supplies.

The plan also provides for further work to reduce storm overflow spills by more than 60% by 2030.  Storm overflow spills are one of the leading causes of water pollution in the country.

Water pollution has been a contentious issue in the country and has led to nutrient neutrality planning policies that have impacted the delivery of more than 100,000 homes. Government plans to lighten planning restrictions regarding nutrient neutrality were shot down by the House of Lords last month.

• TAKE A DEEP DIVE: How river pollution is putting development plans in purgatory across the North and North Wales

The £13.7bn investment plan could create 7,000 jobs, according to United Utilities.

Louise Beardmore, chief executive of United Utilities, said: “Our plan will secure water supplies for the future, halving the need for hosepipe bans, reduce storm overflow spills into our rivers and seas and upgrade our water network to cut leakage and service interruptions for customers.”

In Wales, Welsh Water published its five-year, £3.5bn investment plan. That figure includes £1.9bn dedicated towards wastewater infrastructure improvements, which will reduce the level of phosphates dumped in water by storm overflow spills by 90%.

The money will also go towards reducing leakage in Welsh Water’s network and replacing 7,500 lead pipes. Funding for these works will come, in part, from a £5 increase in the average customer’s monthly bills in 2025, and a £10 increase by 2030.

Welsh Water, unlike United Utilities, is a non-shareholder company. It is run by Glas Cymru.

Glas Gymru chairman Alastair Lyons said: “This business plan begins a multi-AMP strategy to tackle our impact on the environment, in particular, the quality of water in our rivers.

“It also aims to strengthen the resilience of our operations in support of the programmes on which we are already embarked to improve our performance where we currently fall short. We already see how climate change is challenging us in both these areas.”

Lyons continued: ““We believe that the Plan represents ambitious progress towards meeting the objectives of our long-term strategy Welsh Water 2050, while representing good value for customers in terms of what will be delivered.

“Our £3.5bn investment programme will also bring significant opportunities to increase our contribution to the Welsh economy, supporting thousands of jobs across Wales.”

Before Welsh Water and United Utilities’ plans can be enacted, both will need to be approved by the Water Services Regulation Authority.