If your company is thinking that you might switch business water supplier, you may have various considerations in mind. These will include current issues like price, water quality and reliability, but you should also be thinking about the future.
While the kind of deal and standard of service you get now are certainly very important, so too are the long-term prospects. After all, you would hope if you change supplier – or even if you stay with your existing one – that they will have clear plans in place to deal with the challenges of the future.
In a changing climate, issues of supply are certainly high on the list. It may seem at times in the autumn and winter like half the country is almost drowning as increasingly harsh and wet storms challenge the record books. Yet at the same time, water shortages are a major concern for the future.
Why More Reservoirs Are Needed
If wet weather is wetter, so hot and dry weather is becoming more arid and even last summer, supposedly a dull and wet one, was drier than average for most parts of the UK, including almost all of England outside Cumbria.
Cumbria has plenty of reservoirs, including the large Thirlmere and Haweswater reservoirs made from enlarged lakes before the Lake District became a national park. That ensures Manchester is well-served, but elsewhere, some might wonder what the longer term holds for rainfall. The reservoirs may get full after wet winters, but dry summers will empty them.
Summer droughts are increasingly more likely according to most climate projections. Add to this a growing population and the needs for better water supplies are obvious.
The new government’s pledges to build the first new reservoirs in England in over three decades were recently reiterated by chancellor Rachel Reeves as she backed plans for a large new reservoir near Abingdon, although this has been in the works for some time. The same is true of another reservoir earmarked for the Fens by Anglian Water.
Somerset’s Double Plan
However, she also announced proposals for seven more, including a couple of new reservoirs in Somerset. Although their locations were not confirmed, South West Water revealed last year that it was reviving its plans for a second Cheddar reservoir.
According to the BBC, the other reservoir in Somerset could make use of a quarry in the Mendip Hills. However, the location in question, Torr Works Quarry at East Cranmore, close to Shepton Mallett, won’t close until 2040, so this is likely to be a longer-term project than the other reservoir.
Consequently, a public consultation over a Torr Works reservoir won’t commence until 2028, whereas the Cheddar 2 consultation is likely to begin at some point this year.
The new reservoirs in Somerset, like the Abingdon and Fens reservoirs, would follow a notable pattern that may particularly interest business water users in the southern half of the country, where climate projections state the driest summers will be in the coming decades.
Other reservoirs in this list, which was originally published in December 2024 by regulator Ofwat, also included sites in Lincolnshire, (North) Suffolk, Kent (Broad Oak), Sussex (New Arlington) and another in the West Midlands.
Not Just About Reservoirs
This may come as reassuring news concerning supply issues, although there are less eye-catching elements to the Ofwat plan that will have a role to play, such as reducing leaks and cutting complaints about water quality. A pipe that isn’t leaking won’t grab the attention like a new reservoir, but it still matters.
Of course, in an increasingly capricious climate, there will still be times when even the southern half of the country is hit by floods.
The Somerset Levels have often suffered from this and locals may be as glad about plans for a new flood barrier at Bridgewater, which will prevent tidal flood surges in the Bristol Channel from making their way up the River Parrett to the town.
It may be asked whether the ultimate solution to future water needs is simply to build vast overflow reservoirs that can be filled each winter by water diverted from swollen rivers and saved for the dry days of summer. This may be part of the solution, although floodwaters are, by nature, full of mud and debris and would need a lot of treatment.
By setting challenges for water providers concerning reservoirs, leakages, water quality, pollution reduction and so much more, Ofwat and the government have laid down a challenge that customers might want to keep a close eye on. What is at stake is not just what they do now, but how they prepare for the future.
