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Hello Marius, thank you for your comment. We completely agree that fixing leaks is essential, which is why our regional plan sets out how water companies do just that to reduce demand for water across the south east. At the same time, we need to provide new sources of water to supply a growing population and combat some of the effects of climate change, which is why our plan sets out a number of new reservoirs, including the Havant Thicket reservoir in Hampshire and the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO) in Oxfordshire. If you'd like to know more about a particular reservoir we've proposed, do let me know and I'd be happy to point you in the direction of more detail on what we're planning and the reasons behind this.

Dear PWJ, 

We  considered a range of options in the development of the plan, including the Severn Thames Transfer which used part of the restored Cotswold Canal as part of the transfer solution. 

Further modelling and sensitivity runs have been completed to assess the need for this option in the future, which showed that the Severn Thames Transfer is not required at this time, so does not feature in the regional plan, but may be needed in future if other options cannot be progressed or if the anticipated demand management savings are not achieved in full.

Thank you for taking the time to read our proposed regional plan and ask this question. The proposed plan for he South East would be to use a mixture of solutions to meet the challenges of the future and not just desalination. In the table below you can see how we are planning to meet these challenges by 2050. 

So, in response to your question - yes, the gap can be filled through a combination of solutions and we believe this proposed set of solutions offers the best value for customers and the environment. 

 With regard to the second part of your question, about the perception and use of desalination as a solution in the future in the UK. We are aware that desalination is used in many places around the world including Jersey, the Isles of Scilly and London, and therefore operating these types of solution in a temperate climate, where the demand and availability of water can fluctuate so much, is possible, albeit that it provides a number of challenges. 

The existing solutions have found ways to meet the strict environmental obligations that are required and have used energy sources which are from renewable sources. When we constructed the draft plan, we did also factor in the de-carbonisation of the grid which reduces the operational carbon footprint of these schemes, as well as looking at up and coming membrane solutions which could require less energy to be used as part of the process. 

These factors, coupled with the option appraisal process, which considered approximately 140 different desalination options (sites and sizes) across the South East, has provided sufficient evidence that these solutions could be built and operated in the region, albeit that their operation will be more complex that current treatment solutions customer and companies are used to. 

Wolvercote Mill Stream in our region was designated a bathing water in 2022. This is the second time this has ever happened for a UK river. 

Any river can become designated and the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 outline the process of identifying bathing waters in England and Wales. Local authorities usually apply for designation and must support, but anyone can apply. 

Local authorities must support all applications. Landowners must support applications for privately owned sites. 

There are a number of criteria that must be met for a bathing water to become designated and more information on this can be found at: Bathing waters: apply for designation or de-designation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).