PR1844

1st May 2008

Your future water - have your say

New housing developments, increased population, uncertainties of weather patterns and climate change - these are all factors affecting the future supply of water in the South East of England which was last year designated as an area of ‘serious water stress’ by the Environment Agency. A whole range of issues have been taken into account by Three Valleys Water in producing its Draft Water Resources Management Plan (2010 - 2035), which sets out how the company will balance the supply of and demand for water over the next 25 years.

Andy Smith, Managing Director, Three Valleys Water said: “As your local water company we face many challenges to ensure that we can provide reliable water services to our 3.2 million customers both now and in the future. We have already taken into account initial customer views about the affordability of water, our energy use and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and our collective impact on local environments and habitats. Our Draft Water Resources Management Plan sets out the actions that we need to take to ensure that we maintain the water supply/demand balance while minimising our effect on the local/global environment and ensuring that the price of water is kept at a level that our customers can afford.”

With a predicted 20 per cent increase in the number of households and 12 per cent increase in population over the next 25 years the company has set out a number of actions including:

• Making the best use of our existing water resources through improved performance.
• Continuing to reduce the level of leakage
• Introducing compulsory water metering which will be phased across the company’s area to achieve 90% metering by 2020. Areas of greatest water stress will be prioritised as well as installing water meters alongside our water mains renewals programme. This approach is more cost effective and has the added benefit of minimising disruption to customers.
• Carrying out a trial to assess the effects of prices that change through the year with lower charges in the winter and higher during the summer months when there are less water resources available and peak demand can increase by 30 per cent.
• Providing advice and water saving devices for our customers to enable them to reduce their daily water consumption.
• Exploring future water resource development options over the next five years and continuing to work with other water companies in the South East of England in the development of new regional resources.

“We want to share our plans with our customers and the many interested parties to ensure that any views that they have can be properly considered and taken into account in the final plan which is expected to be published in April 2009.

To download a copy of the summary plan and consultation log on to the Three Valleys Water website at www.3valleys.co.uk or you can receive a copy by contacting our Consultation Line on 01923 814253 or emailing WRConsultation@3valleys.co.uk All responses to the draft Water Resources Management Plan must be made in writing by completing the online form or responding directly to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by August 2008.

Interesting facts about Three Valleys Water:

• We supply 3.2 million customers in the Home Counties and the north and west of London.
• 60 per cent of Three Valleys Water resources comes from underground aquifers and 40% from above ground reservoirs and rivers.
• The average water customer uses twice as much water today as their grandparents did and 8 per cent above the national average.
• 34 per cent of our domestic customers are on a water meter.
• 82% of our water requires complex water treatment.
• We have 14,000 kilometres of water mains with 1.2 million connections.

Ends

For further information please contact Public Relations, tel: 01707 277110, fax: 01707 277213, website: www.3valleys.co.uk

Note to Editors:

About us
Three Valleys Water has been supplying water to the local community for more than 130 years and is committed to delivering a high quality water service to all its customers . It now provides over 870 million litres of water each day to three million customers, in parts of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, the London Boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon and parts of the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, and Enfield. The supply area covers a total of 3,700 square kilometres, stretching from Luton and Royston in the north to Guildford in the south, and from Berkhamsted in the west to Dunmow in the east.

Three Valleys Water is the UK’s largest water supply only company and is part of Veolia Water, the world leader in water and wastewater management. If you spot a leak call the Leakspotters hotline on 0800 376 5325 or use our online leakage form.