Overview
- Newly released documents show Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Defra notified 11 companies last year about security‑of‑supply risks in their 2020–2045 water resources plans.
- The firms include Thames Water, South East Water, Anglian Water, Affinity Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Cambridge Water, Portsmouth Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, Albion Water and South Staffordshire Water.
- Regulators cited problems such as leakage, chemical pollution, unsustainable abstraction and weak demand management that threaten customer supplies and the environment.
- Some companies were warned repeatedly, with South West Water, Southern Water, South Staffordshire Water and Portsmouth Water flagged for six consecutive years and South East Water for four years, including concerns over dry‑weather resilience and demand‑driven restrictions.
- Policy responses include government plans for mandatory infrastructure health checks outlined in the Water White Paper and Ofwat’s ongoing enforcement actions, including investigations into South East Water and £2 billion ringfenced to accelerate 30 major supply projects.