We supplied drinking water to more than one million properties across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight through a network of more than 13,700km of mains, 237 service reservoirs and 95 supply works.

The quality of our tap water remained among the best in Europe, with 99.92 per cent of tests meeting stringent quality standards.

We also recycled 800 million litres of wastewater a day from 1.8 million domestic and business properties, transporting it through a network of 21,800km of sewers and 2,296 pumping stations to 371 wastewater treatment works. After undergoing treatment to European quality standards, it was recycled back into the environment.

By-products from the treatment process were used to produce fertiliser for agriculture and to generate renewable electricity.

We spent more than £405 million on service improvements as part of our five-year plan to invest £1.7 billion between 2010 and 2015. Examples of our work included building a new storage reservoir in Sussex and maintaining our good record at wastewater treatment works.

We started our five-year programme to install water meters for the majority of our customers in the South East as part of our long-term plans to secure water resources for the region because people on a water meter tend to use about 10 per cent less water.