Environment Secretary visits Havant Thicket Reservoir

Visiting the UK's first reservoir in 30 years

It was hugely exciting to get the chance to show the Environment Secretary the progress we're making on creating the UK's first new reservoir in more than 30 years.

Steve Reed OBE visited the Havant Thicket Reservoir site in Hampshire to see the construction under way. An advocate of building new national infrastructure to facilitate growth – it was fantastic to show him the progress on site and talk through our wider plans for the future.

The project

The project is a cross-company partnership – with Portsmouth Water building the reservoir and Southern Water funding it over time through our water supply customers. When complete, the reservoir will be able to store 8.7 billion litres of water and, coupled with our separate Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project, be able to provide up to 111 million litres of water a day during a drought.

Water scarcity 

It and other new sources of water are desperately needed to secure water supplies. England needs to find an extra five billion litres of water a day by 2050 and more than half of that is needed in the South East.

In Hampshire we already have a shortfall of at least 166 million litres of water a day during a drought – a figure that’s only set to rise – so new water sources are essential to keep the county’s taps and rivers flowing.

The biggest factor in the shortfall is the need to protect Hampshire’s beautiful and sensitive chalk streams by leaving more water in them for wildlife – especially during a drought.

The Secretary of State has made clear that England, especially the South East, will face water shortages in the next ten years caused by severe droughts linked to climate change.

Securing future water supplies 

The reservoir, and the Hampshire Water and Water Recycling Project, mark a step change in the way we plan to source, treat and supply water across the South East.

Currently around 70% of our customers’ drinking water comes from groundwater sources, 23% from rivers and 7% from reservoirs. By 2050, water recycling and desalination could make up more than a third of the water we supply, with transfers from neighbouring water companies making up nearly another third.

I’m proud that Southern Water has these opportunities to show the Environment Secretary that we’re at the forefront of England’s renewed focus on water – it highlights just how precious this resource is and the importance of our role as one of its key guardians.

- Lawrence Gosden, CEO, Southern Water 

Read more about our work to secure future water supplies across Hampshire through our Water for Life Hampshire programme.