Growing population
By 2050, the population in the South East is predicted to grow by another 19%-25%. This will put increased pressure on our limited resources.
Long-Term Priorities
We're committed to creating a resilient water future for our customers in the South East. Our Long-Term Priorities at Southern Water, published in 2022, sets out what we’re planning to achieve by 2050.
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Document overview
The expectation is that we take advantage of technology to transform our performance and improve our services, and we must respond. The way we deliver water and wastewater services to our customers by 2050 is going to look very different. We’ve arrived at the priorities and enablers in this document by regularly talking to our customers, regulators, employees and investors. So that we can continue to supply high-quality drinking water and efficient wastewater services.
What we do
We're the largest water and wastewater company in the South East. Here's what we do at a glance.
What we do
We're the largest water and wastewater company in the South East. Here's what we do at a glance.
80
Water Supply Works
697
Clean water pumping stations
367
Wastewater Treatment Works
39,900
Kilometres of sewers collect and transport wastewater
1,371
Million litres of wastewater treated every day
556
Million litres supplied per day to customers in 2021–22
The changing shape of communities
People are increasingly focused on health and wellbeing. The increase in hybrid working will also increase demand for local services.
Evolving customer expectations
There's an increased expectation of real-time data and 100% availability from utility providers, with a lower tolerance for failure.
Key trends
Increasing use of technology in the form of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are all becoming increasingly common and open to all. This can help to speed up and simplify processes.
Rising concerns about the environment
People’s demand to protect the environment is driving change in government priorities and there is a lessening tolerance for storm overflows and pollution incidents.
Climate emergency
As more extreme weather is predicted, there's a growing urgency to reduce carbon emissions and completely change the way we operate our services.
Growing population
By 2050, the population in the South East is predicted to grow by another 19%-25%. This will put increased pressure on our limited resources.
The changing shape of communities
People are increasingly focused on health and wellbeing. The increase in hybrid working will also increase demand for local services.
Evolving customer expectations
There's an increased expectation of real-time data and 100% availability from utility providers, with a lower tolerance for failure.
Key trends
Increasing use of technology in the form of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are all becoming increasingly common and open to all. This can help to speed up and simplify processes.
Rising concerns about the environment
People’s demand to protect the environment is driving change in government priorities and there is a lessening tolerance for storm overflows and pollution incidents.
Climate emergency
As more extreme weather is predicted, there's a growing urgency to reduce carbon emissions and completely change the way we operate our services.
Keith Lough, Chair
"Our vision is to create a resilient water future for our customers in the South East. We now want to share what this means and what we’re planning to achieve."
Our Long-Term Priorities
These trends offer not just challenges but also opportunities – to collaborate and develop strong partnerships with stakeholders, customers and other organisations.
To change how we work and re-focus on nature-based or sustainable solutions that are better for our environment.
To continue to deliver a reliable supply of clean, high-quality drinking water while delivering the best value for our customers.
That's why our Long-Term Priorities include:
- Ensuring a reliable supply of high-quality water for the future
- Understanding and supporting our customers and communities
- Protecting and improving the environment
- Enabling and empowering our people
To meet these future challenges we know that we’ll need to take action at different times and at a varying pace between now and 2050. We also know that together, we'll be able to deliver our ambitions for the good of our customers, communities and the environment.
