As Engineering and Asset Management Director at Thames Water, it's my job to ensure there’s enough water to go around and that we’re building the right infrastructure for the future. Water scarcity presents a serious challenge in the face of a changing climate, growing population and need to protect the environment, including our rivers, precious chalk streams and ground water sources.

Extreme weather patterns

While 2024 was officially the eighth wettest year on record according to the Met Office, this statistic masks a complex water security challenge in the UK. The Environment Agency's designation of the South East as 'water stressed' might seem contradictory, but it reflects a crucial reality, it's not just about how much rain we get, but when and how it falls.

The increasing frequency of intense storms, with the UK hitting the highest number of named storms in 2023/24, means much of this rainfall comes in short, violent bursts. Rather than steadily replenishing our water sources, these deluges often overwhelm our systems and run off into rivers and seas before they can be captured and stored. This pattern, combined with rising temperatures, with 2024 now confirmed as the warmest year ever recorded globally, creates a 'feast or famine' scenario for our water resources.

We’re facing a new climate reality and swinging between extremes. This unpredictability makes traditional water management increasingly challenging and underscores why we can't rely solely on annual rainfall figures to gauge our water security. We need robust infrastructure capable of capturing and storing water during wet periods to ensure reliable supplies during dry spells.

By 2050, we’re predicting a shortfall of 1 billion litres of water per day in our supply area. We need to act now to make sure we are ready for the challenges ahead.

Building for the future

First and foremost, Thames Water is an infrastructure company. While it’s critical we maintain our existing assets, it’s also important that we look ahead and build the infrastructure needed for the future. We have a track record of planning ahead and delivering major projects to meet future needs, such as a growing population. In the 1980s, we made the decision to future-proof London’s water supply, building the Thames Water Ring Main, which was completed in 1994. The 83km tunnel forms a complete ring around our major water supply zones in London and transfers water from treatment works around the city. The Ring Main gives us a resilient supply of water as any section can be taken out of service, and supplies can still be delivered to each area.

And this year will see the completion of the Thames Tideway Tunnel – also known as the super sewer - a project that has been 20 years in the making. Alongside our allied investments the schemes reduce combined sewage spills to the Tidal Thames by 95%. This demonstrates that as early as 2005, we were already looking ahead to environmental needs and a growing capital city. We’re proud to say this project is on track and due to become fully operational later this year.

Looking ahead for 2025 and beyond…

Every day we supply 2.6 billion litres of safe drinking water to 10 million customers, and we expect this to grow to nearly 13 million by 2050. The government has also committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes over the next five years. Delivering these homes, along with the necessary schools, healthcare facilities, and community spaces, will require the right infrastructure to meet future demand for water. This year we will progress our plans for two Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP), which will protect water supply for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come. A new reservoir for the South East, will be essential in supporting this growth and will enable communities to thrive. Our proposed reservoir will secure water supply for 15 million people across the region, including Thames Water, Southern Water and Affinity Water customers. Earlier this month Farmoor Reservoir, one of our existing sites in Oxfordshire, featured on BBC’s Countryfile. The programme showed first-hand how our sites can become vibrant habitats for wildlife, brimming with biodiversity and the site is incredibly popular, welcoming over 20,000 people each year.

Our new reservoir presents a unique opportunity to create another haven for habitats, rich in biodiversity, complete with wildlife ponds, wetland mosaic, wet woodlands and flourishing grasslands. It will be so much more than a place to store water, creating a new community asset, where people can walk, sail and fish - our research shows that 73% of people in the South East would visit the reservoir. We’re also progressing our plans to safeguard drinking water supply to millions of households and businesses across London. The Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) project would be used during drought and would enable us to abstract more water from the River Thames, providing up to 75 million litres of water each day.

This infrastructure would protect water supply and the environment, while sparing London’s economy from the effects of a severe drought which could cost as much as £500 million a day. While we’ve also committed to halving leakage and reducing customer demand for water, these projects are still essential to ensuring there is enough water to go around.

Things to look out for

Last week we issued a Periodic Indicative Notice (PIN) to inform potential suppliers and investors about the next stage of our market engagement programme which will support the development of our new reservoir in Oxfordshire. We’re keen to update and work with contractors and investors on the development of the reservoir and are hosting a spring market engagement event on Monday 17 March 2025. Interested parties are invited to register their interest by Friday 24 January 2025. Throughout the year we’ll also be hosting further community information and consultation events for both projects. We’re committed to listening to customers and communities, and the events will provide an opportunity for us to update local people, and for them to ask any questions they may have. Details of our events will be published on our dedicated website.

Nevil Muncaster, Engineering and Asset Management Director at Thames Water