We see ourselves as guardians of the environment. We're working hard to protect and improve the areas where we get our water so there's enough for everyone and the environment.
We get water from local rivers and underground sources called aquifers. An aquifer is an underground layer of rock that holds water. We use this water to produce around 543 million litres of drinking water every day for our 2.3 million customers across the South East.
The amount of water we take is based on how much our customers use. It’s also controlled by the Environment Agency, which gives us a licence that tells us how much water we can take.
So next time you use water at home, remember it comes from our local environment.
Making sure there’s enough water for everyone
We need to make sure we’re not harming the rivers and streams we use to get your water. That’s why we have a scheme called Restoring Sustainable Abstraction. This scheme helps us make sure we take enough water for our customers while leaving enough in the rivers and streams for nature.
We also work with local landowners and the Rivers Trust to improve the river habitats. For example, we might work to reduce pollution, manage where vegetation grows or fix any changes made to the river in the past.
Our Projects
- Upper Darent in Westerham - We’ll be working with The South East Rivers Trust to protect fish species in the river. This will be done through the removal of two artificial structures that are stopping fish from getting to a portion of the Upper Darent.
Removing these structures will also allow for the natural pattern of erosion and deposition in a river. Meaning the rivers could naturally meander within the landscape and create a number of micro-habitats. These micro-habitats are where invertebrates and fish in different life stages will thrive and encounter each other.
The removal of the structures also reduces the risk of flooding in downstream sections of the river which can affect infrastructure and properties.
- River Wey in Alton - We’ll be working with South East Rivers Trust to bring this river back to its original path. A river that meanders has slower flows and therefore there is less movement of sediment. This will also promote the creation of micro habitats.
- The River Hart in Farnham - We’ll be working with the Rivers Trust to improve channel flow, habitat diversity and biodiversity by removing structures which impound water and creating new structures to facilitate fish passage.
- The Maidenhead Ditch in Maidenhead - We’ll be working with South East Rivers Trust to monitor the modified habitats from our previous work and implement a strategy for channel maintenance. We’ll also be working with local landowners to manage the land around the ditch to improve water quality.
- The Candover Brook in Hampshire - We’ll be working with the Rivers Trust by using nature based solutions to restore habitats, reduce sediment runoff, and improve biodiversity along the brook.
What we've done over the past five years
Great Stour Chalk Stream
This is a long-term project to protect the River Stour and its habitats. We’re working to change how the land near the river is managed and how people use water. We’re also looking at how new developments are planned.
We’ve been monitoring the water quality, river health, and even doing aerial surveys. This helps us understand where water is being used and what the risks are to water quality.
We’ve been doing pilot studies to understand how the land near the river is managed and how this affects the water that goes into the aquifer.
Over the next five years we'll be working with lots of different people and organisations to make long-term changes. Here are some of the things we will be working on:
• Making the area more resilient to droughts and floods.
• Restoring the river and its habitats.
• Managing water resources sustainably.
• Creating natural carbon sinks. A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. Protecting and restoring natural environments like forests, peatlands, and oceans can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• Educating people about the importance of the river.
• Working with developers and highways agencies.
Take a look at our video below for a case study on this project.
Maidenhead Ditch
We’re focusing on three sections of the Maidenhead Ditch in the Cookham area: Marsh Meadow, Fleet Ditch and Strand Water. Over the past five years, we’ve been working with local people and monitoring the flow, water quality, and the populations of tiny creatures called macroinvertebrates that live in the river.
We’ve also done surveys of the land around the river, including looking at things like what’s growing there, the history of the land, and what wildlife lives there. This helps us understand any restrictions that might affect our work.
In 2024, we created new wetland areas and clear some of the trees along the riverbank. This will improve the mix of light that reaches the river. We’ll reuse the felled trees in the river to create areas where the river narrows. This will help the river flow better and create new habitats for fish.
Upper River Darent
We’ve been investigating the Cramptons Road, Kemsing, and Oak Lane water sources. We’ve decided to use something called “adaptive management” to improve the river. This means we made changes to the river and monitoring the results to see what works best.
Between September and November 2024, we’ve worked with the South East Rivers Trust and AtkinsRealis at Childsbridge Farm on the Honeypot Stream. This stream flows into the Upper River Darent.
We have re-routed the stream, widened the banks, made the bends in the river more curved, and created a wetland. This will improve the flow of the stream and reduce the risk of flooding.
Testing our pumping stations
We sometimes do tests at our pumping stations. These are the places where we take water from rivers or underground and send it to our water treatment works. These tests help us understand how the water we use is connected to the environment. They also help us understand how our work might affect natural water levels and flows, and how this might affect the habitats that depend on the river.
We do these tests when water levels are at their lowest, usually at the end of summer.
We start by taking out water at a steady rate for a while. This gives us a baseline of data. Then we change how much water we’re taking out and see what happens. We might stop taking water completely for a bit, or we might take out water at a low rate and then slowly increase it.
The tests are different for each pumping station, depending on the specific location and what information we need.
You might see our team doing monitoring work in the area. Please feel free to ask them any questions you have. You can also contact us online or by phone.
Environmental Surveys
We work with environmental specialists like Jacobs to do surveys of the rivers. These surveys help us understand the health of the river and make the best decisions for the future.
The surveys usually look at insects, plants, the height of the land, and the different habitats in the river.
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