We invest more than £80 million each year improving our infrastructure to provide a reliable service to our customers.
Our approach
For the communities we serve, the work we do behind the scenes makes a huge impact on the service they receive.
We invest in our local communities to improve the infrastructure they rely on.
Our work includes upgrading treatment works to improve water quality through to water main replacements to reduce the number of burst water mains - we work within our communities to improve our overall service.
Interruptions to customers' water supply
When a customer is without water it is classified as an interruption to supply. Our outcome relates to any interruption to supply over three hours in duration. This can be a result of planned improvement works, emergency incidents such as a burst water main or third party damage to the network.
Average interruption time lost per property (minutes)
| 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03:02:21 | 1:12:33 | 31.27 | 14.2 | 44.6 |
Low pressure
Water pressure determines the flow of water from the tap. If pressure is not sufficient, then the flow can reduce to a trickle, and it will take a long time to fill a kettle or a toilet cistern.
Our target is for there to be 60 properties or less at risk of low pressure.
We have kept the number of properties under 60 for this section.
Number of properties at risk of low pressure
| 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | 28 | 47 | 47 | 49 |
Mean zonal compliance (water quality)
This is a measure of water quality at customers' taps.
Every year our laboratory in Farnborough, Hampshire carries out 500,000 tests on water samples to make sure the water meets high quality standards.
Water quality measures are based on a calendar year rather than a financial year.
Our target is always to be 100% but our performance commitment only attracts a penalty if we drop below 99.95% over the full year as this is still a very high standard and in line with other water companies.
Mean zonal compliance (%)
| Actual 2018/19 | Actual 2017/18 | Actual 2016/17 | Actual 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99.98 | 99.95 | 99.95 | 99.96 |
Water main bursts
Our target is to have fewer than 2,429 burst water mains.
We undertake a wide range of activities to minimise the number of burst mains, including managing pressure and our water mains replacement programme.
The weather has a substantial impact on the number of bursts, in particular freezing weather, or periods of freeze and thaw which can result in ground movement.
Number of burst water mains
| Actual 2018/19 | Actual 2017/18 | Actual 2016/17 | Actual 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,826 | 2,747 | 3,032 | 2,307 |
Discolouration contacts
This measures the number of customers who contact us to report that they have discoloured water.
We have undertaken a number of activities to reduce our discolouration contacts, some of which, such as treatment improvements take time to realise the benefits.
Number of discolouration contacts per 1,000 population
| Actual 2018/19 | Actual 2017/18 | Actual 2016/17 | Actual 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.59 | 0.82 | 0.96 | 0.98 |
Number of sites at risk of flooding
The number of company sites at risk of flooding is defined in our business plan based on a 1 in 200 year Environment Agency forecast of flooding.
We identified that there were 55 sites at risk of flooding and we have set ourselves the target to have zero sites at risk by 2019/20.
Number of sites at risk of flooding
| Actual 2018/19 | Actual 2017/18 | Actual 2016/17 | Actual 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 7 | 33 | 55 |
Above ground asset performance
Above ground assets include our water treatment works and service reservoirs that hold treated water - below ground assets are our pipes.
It is important we look after these above ground sites to ensure they continue to protect the high standards of water quality and reliability of supply.
We monitor the quality of the water throughout the treatment process and before it reaches customer taps so we can measure if our assets are performing as they should.
Above ground asset performance
| Actual 2018/19 | Actual 2017/18 | Actual 2016/17 | Actual 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stable | Stable | Stable | Stable |