Image Description: Water treatment facility from a birds-eye view. Image by Tom Fisk.

In a letter sent to water companies, Ofwat Chief Executive David Black has urged water companies to look into ways 30 major infrastructure projects can be delivered faster and more efficiently over the next 15 years.

In reviewing their projects, Ofwat has asked companies to use the £50bn of investment for accelerating project timelines to support the government’s wider economic growth strategy while delivering substantial environmental and societal benefits. Ofwat expects a “significant number” of these major projects, nine of which are new reservoirs, to start during the AMP8 regulatory period, which commenced on 1 April and runs until 31 March 2030. David Black described this as “an unprecedented ambition for the sector”.

The regulator is also encouraging greater collaboration across companies and with stakeholders, particularly through RAPID (the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development), to unlock cross-sectoral opportunities. These include enabling housebuilding, supporting hydrogen production, and powering AI and data-driven industries, in alignment with the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.

KPMG and British Water, which represents the water industry supply chain in the UK, call on water companies and suppliers to work closely together and better bridge the gaps to create a stronger sector with a sustainable long-term future. The Framework for Change in AMP8 aims to enable water companies and their suppliers to rise to the scale of challenge ahead in delivering the £1.7bn investment, approved for the next five years.