Water shortages threaten UK companies' growth

Water shortages risk stifling UK growth if restrictions continue to hit businesses, experts have warned.

Water companies across the country are restricting new supplies for non-domestic requests, data from Environmental Information Requests (EIR) have revealed.

Essex and Suffolk Water are currently imposing a moratorium on new or increased non-domestic connections in the Hartismere water resource zone until 2033.

This means businesses needing more water for commercial or industrial purposes will not be granted additional capacity even if they have an existing connection.

Cambridge Water stated that it was unable to facilitate supply requests exceeding 20m³ a day for non-domestic purposes until 2032.

Anglian Water said that it is currently having to limit non-domestic requests to 20m³ a day because of limits on its own abstraction licences, along with the difficulty of forecasting non-domestic growth.

The company has asked users to explore alternative options, such as effluent reuse rather than using drinking water where it is not needed.

Chris Deadman, managing director at wastewater management firm Alpheus - whose firm submitted the EIRs - said: the restrictions pose a "real challenge" to businesses.

He added: "The recent Environment Agency report into water shortages across England outlined the significant challenges we face. Within this context, it's completely understandable that water companies are taking measures to restrict access to new water supply in water-stressed regions.

"However, these restrictions do pose a real challenge for businesses, who may find they are not able to access the water resources they need. Amplified across the UK's water- stressed regions, the number of businesses affected and the overall economic impact is likely to be significant.

"It's undoubtedly a challenging time, but there are strategic decisions businesses can be making to build water resilience into their growth plans."

Reservoir levels had dropped below 50% in 12 locations in England by the end of last month, with a handful of sites only a third ful.
Affected areas include reservoirs in Cumbria, Somerset and Staffordshire, as well as groups of reservoirs in Derbyshire and across the Yorkshire region.

Total reservoir storage for England was 57% of the long-term average at the end of August, down from 69% at the end of July, according to the Environment Agency.

The body warned earlier this year that England faces public water shortages of five billion litres a day by 2055 without urgent action to cut leeks, curb use and build new reservoirs.

The water companies mentioned have been contacted for comment.

A spokesman for Anglian Water said: "Growth cannot happen without water and, crucially, without sustained long-term investment and Anglian Water has been investing and delivering with projects like our strategic pipeline longer than the M1 to keep pace with growth and protect the environment. However, to meet government ambition and rising economic demand, the system must evolve. In implementing the finding of Sir Jon Cunliffe's review of the water sector, the government now has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset the regime - ensuring the sector can deliver on the UK's growth ambitions and attract the long-term investment the nation needs. We are working with Government and Ofwat on a revised, more flexible approach that better reflects the dynamic nature of regional growth, supports national housing ambitions, and protects both customers and the environment."

Kieran Ingram, water director for Essex and Suffolk Water, said: "While we sympathise with affected businesses, we are forecasting business demand for water to double in our Hartismere area, which covers Eye and surrounding villages. We have to protect water supplies to our existing customers, especially to household customers who we have an absolute legal requirement to supply.
"We are already working on improvements to our system, with new pipelines being laid to connect all of our water resource zones, a new treated water storage reservoir, a new nitrate removal process at our River Waveney water treatment works near Beccles, and a new water reuse scheme near Lowestoft. While we still have more work to do, we are definitely improving the amount of water lost to leakage and our operation teams work tirelessly attending reported burst to fix them as soon as possible.
"We did not take the decision to introduce the moratorium lightly, as we understand how new business can boost the local economy and we apologise to those who are affected, but the bottom line is that we have a duty to our existing customers to ensure their water supply is protected."

A Water UK spokesperson: "For too long, regulators have rejected the long-term investment needed to expand our water networks, leaving parts of the country without the infrastructure needed to support growth. Water companies fully support new homes and businesses and will deliver record levels of investment over the next five years to strengthen water and wastewater networks. But the current system is not set up to deliver upgrades at the pace required.
"We urgently need regulatory and planning reforms to enable water companies to invest at pace to provide the capacity essential for economic growth."

Elena Karpathakis, managing director at Cambridge Water, said: "Cambridge Water is taking urgent steps to reduce water abstraction from chalk aquifers by 2030, to protect local chalk streams and help address climate change. While long-term solutions for supplying water to the growing population, including major joint schemes with Anglian Water, are underway, the short-term pressures on water resources mean we must temporarily restrict a small number of non-household connection applications until the Grafham Transfer of water into Cambridge is operational around 2032. We remain committed to supporting sustainable development in Cambridge and would encourage developers to engage with us early to explore water-efficient housing solutions and phased connection options."