About our water supply network
We continuously invest in our water supply network by renewing ageing water mains as well as maintaining and improving facilities that help store and move water around our region to supply a safe and reliable water supply to our 1.4 million customers.
How it works
The water that comes out of your taps has travelled through our extensive network of water mains which cover much of the South West.
We move this water around to make sure you always have a supply and that we can meet demand across our region.
The treated water is held in storage tanks called service reservoirs which are usually hidden underground – or occasionally in water towers.
Water is usually pumped up to the reservoirs and then flows from service reservoirs to customers’ homes by gravity, although sometimes it has to be pumped to make sure it reaches every property.
It leaves service reservoirs through trunk mains – large diameter pipes that carry substantial amounts of water around the area quickly.
Most of our mains are between 300mm and 500mm in diameter, although some may be as big as 800mm.
From the trunk mains water flows into smaller pipes, called distribution mains, which become steadily smaller. Attached to these are service connections – these are the narrow pipes that carry water into individual homes.
Our water network in numbers
12,149
kilometres of water mains
231
water sources and treatment centres
310
service reservoirs and water towers
Fixing leaks on our network
Every day we work hard to locate and repair leaks on our network to help save water. We are committed to meeting our 15% leakage reduction commitment between 2020 and 2025.
We have reduced leakage to 64.1Ml/d (million litres per day), below the agreed target of 65.1Ml/d for 2020-2021 and repaired 92% against a 90% target of reported leaks by the end of the next working day. We are one of only two companies to commit to fixing as many reported leaks as possible within a single day.
Our year to date figures are:
- 7,742 repaired leaks between 01/04/2024 and 30/09/2024.
- 684 customer reported significant leaks repaired by the end of the next working day between 01/04/2024 and 30/09/2024.
Meeting water supply demand
Meeting increasing water demand will be critical to ensuring we deliver a sustainable and continuous water supply for our customers and the future whilst protecting and enhancing the environment.
Our £230m supply grid project was completed in 2018 and allows is to redistribute from areas where there is surplus water to where it is needed most.
This ensures:
- customers have a more reliable supply
- we can meet the demand for water over the next 25 years without having to develop new water resources
- less water is abstracted from the environment, so river flows are improved.