Northumbrian Water
Date published:
One of the UN Sustainable development goals focusses on clean water and sanitation. Northumbrian Water’s core function is to supply safe clean drinking water and effectively remove and treat sewage for 2.7 million people in the north east of England, so our communities benefit from excellent public health and wellbeing.
We deliver vital services to our communities 24/7, supplying over 700 megalitres of water every day. Water is drawn from reservoirs, rivers and groundwater sources and is treated at our works before it is delivered by a network of pipes to homes and businesses.
Our customers expect that water will flow when they turn on the tap, and that they should not be affected by shortages of water. Providing a reliable supply depends on us planning for the future, abstracting from sustainable sources of water, and using water effectively.
Over the past 30 years there has been a sea change in the approach to how we provide water and sewerage services. We now understand, more than ever, the impact our interactions have on the natural environment and we work hard to continually improve our processes. Across our business we see ourselves as caretakers of the water in our region, and we take this responsibility very seriously.
We have ambitious targets and aim to continuously innovate for the benefit of the environment and our communities. We are at the forefront of the challenges presented by climate change, such as managing peak water demand to ensure our we maintain our industry leading position with 100% security of supply. To do this across our region we transfer water around our network, including pumping raw water from Kielder Water, that holds 200 billion litres of water, to the River Wear and River Tees.
Water usage in the UK is relatively high compared to other European countries, partly reflecting confidence in the quality of our tap water. Using water wisely has never been more important. We are fully committed to ensuring that our abstraction to supply drinking water to our customers will not cause harm to the environment. We also work closely with our customers to reduce the average amount of water consumed, including through home retrofits and our new education programme, The Ripple Effect.
If you would like further advice on how you can make your business more water efficient, please contact [email protected].