Innovative wastewater treatment comes to Windermere
Case studies
The case studies below highlight key examples of the work we are doing to achieve our purpose, and these are strongly aligned to the principles of environmental, social and governance (ESG).
Case study:
Greener
Innovative wastewater treatment comes to Windermere
We’re delivering the largest ever upgrade to wastewater services in the Windermere catchment – through a £200 million package, which will improve and help protect this iconic lake’s water quality.
As part of this investment, we’re bringing world-leading innovations to Windermere. We’re the first water company in Europe to introduce an innovative low-carbon, chemical-free wastewater treatment process – which is almost like a treatment works in a box – and Near Sawrey will be one of our first sites to have this technology installed.
FujiClean, which was developed in Japan, is a chemical-free phosphorus removal solution, originally developed as an alternative to septic tanks. The technology was discovered by one of our senior engineers at a conference which showcased wastewater innovations from all over the world. He then worked with the founding company to trial the system for United Utilities.
Our wastewater county business leader for Cumbria said: “The system offers a much more enhanced wastewater treatment option that provides phosphorus removal without the use of chemicals. The treated wastewater is much better quality and we can now remove phosphorus in the same system. An added benefit of the design is that it doesn’t need emptying as much. This, combined with not needing chemical deliveries, means fewer vehicle movements to our small sites – a win for the environment and rural communities.”Our innovation team has already trialled the technology a test site in Cheshire, with promising results. Work will begin to install FujiClean at Near Sawrey later this year.
It’s not just at Near Sawrey that we’re installing innovative techniques to improve river water quality. At Langdale, an innovative biological approach is being introduced that uses renewable plant material to support the growth of the bacteria used to treat wastewater. Mobile Organic Biofilm™ (MOB™) will enhance the treatment processes at Langdale Wastewater Treatment Works, also enhancing Windermere’s water quality. We are already seeing great results in Cheshire where this technology is helping to improve water quality in the River Bollin.
There are ten wastewater treatment works that collect and clean the sewage of homes and businesses around the Windermere catchment. The largest, at Tower Wood, treats the wastewater of around 18,000 properties. It’s already treating the wastewater to the best technically achievable standard there is, and, as part of the £200 million investment, the remaining nine sites will also be upgraded. Many of those are much smaller and some serve populations in the low hundreds or less.
In AMP8 we’ll be tackling the storage capacity at all six of the storm overflows which can operate around Windermere, to reduce spills to less than ten per year, by, or before, our regulatory requirements. Once all six schemes are delivered, this largest-ever upgrade will deliver an 89 per cent reduction in storm overflow spills. It will also mean a significant reduction in nutrients, with more phosphorous removed per year, as the vast majority of the wastewater around Windermere will be treated to even higher standards, using the best global technology.
Alongside these plans, we’re working in partnership with Love Windermere to help address other sources of pollution, with a plan to help others, including private household septic tanks or packaged treatment plants used by larger commercial sites.
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Case study:
Healthier
Increasing our affordability support to help one in six households with their bills
With the scale of our investment for AMP8 requiring an increase in bill levels, we know that it’s more important than ever that we support customers who are already feeling the strain on their finances due to cost-of-living pressures.
Through the work we’ll carry out over the next five years we aim to secure improved resilience in the face of climate change, meet the demands of our growing population, and address the priorities of our customers – helping to create a stronger, greener and healthier North West. While we’ve worked to make our programme as efficient as we can, and will have the third lowest projected bill in England by 2030, delivering a step change on the things that matter most will, however, mean that bills will need to increase – and we need to have robust measures in place to extend our affordability offerings.
That’s why we’re increasing our support to £525 million for the 2025–30 period. It’s our largest ever affordability support package, and will help one in six households with their bills. Our commitment to helping those struggling to pay has been recognised by regulators, with Ofwat stating that our business plan demonstrated a “sector-leading level of ambition on affordability”.
We’re introducing two new schemes for AMP8, on top of our existing levels of support. The first of these, our Low Income Water Discount, provides a £50 annual discount on water charges for eligible income-deprived households. As a result of our data share agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions, over 180,000 customers have already been flagged as eligible in our billing system, ready to receive the discount on their first bill containing 2025/26 charges – and we have a manual application process in place for customers not automatically identified.
Secondly, we’re launching WaterSure Plus, an extension of our WaterSure scheme which caps bills for metered customers who use a lot of water due to medical conditions or having a large family. The WaterSure Plus tariff widens eligibility beyond the current legislative scheme to include low-income customers in receipt of disability-related benefits.
On top of this, we’re working to make the affordability support process as seamless as possible for customers. We’ve launched the first phase of a new, improved assessment solution, building on our existing partnership with IE Hub. It allows us to create a more holistic affordability assessment journey, with capability for customers to self-serve where appropriate. Future phases will provide additional improvements, including the integration of open banking – which we’re already using to verify customer income in real time to improve the accuracy and efficiency of our customer affordability assessments.
And we continue to host an annual Affordability Summit, bringing together organisations including councils, charities, housing associations and others that interact with vulnerable customers and those experiencing financial difficulty. The summits give attendees the chance to share experiences and discuss ways for their organisations to be more joined up when it comes to helping people across the region. At this year’s event, guest speakers included the credit reference agency Equifax, and the Money and Mental Health Institute. Attendees also heard from the Department for Work and Pensions on how they support customers with disabilities return to the workforce and the upcoming changes to Universal Credit.
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Case study:
Stronger
Engaging early – our approach to supply chain engagement for AMP8
The size and scale of investment for AMP8 means we have refreshed and updated our capital delivery approach to shape projects for the right infrastructure and environmental outcomes.
A new runway model provides the ability to access a wider range of supply chain partners, from the sector’s largest construction organisations through to smaller, more agile specialists with knowledge of local areas. The model is based on a series of different ‘runways’ that match the appropriate type of supplier to the specific characteristics of a project – allowing us to adopt the right approach for delivery depending on the type of scheme to be delivered and the desired outcome.
A new runway for AMP8 is the ‘build only’ runway, which contains 30 construction partners. One of the key drivers behind the creation of this is the desire to build closer, more flexible partnerships with smaller construction firms. This encourages innovation, drives better value for clients, and allows us to tap into the local knowledge and specialist skills that smaller partners bring to the table, while supporting job opportunities and the local economy.
The biggest and most complex capital projects will be delivered by the United Utilities Enterprise, an alliance formed of seven industry partners alongside United Utilities. This partnership brings together expertise in design, engineering, and construction to ensure we deliver projects safely, efficiently, and sustainably.
The Enterprise commercial model helps integrated teams to deliver differently and is founded on a set of commercial principles which make room for collaboration and early engagement with a diverse supply chain.
The United Utilities Enterprise team began supply chain ecosystem engagement during mobilisation, running a large-scale engagement event in Autumn 2024. The event was an opportunity to begin building key relationships and ensure the scale of opportunity for innovation, collaboration, and standardisation across programmes is well understood and communicated consistently. By working in a more joined-up way, we can share expertise, standardise processes and asset designs, and remove unnecessary delays.
We’re also working with a strong supply chain, with long-term contracts and a new commercial model that will help us make the most of the latest innovations – both in and out of the water industry.
Once the Enterprise had secured its first programme-level procurements, it launched a dedicated digital platform for suppliers. The platform provides suppliers with a single source of information, communication and point of contact to ensure a positive experience. Since then, the first programmatic procurement has successfully been secured in time for the start of AMP8.
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