Thames Water launches 25-year plan, joins Carbon Trust scheme
14 Dec 2007
The strategy contains many commitments and aspirations, with the priorities including:
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Delivering a clean, safe drinking water supply and recycle wastewater safely to the environment
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Continuing the Victorian mains renewal programme to maximise leakage reduction.
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Planning additional sources of water to guarantee the needs of London and SE England can be met efficiently in the face of population growth and climate change –potentially including a new reservoir in Oxfordshire
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Reducing the number of our customers’ homes threatened by sewer flooding.
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Increasing efforts on water efficiency and progressively metering domestic customers
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Reducing carbon emissions by 20% by 2015
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Delivering the Tideway Tunnel to improve the river water quality of the Thames
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Improving efficiency and bringing innovation to the way service is delivered
Thames Water operates in one of the driest regions in the UK region but is predicted to see population swell by around 800,000 in the next decade. More investment, said Owens, will be needed for managing demand and seeking new sources of water, as well as taking action to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This includes improving the sewer network to cope with more frequent heavy storms predicted as weather patterns become more erratic.
“We must also take more account of the environment in our planning, and our strategy highlights our intention to find ways to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2015, and increase the use of renewable energy at our sites,” the Thames Water boss concluded.
Thames Water is among the latest group of companies to be accredited into the Carbon Trust's Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme (EEAS). The utility company joins over 230 group of organsiation within the independent emission reduction scheme.
To achieve EEAS accreditation organisations must show that they are making real energy savings through management commitment, investment and energy efficiency measures. The standards are monitored by a team of energy experts from the National Energy Foundation with results moderated by the Energy Institute, the leading professional body for the energy industries. The scheme is managed by the National Energy Foundation on behalf of the Carbon Trust.
