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Where our water comes from

Water is essential to every aspect of our lives. We drink it, cook with it and use it to clean every day. Here you can learn more about our water treatment processes.

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How we treat your water

An interactive infographic illustrating a water treatment works with buttons that share information about water sources
Water Treatment Infographic Collection

Water collection

Firstly, we collect water from reservoirs, lakes, rivers and from underground where it’s found in layers of rocks we call aquifers. Around 70% of our region's drinking water comes from these aquifers.

Water Treatment Infographic Before

Before treatment

At this stage, the water contains a variety of things you wouldn’t want to drink. This can include bacteria, viruses, pesticides and metals that we then remove in the treatment process.

Water Treatment Infographic During

During and after treatment

The water then goes through a thorough screening and cleaning process to remove unwanted particles, dirt and debris. Throughout the whole process, we constantly check the water using online monitors to ensure it’s safe to drink. The water is then pumped to storage reservoirs or fed through our 13,959 km of pipes to your taps. We treat over 563 million litres of water each day – that’s enough to make everyone in the UK 33 cups of tea!

Water Treatment Infographic Collection

Water collection

Firstly, we collect water from reservoirs, lakes, rivers and from underground where it’s found in layers of rocks we call aquifers. Around 70% of our region's drinking water comes from these aquifers.

Water Treatment Infographic Before

Before treatment

At this stage, the water contains a variety of things you wouldn’t want to drink. This can include bacteria, viruses, pesticides and metals that we then remove in the treatment process.

Water Treatment Infographic During

During and after treatment

The water then goes through a thorough screening and cleaning process to remove unwanted particles, dirt and debris. Throughout the whole process, we constantly check the water using online monitors to ensure it’s safe to drink. The water is then pumped to storage reservoirs or fed through our 13,959 km of pipes to your taps. We treat over 563 million litres of water each day – that’s enough to make everyone in the UK 33 cups of tea!

Our water treatment process

Water goes through a lot before it reaches your tap. Watch the video below to discover how we process it into clean, drinking water.

Water Treatment Video Placeholder
Play
1

Water collection

We collect water from reservoirs, lakes, rivers, and from underground where it's found in layers of rocks known as aquifers.
2

Water screening

The water reaches our treatment works, where we screen it to remove larger debris such as leaves, twigs, or sometimes even fish.
3

Water clarification

The next step involves adding elements to the water to get the smaller particles of debris to stick together. This makes them easier to remove.
4

Water filtration

During the next stage of the water treatment process, the water passes through a filter of fine sand to remove the smaller particles. A secondary filter also removes any metals and pesticides.
5

Cleaning the removed particles

The particles that we have removed from the water go through their own cleaning and drying process. This leaves behind a solid cake and clean water that we can safely return to the environment.
6

Removal of microorganisms

Finally, we remove any tiny microorganisms using ultraviolet light and small amounts of chlorine to disinfect the water. We never add fluoride and use monitors throughout the process to make sure the water is safe to drink.
7

Ready to use

The water is then held in storage reservoirs or fed through almost 14,000km of pipes to your taps, ready for you to use.