Anglian Water is starting work this week on almost half a billion pounds of investment for the coming financial year.

The water company said it is prioritising investment in areas that customers said matter most to them.

Views were gathered during the company’s biggest ever public consultation, which shaped its overarching £5 billion Business Plan to 2020. These include a war on leakage, investment to ensure resilient water and water recycling services, to protect customers and the environment from severe weather such as drought and flooding; and commitments to tackle the impacts of climate change.

Projects from the £444 million to be invested over the next 12 months include:

• £30million to keep leakage levels at industry-leading lows. This is part of a five year, £60million investment in leakage through to 2020.
• £24million maintaining, refurbishing and replacing parts of the 37,000km water pipe network.
• £15million for jetting and cleaning sewers to keep them clear of fatbergs and wipes.
• £12million to connect hundreds more rural homes to the mains sewerage network for the first time, with more than £70million investment over the five years to 2020.
• Around £10million – rising to £30million over the next three years – to adopt and refurbish private pumping stations that will become the utility's responsibility in 2017. It will mean reduced energy costs for those customers with one and reduce the risk of flooding or pollution.
• £8million will be invested to reduce flooding from sewers as part of a £45million focus on flooding that will protect hundreds of properties by 2020.
• £7million to survey and refurbish hundreds of kilometres of sewers in places like Southend, Lowestoft, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth and Beccles.
• £2.4million investment in sludge and Combined Heat and Power plants, like Colchester, Cambridge, Corby, Great Billing and King’s Lynn, to ensure that renewable energy supplies are resilient and efficient.
• £1.3million to protect and improve the region’s coastline and coastal waters by tracing and investigating sources of pollution. The water company is also extending its BeachCare and RiverCare programmes to cover more miles of coastline and waterways.
• £1million to match-fund flood schemes in collaboration with partner agencies, such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, who are also responsible for the drainage system. This money will get more flood prevention schemes off the ground and help to overcome the challenges of often complex ownership responsibilities across the wider drainage network.
• Millions of pounds will be spent across Milton Keynes, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire to fit free water meters, replace old ones, and offer free water saving devices to help customers become more water efficient and remain in control of their bill.
• Millions of pounds will be spent on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the firm's operations e.g. every year Anglian repairs and replaces more than 3,000 manhole covers alone, and half a million pounds each day is spent keeping the network running.
• £1million a year in the Anglian Water Assistance Fund to help those customers who are in financial hardship and need it the most.
• Free water efficiency home audits and water saving devices for customers across the entire Anglian Water region as part of an enhanced water efficiency offering.

The projects, which are starting right across the region, are being delivered by Anglian Water and its supply chain partners. The partners only recover costs and earn profit when they outperform Anglian Water’s business plan objectives, which ensures the costs of running the business are kept as low as possible, which keeps customers bills down.