Affinity Water has published its final Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) for the period 2015 to 2040, which sets out how the company will meet the demand for water over the next 25 years.

Affinity Water has committed to industry leading levels of leakage reduction, a water saving programme that will engage all customers to reduce their water use and a commitment to reduce the amount of groundwater abstracted by 42 million litres per day by 2020. The water company currently supplies 900 million litres of water each day to its customers.

The utility said its customers strongly supported the ambitious plans to reduce its impact on the environment and had welcomed proposals to reduce leakage and for the company to work with customers to reduce their water use.

Richard Bienfait, Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Water said:

“We have agreed with the Environment Agency that we will reduce our abstractions by 42 million litres per day. We have ambitious plans to reduce our leakage by 14% over the next 5 years, whilst meeting the supply needs of a growing population.”

Affinity Water has been working closely with Environment Agency and local river groups to agree abstraction reductions in the Rivers Mimram, Beane and Misbourne. The Blueprint for Water coalition - a coalition of environmental, water efficiency, fishing and angling organisations - recently gave an industry leading top ranking for Affinity Water’s plans.

The utility supplies 900 million litres of water each day to a population of more than 3.5 million people in parts of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, the London Boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon and parts of the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing and Enfield. The firm also provides water to the Tendring peninsula in Essex and the Folkestone and Dover areas of Kent.