Anglian Water has awarded an AMP8 contract for nutrient investigation services in transitional and coastal waters worth an estimated £1.8 million (inc VAT).

The water company is required to investigate the impacts of nutrients from its operations on receiving transitional and coastal (TraC) waterbodies and protected areas under the following drivers:

• Habitat Directive (HD)
• Chemical Investigations Programme 4 (CIP4)
• Special Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSI)
• Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ)

Estuarine sampling is required at three target estuaries in Anglian Water’s region within the scope of the investigation – Blackwater, Wash, Stour and Orwell, Blackwater. Under the contract the supplier will be expected to undertake / provide the following:

• Estuary water quality sampling (monthly), to provide data across an annual cycle (12 months)
• Estuary sediment sampling (monthly), to provide data across an annual cycle (12 months)
• Estuary tidal profile sampling (four per sampling location), to provide data across a tidal cycle
• Effective sample transportation for laboratory analysis within specified stability requirements.
• Conductivity, Temperature, Depth Profile (CTD) to provide temperature/salinity data, including measurement of local turbidity, during all sampling events.
• Temperature and salinity sonde deployment (30-day) at fixed locations.
• Provision of quality assured data (where appropriate) and survey reporting at critical milestones.

They will also be expected to meet critical dates for delivery of the project, including provision of an interim survey report and quality assured dataset for the initial 6 months of the sampling programme by 31st March 2026.

Anglian Water has awarded the contract to APEM Ltd without going out to formal tender for the contract.

Current estimated start and end contract dates are3 September 2025 to 31 October 2026, with a possible further extension option to 31 October 2027.

The direct contract award justification to a single supplier was made on the grounds of technical reasons and extreme and unavoidable urgency.

The services in relation to water and sediment sampling and monitoring are seasonal in nature and form part of a wider scope of services to deliver data / analysis / reporting on nutrient investigations in transitional & coastal waters. However, Anglian Water says the entirety of the services are not capable of delivery by a single supplier, due to technical / expertise and capacity constraints. Anglian Water reserves the right to make additional purchases while the contract is valid and for any additional sampling, over and above that already expected to meet regulatory data requirements.

The tight timescales, which are determined by regulatory timings and requirements, combined with seasonality and tidal flows, as well as the nature and volume of sampling and monitoring that must be secured, require specialist technical capabilities to deliver the required outcomes.

According to the water company, the constraints necessitate rapid mobilisation to ensure legal compliance

and successful delivery, requiring Anglian Water to engage with a supplier with proven specialist expertise and immediate operational capacity to meet the technical requirements.

“The selected supplier is uniquely positioned to mobilise rapidly and deliver within the required regulatory

timeframe, ensuring that all regulatory and environmental obligations are met without delay.” Anglian Water said.