Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water: Our Sustainable Future 1 Foreword 2 Our business Your views: We would welcome comments on this 4 Our goal document. Further information is available on our 6 Protecting public health website (www.dwrcymru.com). You can also make 8 Safeguarding the environment your response on-line using our designated address: 10 Responding to climate change [email protected] 12 Meeting customers’ expectations 14 Looking after our assets Alternatively written comments may be sent to: 16 Financing the business Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Regulation Department 18 Employer of choice Pentwyn Road, Nelson, 20 Affordability and value for money Treharris, CF46 6LY 22 Prospects for our 2010 - 2015 Asset Management Plan (AMP5) Photography: Welsh Water Photography Bursary winners 2005-07 24 Innovation Stuart Bailes (cover, pages 10/11 and 16/17); Dan Salter (page 12/13,) 26 Customer research Zoltan Varga (pages 14/15 and 20/21). Foreword This first Strategic Direction Statement is an important milestone for Welsh Water. In the water industry, many of the decisions we take today will have a major impact on our customers, the economy and the environment for decades to come. It is therefore important that we are clear about our long-term objectives and how we plan to achieve them. Over the next 25 years, we will constantly be striving to provide better value for money for our customers. Our vision is that customers should be able to look forward to: ❚ even higher quality standards – for drinking water, customer service and the protection of the environment, ❚ a zero tolerance approach to pollution and service failure, ❚ at least a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions, and ❚ the lowest possible customer bills – lower than those of other equivalent UK water companies. To deliver this vision, we will need to pursue a genuinely sustainable, long-term strategy, as set out in this document. Of course, there are inevitably major uncertainties when trying to plan over such a long period of time, most notably over the scale and nature of the impact that climate change will have on our operations. For this reason, we intend to update this statement periodically, as an integral part of a rolling business planning process. Innovation and continuous improvement will be crucial in striving to achieve such a desirable outcome. We have already begun to develop the new business processes and systems, the low carbon technologies and the sustainable urban drainage solutions that we will need. Our vision is based on extensive initial research and discussion with our customers and other key stakeholders, so that we can reflect their views and priorities. In particular, we have carried out a deliberative customer research exercise and discussed our proposed approach in detail with the Welsh Assembly Government, Ofwat, the Environment Agency Wales, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Consumer Council for Water Wales and the Countryside Council for Wales. We now want to hear the views of all interested parties on this first version of ‘Welsh Water: Our Sustainable Future’, particularly those of our customers, to help us ensure that we are planning to deliver the right outcomes for them in the years ahead. Lord Burns, Chairman November 2007 1 Our business 79 reservoirs s ard aw 8 g 2 f a w e at u er bl t 9 re 4 a tm e n 8 t 5 l Water resou w 0 r t ce l o n s w e r m W k a n a s s ro te t vi r e n t w e re a a e t t h m 3 e t 0 r o e t n 0 t r t , n 0 e r l 0 a u W 0 t t m e w a R e t a l e n t r e t S d r w e i q w s t o u r i r a a k b g l u s i t e t i y t o n r t e e a s tm t en l s 1 t l rk 9 S two ,0 ewerage ne 0 0 k m s in of a se m w er er at s w of 0km 7,00 3 mi 2 llion customers Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is the sixth largest of the ten regulated water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, representing around 8% of the sector when measured by assets employed. We deliver 900 million litres of drinking water per day to more than 3 million people living in Wales and some adjoining parts of England. Our primary responsibility is to operate, maintain and upgrade our assets so as to ensure a safe and reliable supply of drinking water for customers and to deal effectively 3 with wastewater to protect public health and the natural environment. Welsh Water is Glas Cymru’s only 0 0 trading subsidiary. ,0 0 l 0 ources Wate w res r t a r re t te at e a m r Glas Cymru Cyfyngedig is a single purpose company formed to own, finance and manage Welsh Water. W e l n q t u t l It is a ‘company limited by guarantee’ and, because it has no shareholders, any financial surpluses are n a W l e i t retained for the benefit of Welsh Water’s customers. Under Glas Cymru’s ownership, Welsh Water’s assets m a y t n e t and capital investment are financed by bonds, loans and retained financial surpluses. o e r r i d s v t i s n s t e r i All day-to-day activities are carried out by specialist contract partners employed by Welsh Water following e b h u t a competitive procurement process. The Glas Cymru business model aims to reduce Welsh Water’s asset t i o o t n financing costs, the water industry’s single biggest cost, and improve service delivery by employing the s n r n i u best enterprises for each distinct activity in the business. t a l e R m k r r l o e S tw t Significant initial progress has already been achieved: ew e a n w ❚ ‘Customer dividends’ of nearly £100 million to date (with each customer paying £20 less in 2007-08 ag e f e ag o tre er than the price cap set by Ofwat). atm l Sew m ent k 0 ❚ Overall service standards have been amongst the best in the UK (for example, as measured by 0 ,0 Ofwat’s Overall Performance Assessment – OPA). 7 2 ❚ Environmental quality has benefited from improved performance and from important new wastewater treatment works around the coast of Wales. ❚ Investment of some £1,500 million has been delivered – equivalent to more than £1,000 for every customer we serve. ❚ The business has been placed on a secure financial footing for the long-term, as reflected in improved credit ratings and reduced debt gearing levels. We intend to build on these early achievements in pursuit of our goal to be recognised by our customers as the best water company in the UK. Further details about Welsh Water’s business and its plans for the future can be found on our website (www.dwrcymru.com). 3 Our goal To be recognised by our customers as being the best water company in the UK. r money Prot lue fo ecting d va pub y an lic ilit hea ab lt rd h o Af Sa fe g u e a ic rd o i h n c g f t o h r e e e y n o tegy l ra f v o i p t s r r o m W e n E l b e m a l e s n n h t i a W t s a t u e e s g F r n i A n a a h c n c e i t n a g m t i h l e c o b t u g s i in n d e n ss o sp e R ns L io oo tat kin ec g a exp fter ers’ our a stom ssets Meeting cu To achieve our goal, we need a sustainable strategy to deliver the best possible value for money to our customers. We want customers to receive a safe and reliable service which meets all their expectations, at a price which is affordable and below that charged by other equivalent water companies. We believe that a truly sustainable strategy for Welsh Water has to encompass eight dimensions: Customers can have complete confidence in the safety of their drinking water. Sa Protecting public health. fe g u a rd In providing services for our customers, we will protect the in Safeguarding the environment. g t h environment within which we all live – taking a holistic view of environmental impact at a local, river e e n basin and global level. v i r o n m e Responding to climate change. We will adapt our activities to deal with the potential consequences of n t climate change, while substantially mitigating our own ‘carbon footprint’ as an effective contribution to the wider effort within Wales. e g n a h c Meeting customers’ expectations. We provide services that are essential to customers, public health and e t a the quality of the environment. We will meet customers’ increasing expectations, ensuring they have complete m i l c o confidence in our service.