Southern Water Services Limited, trading as Southern Water, is the private utility company responsible for the public wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for the public water supply and distribution in approximately half of this area. Some areas within the Southern Water region are supplied by a number of smaller water supply companies. Southern Water supplies an area totalling 4,450 sq. km. and serves 2.26 million customers.
Southern Water is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991 and since 2021 has been majority-owned by Macquarie Group.
In June 2019, Ofwat proposed a fine of £126 million as a result of Southern Water's failures to operate its wastewater treatment works properly and deliberately misreporting its performance. Ofwat found that failings had resulted in unpermitted and premature spills of wastewater from treatment works, with wastewater being released into the environment before going through the required processes.
In 2020, Southern Water pleaded guilty to 51 offences related to discharging untreated sewage into the sea, and was fined £90m.
Contents
History
Origins
The Water Act 1973 resulted in the formation of the Southern Water Authority (SWA), taking the responsibility away from the local authorities. Nevertheless, the SWA maintained a regional management approach, retaining three separate regional headquarters:
Otterbourne near Winchester, covering Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
Falmer near Brighton, covering East Sussex and West Sussex
Chatham, covering Kent.
The authority took over the assets and duties of the following water undertakings:
A number of private statutory water companies existed within the water authority's area. These continued to exist, and in their supply areas, the water authority provided sewerage services only:
Brighton Corporation Waterworks was formed by the Brighton Corporation Waterworks Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. lxxxvi), taking over the Brighton, Hove, and Preston (Constant Service) Waterworks Company.
The Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Service Waterworks Company was founded by the Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Service Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. xxv), and the following year bought the Brighton, Hove and Preston Waterworks Company by the Brighton, Hove and Preston Constant Service Waterworks Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. v).
The Brighton, Hove and Preston Waterworks Company was founded by the Brighthelmston, Hove and Preston Water Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. lxii).
Southampton Corporation took over the South Hants Waterworks Company under the Southampton Corporation Water Act 1921 (11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. lxxix).
The Southampton Water Supply Act 1746 (20 Geo. 2. c. 15) created the Southampton Waterworks Commissioners.
Privatisation
In 1989 the ten publicly owned water and sewerage authorities were privatised. This was achieved by transferring the water supply and sewerage assets, and the relevant staff, of the Southern Water Authority into the limited company Southern Water Services Ltd. Privatisation was accompanied by the raising of capital by floating parent companies on the London Stock Exchange, a one-off injection of public capital, the write off of significant government debt, and the provision of capital tax allowances.
Takeovers
In 1996 Southern Water was purchased in a hostile takeover bid by Scottish Power. Southern Water assets were considerably impacted during the period under Scottish Power. During this period, the bulk of in-house scientific laboratory services and assets were shut down, dismantled and sold off. In 2002, Scottish Power sold the company to First Aqua Limited.
In October 2007, the company was bought by Greensands Holdings Limited, a consortium of investors representing infrastructure investment funds, pension funds and private equity. By 2019, the largest shareholders are JP Morgan Asset Management (40%), UBS Asset Management (22%), Hermes Infrastructure Funds (21%) and Whitehelm Capital (8%).
In August 2021, Australian financial services company Macquarie Group bought a majority stake in the company.
Price review 2024
In July 2024, the water regulator Ofwat published its draft determination of water prices for Southern Water from 2025-2030. It determined the company could increase prices by 44% by 2030. In February 2025, it was announced that the company had rejected Ofwat's final determination and that it would submit an appeal with the Competition and Markets Authority.
Activities
The company supplies drinking water to roughly 1.1 million properties through its 91 water treatment works and 13,870 kilometres of water mains. Wastewater is treated by the company's network of 365 wastewater treatment works and 39,594 kilometres of sewers.
Southern Water has also opened up some of their activities to the public. This includes the company running guided tours of the Victorian sewers of Brighton and Hove and public access to Bewl Water, one of the largest reservoirs in England. The historic Twyford Waterworks near Winchester is leased to the Twyford Waterworks Trust, who open it on selected days during the year.
In September 2024 the Financial Times reported that Southern Water was in talks to tanker-in water supplies from Norwegian fjords.
Performance
Legal issues
In 2007, Ofwat announced its intention to fine Southern Water £20.3 million for 'deliberate misreporting' and failing to meet guaranteed standards of service to customers. The misreporting resulted in Southern Water being able to raise its prices by more than it should have done. Southern Water Chief Executive Les Dawson said: "Today's announcement draws a line under a shameful period in the company's history" and "we accept this fine - we have no arguments with it".
Crawley Magistrates' Court heard that the Environment Agency received calls from members of the public after dead fish were seen in the Sunnyside Stream in East Grinstead on 30 August 2009. The court also heard that a similar incident occurred along the same sewer line some 4 years earlier in September 2005. Following an investigation, in June 2010 Southern Water was fined £3,000 after it admitted polluting 2 km of the Sussex stream with raw sewage, killing up to a hundred brown trout and devastating the fish population for the second time in five years.
In 2011 Southern Water Ltd was fined £25,000 when sewage flooded into Southampton water.
The company was ordered to pay £10,000 in fines and costs after sewage seeped into a stream at Beltinge in Kent.
A leak of sewage from Southern Water's plant at Hurstpierpoint pumping station, West Sussex, lead to fines and costs of £7,200 in 2011.
Southern Water was fined £50,000 in April 2011 for two offences relating to unscreened discharges into Langstone Harbour, Hampshire, between November 2009 and April 2010.
In November 2014 Southern Water were fined £500,000 and agreed to pay costs of £19,224 at Canterbury Crown Court after an Environment Agency investigation found that untreated sewage was discharged into the Swalecliffe Brook, polluting a 1.2 km stretch of the watercourse and killing local wildlife. Although sewage directly polluted a 1.2 km stretch, the Swalecliffe Brook flows through the Thanet Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) before it joins the north Kent coast to the east of Whitstable.