Five-year plan

Every five years, the water sector in England and Wales is subject to a Price Review, in which the economic regulator, Ofwat, reviews each company's spending plans and decides by how much bills can increase. The last review was held in late 2009, helping determine our work between now and 2015.

Here we set out the some of the main elements of our £5bn investment programme. More details of our work over the coming months and years can be found in individual sections.

Our plans for the next five years

The water industry planning process

The water sector in England and Wales plans its work in five-year cycles, agreeing its future spending plans with the economic regulator, Ofwat.

Through this process, known as the Price Review, Ofwat decides by how much bills can increase to pay for the necessary work.

In line with other companies, we submitted our spending proposals for scrutiny in 2009, detailing the investment we believed was necessary from 2010 to 2015. More information on these plans can be found here.

We set out our goals to address the priorities of our customers, meet the requirements of new legislation, provide water and wastewater services for our region's growing population, and accommodate the expected challenges of climate change.

Our plans for the next five years include ensuring sufficient capacity in our wastewater infrastructure.

In late 2009, Ofwat gave its final decision on our plans, and the resulting investment programme is outlined in more detail in our monitoring plan. For information on our plans in your area, visit 'Big Map'.

The work we will be carrying out between now and 2015 is broadly in line with the long-term goals described in Taking Care of Water, our 25-year plan. Progress is slower than anticipated in some areas, due to factors such as the economic downturn and the balance of priorities agreed with Ofwat.

Our priorities for the next five years

In the five years to 2015, we will invest almost £5bn, plus annual operating costs of around £600m. As part of this, we aim to:

• Ensure there is sufficient water available to supply all of our customers, by minimising the likelihood of restrictions in a drought

• Provide enough capacity in our sewers and treatment plants to meet the demand for wastewater services

• Meet the necessary drinking water and environmental standards

• Maintain our infrastructure – such as pipes, pumping stations and treatment works – so that they meet Ofwat's definition of 'stable serviceability'

• Meet the targets set by Ofwat for customer service – ranging from the number of homes receiving poor water pressure to a rating of customer satisfaction.