Ofwat is consulting on a proposal to grant SSE Water a variation to its appointment to enable it to provide water and sewerage services to a site called Kennet Island Phase 7, in Reading.

The proposal would allow SSE Water to supply water and sewerage services to a development of 615 household properties.

New appointments and variations include one company replacing another as the appointee for a specific geographic area. SSE Water will serve its customers by taking a bulk supply of water from Thames Water and making a bulk connection to Thames Water's sewers.

SSE Water is proposing to charge customers at Kennet Island Phase 7 based on the existing Thames Water household metered tariffs for water and sewerage. However, the volumetric charges for both services will include a 3% discount against Thames Water's charges. SSE Water will be required to offer customers at least equivalent levels of service to Thames Water.

SSE Water was granted its appointment as a water and sewerage company in October 2007 for a housing development called Old Sarum, near Salisbury in Wessex Water's area. It has since been granted a further eleven variations to its appointment at a variety of sites in different company's areas throughout England and Wales.

There are three qualifying criteria for seeking a new appointment or variation:

• an area does not contain any premises that receive services from an appointed water or sewerage company (it is ‘unserved’);
• a customer uses (or is likely to use) at least 50 million litres of water a year (in England) or 250 million litres of water a year (in Wales) at each of its premises and wants to change its supplier (a ‘large user’); or
• the existing appointed company agrees to transfer part of its area to a different company (a transfer by ‘consent’).