South West Water has appointed Arcadis as one of four strategic design partners for AMP8  focusing on the design of several major new infrastructure schemes.

Arcadis will support the water company in delivering its ambitious new capital investment programme for AMP8, spanning the period 2025-2030. Worth £2.8 billion, the new program is double that of the current AMP cycle and will mark a significant period of transformation for the UK water and utility industry.

South West Water serves around 1.8 million people across Cornwall, Devon, and parts of Somerset and Dorset covering an area of more than 11,000 sq km.

The utility has to manage one of the most dynamic water-cycle systems in the UK water industry.

South West Water’s investment plan for the next five years includes water treatment works and reservoirs, which will help strengthen water resilience in the face of climate change. Arcadis will be delivering services including technical advisory, feasibility studies to inform outline design, and outline and detailed design for the delivery of capital schemes.

Arcadis’ cutting edge design solutions include the use of its Asset Generator software, which enables rapid generation of visual and data driven solutions – for example around carbon reduction - at an early design stage to help assess final impact.

This is part of an Industrialized Service Delivery approach, which ensures early design decisions are aligned with regulatory and customer outcomes. This has been shown to increase efficiency by up to 70% compared to traditional methods.

Digital tools will also underpin Arcadis’ approach to detailed process modelling. These tools enable the performance of both existing and new works to be rapidly modeled and optimized across various scenarios, providing a better understanding of cause-and-effect dynamics. It means that designs can be easily and quickly adapted, potentially saving up to 40% of process design time.

Alan Brookes, CEO of Arcadis, said:

“Ageing assets, emerging regulation, and rising consumer expectations are challenges impacting water utilities all around the world, and working in partnership to create long-term solutions that address these complex pressures will be critical to future success. Fostering innovation is key when it comes to paving the way for a more sustainable future, and I’m pleased that our work with forward thinking water utilities like South West Water will help to address water scarcity challenges and advance sustainable infrastructure solutions that are applicable not just in the UK, but can be used to benefit our clients globally.”

Darren Parker, Arcadis Business Director leading the South West Water relationship, added:

“We have a long relationship with South West Water of more than fifteen years, and I am proud that they have asked us to work with them at this strategic level to provide cost effective and innovative solutions to key challenges like leakage and sewerage spills. Our commitment is to continue to build our presence across the region, while effectively drawing on expertise from our colleagues in other countries such as the Netherlands on sustainability and the US on digital technologies.”