Southern Water has opened the market engagement process for the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project. The utility is seeking feedback in particular from investors, construction and operating and maintenance contractors and/or potential consortia (which may involve their wider supply chain) that may be interested in the project.

Estimated cost of the project is currently put at around £1.3 billion.

The Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project ( HWTWRP) is a Strategic Resource Option (SRO) in the RAPID programme and a major part of Southern Water’s long-term strategy to address the significant water supply shortfall in Hampshire. Using advanced water treatment technologies, the Project will transform treated wastewater, normally pumped far out to sea, into purified recycled water.

ThE new resource will supplement natural spring water from Portsmouth Water’s Bedhampton Springs, with both sources being stored in the new Havant Thicket Reservoir. This integrated approach will maximise the reservoir’s capacity, ensuring greater water availability, especially during periods of drought. Water from the reservoir will be transferred to Southern Water’s existing Otterbourne Water Supply Works, where it will undergo further treatment to strict drinking water standards prior to going into supply.

Project scope includes Design, Build, Finance, Maintain and Operate (DBFMO) of new water infrastructure, including water recycling, water transfer, pipeline connections and substantial tunnelling works.

The HWTWRP consists of:

• A Water Recycling Plant (WRP) located near Budds Farm Wastewater Treatment Works (WTW);
•  Transfer pipelines between Budds Farm WTW, the WRP site and Havant Thicket Reservoir (HTR); and
• A circa 42 km direct water transfer from HTR to Otterbourne Water Supply Works (WSW) that will enable the onward transfer of water to SW customers.

The HWTWRP includes the construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the following components:

• Connection to the final effluent stream at Budds Farm WTW and Budds Farm Pumping Station (BFPS);
• Underground pipelines between Budds Farm WTW and the WRP site;
• A WRP with a maximum output capacity of 60 Ml/d of recycled water;
• Three pumping stations at the WRP site which include a Recycled Water Pumping Station (RWPS) to transfer flows from the WRP site to BHS or HTR, a High Lift Pumping Station (HLPS) to enable the onward transfer of water from HTR to Otterbourne WSW and a Waste Stream Pumping Station (WSPS) to transfer waste stream flows into the Eastney Transfer Tunnel;
• A tunnelled pipeline to transfer recycled water from the WRP site to HTR. Two tunnel options are currently being developed as described later;
• For each tunnel option, a parallel pipeline will enable flows to gravitate back from HTR to the HLPS (at the WRP site), transferring a maximum capacity of 90 Ml/d (at peak operation);
• An underground pipeline between the HLPS to Otterbourne WSW to transfer a maximum capacity of 90 Ml/d (at peak operation); and
• Intermediate Pumping Stations (IPS) and Break Pressure Tanks (BPTs) located along the underground pipeline between HTR and Otterbourne WSWKey elements of the project include:

The project will be procured using Ofwat’s Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) model, with a Competitively Appointed Provider (CAP) to deliver the DBFMO project.

Under the DPC model, Southern Water plan to openly tender for a CAP. The water company has already carried out several market engagement exercises to support this procurement.

This latest market engagement exercise will be comprised of a series of engagement activities including:

• Market Survey
• Requests for Information (RFIs) Pack comprising an RFI questionnaire and key information on the project (to be issued early April 2026 with circa four-week deadline for responses to the RFI questionnaire)
• Townhall Event (14th April, 2026)
• A small number of bi-lateral meetings with selected participants

Southern Water will also be issuing a Market Engagement Briefing Pack, which will provide further information on the market engagement exercise.

The RFI Pack will inform interested parties on various aspects of the project including the procurement process and enable them to provide feedback.

The Townhall Event is expected to be soon after the launch of the RFIs where a project update is to be provided. Bi-lateral meetings will be held with selected participants based on responses to RFIs and will focus on investors, construction and operating and maintenance contractors and/or proposed consortia (which may involve a wider supply chain).

The basis on which the market engagement exercise is carried out is as follows:

• Southern Water may continue the market engagement exercise as long as it considers it necessary and expressly reserves the right to conduct such other activities that it considers necessary, details of which will be provided through the Jaggaer portal
• While feedback is expected to be requested through the RFIs, Southern Water may choose not to consider or implement any or all of the suggestions made through this market engagement exercise, or may at its discretion use the outputs from this exercise to shape and refine any aspect including the procurement process before any formal competitive procurement process is launched.

The market engagement exercise is open to all interested parties. However, there are certain activities such as the bi-lateral meetings, that may be relevant to only certain interested parties, which Southern Water will determine based on RFI responses and/or their role in the supply chain. It is not a formal request for participation in any procurement and involvement in this exercise will not confer any advantage or disadvantage on any person in respect of any future competitive procurement processes launched for the project.

Respondents are also advised to note that information provided in response to the market engagement exercise may be disclosed by Southern Water to its directly appointed advisers and consultants (all of whom are subject to obligations of confidentiality as part of their appointment) and / or to other stakeholders such as regulators. The water company is also pointing out that information provided in responses may also be disclosed, in a suitably summarised and anonymised form, to other stakeholders and to other interested persons.

Southern Water is not obliged to respond to any correspondence related to the market engagement exercise.

The water company is also warning that direct or indirect canvassing of Southern Water (or any person connected with it) by any person concerning the market engagement exercise, or any attempt to procure information outside of the defined process is discouraged. In certain circumstances, this may require the disqualification of the relevant person(s) from participation in any future competitive procurement process;

Southern Water is using an electronic tendering portal (Jaggaer One)  - it is free to register on the portal, which can be accessed 24/7. Interested organisations who have any problems registering on the portal, are advised to contact Jaggaer by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone 0800 069 8630

All updated information relating to the preliminary market engagement exercise will be issued via Jaggaer and interested parties must register (if not already registered) and regularly check Jaggaer for the latest information.

Suppliers who have not previously participated in any market engagement with Southern Water are nevertheless encouraged to contact Southern Water by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Time limit to express interest in this market engagement round is 5pm on 23 February 2026.

Southern Water has carried our three previous rounds of market engagement exercises relating to the project - this latest engagement exercise is expected to be the final round of engagement and will conclude on 5 June 2026.

Current estimated start and end contract dates are 31 August 2029 to 31 March 2059 The company expects to go out to tender in January 2027.