According to Affinity for Business managing director Helen Gillett, water competition “may not be the best thing for the sustainability of water,” especially in the South East.

“Competition, in all its glory, isn’t necessarily the best answer for the long-term sustainability of the region,” she added. “That’s something I know we [Affinity for Business] take seriously, I’m not so sure other retailers necessarily do, particularly if they don’t have a water background.”

The problem, according to Gillet, is that even though water is already “incredibly cheap,” there are still individuals who believe that because “water comes from the sky,” they should not have to pay for it at all.

Gillet warned that increased retail competition has resulted in multi-utility bundling, which may seem like a great concept, but that it could actually have a very negative effect on water resources, especially those in the South East of the UK, “It could be great commercially for customers, but if it makes water the cheapest thing on the list and almost like it’s free, that’s not good.”

The UK, like many other countries across the globe, experienced the driest winter in twenty years last year, and this has led to rumours that water restrictions, including the banning of the use of hosepipes, may be enforced over the summer, especially if it is a really hot one.

Water companies in the south of England, which is the area worst-affected by drought, have however insisted that there are “no water supply issues.”

Gillett said that although the UK may have been granted a temporary â€œreprieve” with the wet weather it had recently, this “doesn’t do anything for the long term”. “We need a wet winter,” she said. “[If we get] two dry winters, this time next year will be really worrying.”

Affinity Water’s asset strategy manager, Mike Pocock, recently said that “a continuing pattern of dry weather in the autumn would be a bigger concern.”

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