- 6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
- 6.2 By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
- 6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
- 6.4 By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
- 6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
- 6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
- 6.a By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
- 6.b Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
Aligning our goals with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 6 IN ACTION: Clean Water and Sanitation
What are we doing?
6. 5 Investing in the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW) partnership with Exeter University to help safeguard future water supply.
- 6.3 Improving our impact on river quality by 1/3 by 2025
- 6.4 Reducing leakage by an ambitious 15% by 2025 (from 20219/20 baseline)
- 6.6 Maintaining our excellent bathing water quality standards all year round and delivering 8 beach improvement schemes by 2025
6.1 & 6.2 & 6.a WaterAid is one of our most important partners, in 2023/24 we leveraged over £550,000 of donations to WaterAid to help address water accessibility, quality and sanitation in developing countries.
6.b We are supporting our communities to increase their water efficiency through our Water Saving Community Fund whilst also running primary school education programmes that will reach over 4,000 children in 2023/24.
United Nations Global Compact
This year we have built on our support for the UN SDGs, by becoming a signatory of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, The UN Global Compact. Becoming a participant affirms our commitment to our ESG targets and the UN SDGs, as we work to embed the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact covering human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption into our ESG approach, whilst communicating our progress against these principles annually from 2025 onwards.
Local | Social
Our Neighbourhood Fund is about supporting our local community. We’re funding projects that support the wellbeing of people, the environment and communities in the South West. Since its launch, we have given out more than £100,000 to over 50 charities and community groups helping more than 22,000 people across the South West. In Bristol, our community lottery provides the opportunity for charities and community groups to win £500 each month to fund schemes which benefit the community. We have also this year become tier one funders of the registered charity, the Social Mobility Business Partnership which facilitates the provision of over 3,000 days of work experience and lifetime career coaching to individuals from low-income backgrounds across the UK.
Global | Social
South West Water has been supporting WaterAid since it was founded in 1982. In November 2017, we became the first water company to enable customers to donate to WaterAid through their e-bill reminder. In 2023/24 we leveraged over £550,000 of donations to support WaterAid’s lifesaving activities.
National | Environmental
CREWW is a 25-year research partnership between South West Water and the University of Exeter, building on their longstanding collaboration, including the pioneering Upstream Thinking catchment management program. The partnership brings together subject matter experts from both organizations to conduct innovative research on pressing challenges facing the water industry.
The new dedicated, operationally net-zero CREWW research facility was officially opened in March 2024, underpinned by a £21 million investment from South West Water. It is the only water sector partnership supported by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) and the largest RPIF-sponsored project in the South West region. CREWW has already initiated projects, including a £1.4 million state-of-the-art laboratory focused on tackling microplastics in the environment. This project aims to develop an understanding of microplastics' presence in sewage sludge to inform wastewater operations and ultimately provide guidance to stakeholders involved in sewage operations, management, monitoring, and regulators.
The partnership's outcomes will help inform South West Water's operations, enabling better service delivery for customers, the region, and the environment by addressing critical water industry challenges through collaborative, innovative research.