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:

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

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:

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:

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

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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

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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.