Wessex Water's wastewater network used 200,253 MWh of energy in 2024-25, about twice the 96,302 MWh used to abstract, treat and distribute drinking water combined. That balance matters for a company targeting net zero operational carbon emissions by 2030.
Three scopes, no single lever
Gross operational emissions were 147,696 tCO2e in 2024-25 on a location-based measure. Scope 1 made up 36.2%, scope 2, which covers purchased electricity, 32.4%, and scope 3 31.4%. The 2023-24 total was 158,707.18 tCO2e, but the table lines changed between the two years, so the gap of about 11,011 tCO2e is not a confirmed like-for-like cut.
Where the energy goes
On the drinking water side, treatment took 58,589 MWh in 2024-25, treated water distribution 29,206 MWh and water resources 8,507 MWh. The wastewater figure covers a sewer system the company puts at about 35,000 km, serving 2,923,931 residents against 1,406,053 on the water side. Sewage treatment energy sits outside these lines.
The drought adds pressure
Total annual leakage rose to 76.98 Ml/d in 2025-26 from 69.10 Ml/d, so more water is treated and pumped than reaches customers. A company-wide hosepipe ban has been in force since 18 August 2026, and the Environment Agency placed Wessex Water at drought level 3 in its report updated on 6 November 2026.
A short runway
The 2030 target falls at the end of the 2025-30 price control, for which Ofwat set a £4.3 billion totex allowance before the Competition and Markets Authority redetermined it on 10 March 2026.
How Wessex Water's carbon target sits beside its leakage, pollution and drought pressures, what the 2025-30 settlement changed, and how its finances bear on the transition are examined in the full report. The full report, Water Utility of the Future: Wessex Water, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Wessex Water Utility Snapshot.