The Joint Venture will help Anglian Water Services (AWS) strengthen long-term water resilience in eastern England 

TYPSA, together with Stantec, has been appointed as lead consultants for Anglian Water Services’ (AWS) technical collaboration framework contract for desalination. The Joint Venture will support AWS with a wide range of technical design expertise related to the development of two new desalination plants. 

AWS faces significant water resource challenges in the East of England with a reduction in available supply of potable water as well as an increase in demand. Without intervention, a daily shortfall of 593 megalitres of water is estimated by 2050, equating to approximately half of the current volume of water entering the network. This project will secure future water supply for millions of people and will also play a vital role in national efforts to tackle climate-driven water stress, population growth, and rising demand. 

Benefitting communities for generations 

As a result, two desalination plants have been initially identified by AWS to address the shortfall in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Both will abstract and desalinate seawater from the North Sea. Initial design assumptions are that the desalination plants will include pre-treatment, reverse osmosis, and remineralisation, before the treated water is blended and pumped into supply. 

As the primary desalination technical partner for AWS, the TYPSA-Stantec JV will support AWS with the development stages for both sites, leading on the technical designs for the plants. TYPSA brings extensive global desalination expertise, while Stantec’s teams hold deep UK water industry knowledge, regulatory understanding, and stakeholder engagement capabilities, working in partnership with every water company in the UK and Ireland. 

The companies’ combined offering will result in a comprehensive, complex, and compliant approach for Anglian Water throughout the five year framework, with the potential to extend the support for another five years.