Water Direct turns 30

Water Direct turns 30 this year.

Founded in 1996 in response to a clear gap in the water industry, the business has grown alongside the increasing importance of alternative water supply across the UK water sector

Today, we see the alternative water sector (AWS) playing an increasingly important part in how utilities support customers and how commercial organisations react to supply interruptions.

Over the last 30 years Water Direct has scaled up and adapted to meet changes within the water sector – meeting the growing requirement for rapid, scalable and compliant alternatives when mains water fails.

From a team of just two staff in 1996, Water Direct now:

• employs more than 100 specialists across the UK
• manages a Nationwide Bottled Water Bank holding more than four million litres
• works with a wide network of nationwide partners to deploy resources at speed.
• has developed a digital platform providing real-time, end-to-end visibility across incident response.

Reaching this milestone is an opportunity to reflect on how far the business has come, but also on how much the wider sector has evolved.

Evolving to Meet Sector Needs

Growing pressure on supplies, changing regulatory frameworks, increased customer expectation and media scrutiny have all driven the need for AWS.

When Water Direct was founded, customer support during supply interruptions was limited. The concept of a dedicated alternative water supply sector did not exist.

Innovation and Design Director Olly Silcock, whose father Keith established the business, said: “Water companies have a legal responsibility to supply drinking water during outages, but historically they didn’t have the infrastructure to distribute it quickly, and at scale.

“Keith Silcock recognised that gap and created the Bottled Water Consortium.”

That early initiative evolved into today’s Nationwide Bottled Water Bank.

Reacting to growing sector pressures and working alongside utility and commercial customers at the sharp end of water interruptions, led to further expansion, heralding the start of the alternative water industry.

Starting off with a water bowser to supply water to the construction industry eventually led to the ability to support major construction projects such as the building of Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Ability to respond and scale rapidly also led to a successful bid to supply water for the entire London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Supporting major national incidents has also played a significant role in shaping Water Direct’s capabilities. During the 2007 Gloucestershire floods, a treatment works failure affected thousands of homes. Water Direct rapidly scaled its response, deploying 120 static tanks and more than three million litres of bottled water in one week.

Olly said: “We were still a relatively small team, and it was the first time we had operated at that scale.

“It highlighted the importance of alternative water supply and brought the issue to the attention of utilities and regulators.”

Modernisation to improve customer experience

Water Direct has continued to use its sector experience to develop and modernise what AWS can offer.

Olly says: “This makes us a driving force across the UK water industry for the adoption of new techniques, better practices and greater capabilities.”

Recognising the need for faster and more scalable techniques led to the development of specially adapted tankers, network injection capabilities and the supply and management of water storage options such as static tanks.

As regulatory expectations and customer needs have evolved, digital capability has become increasingly important too.

At Water Direct, this has been a major focus for us. Drawing on our experience of supporting utilities through supply interruptions, we have developed a digital platform designed to bring greater visibility and control to alternative water supply operations.

This reflects a wider shift in the sector. Alternative water supply is no longer only about emergency response. It is also about resilience, coordination, visibility and improving customer support during disruption.

Looking ahead

From changes in regulation to climate volatility and continued development in already water-stressed areas – the pressures shaping water resilience are only likely to grow. That means the need for alternative water supply will remain, but expectations of the sector will continue to rise.

For Water Direct, that means helping to support greater predictability of demand, stronger contingency planning and continued innovation in the way alternative water supply is delivered.

Technical development will be key to this. The next 30 years will see Water Direct continuing to use our sector experience to ensure AWS develops and innovates to support demand.

Thirty years on from its inception, the business is proud to have played a part in the evolution of the sector — and remains focused on helping shape what comes next.