Where water comes from
The amount of water taken each day to produce your water
Water companies take millions of litres a day but must be careful to balance society’s needs while ensuring there is enough for the environment.
- 179 million
- average sized baths
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales; England and Wales, Jan 2015 - Dec 2015
It is not only water companies that take water from the environment
- 50,894
- Million litres per day
- 15,315 million litres for water companies to produce drinking water
- 429 million litres for agriculture
- 5,067 million litres for industrial processes
- 30,083 million litres for other uses including production of electricity
Your water comes from many sources
Source: Drinking Water Inspectorate; England and Wales, Jan 2022 - Dec 2022
Collecting and storing water is the first stage of delivering water to customers.
Water is obtained from lakes, reservoirs, rivers or underground sources. Although there are more underground sources, most of the water that companies collect comes from lakes, reservoirs and rivers.
This untreated water is then pumped to water treatment plants. In some cases, the untreated water is stored in reservoirs – this helps with the treatment process as large particles sink to the bottom.
The amount of water that companies can take out of rivers or underground sources is controlled by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.
Want to know more about the treatment of water?
Please click here to see the water treatment cycle