Water utility opens market engagement on resource and leakage solutions
A major water utility seeks proposals on resources, demand and leakage, reflecting wider use of early market engagement to shape long-term plans.
A major water utility seeks proposals on resources, demand and leakage, reflecting wider use of early market engagement to shape long-term plans.
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Thames Water Utilities Limited is inviting third-party proposals for water resource, demand management and leakage solutions to support its long-term planning. The move, set out in a Water Resource Solutions Proposal notice published on 22nd June 2026, shows how water companies are turning to early market engagement to shape future strategies for managing supply, demand and leakage.
The notice is a Prior Information Notice rather than a full tender. Thames Water states that it is “inviting proposals from third parties for solutions related to water resources, demand management, or leakage services to support its Water Resources Management Plan process”.
That short description defines three broad themes:
By framing the requirement around “solutions” rather than a fixed specification, the company leaves room for a wide range of ideas from external organisations. Thames Water makes clear that these proposals are intended to support its Water Resources Management Plan process, indicating that the outputs will feed into how it manages water resources, demand and leakage in that plan.
Water Resources Management Plans are used by water utilities to set out their long-term approach to managing supplies and demand. Opening that process to third-party ideas suggests a more collaborative stance, in which market insight, new technologies and service models can be considered alongside internal planning assumptions.
Thames Water is not alone in looking beyond its own walls for answers. In January 2026, Southern Water Services Limited published its Alternative Water Supply Solutions Prior Information Notice, gathering information from suppliers on alternative water supply and incident management solutions to ensure service continuity during clean water supply interruptions across its operational areas.
In February 2026, United Utilities Water Limited issued a Water Resources Management Plan call for options, seeking input from stakeholders and innovators to develop strategies for managing water resources, and explicitly addressing “challenges such as demand reduction and supply enhancement”.
Affinity Water followed in June 2026 with an Engineering and Technical Support Prior Information Notice, seeking specialist engineering, scientific and technical expertise to enhance its capabilities in achieving sustainability and water supply goals for the remainder of AMP8 and into AMP9.
Severn Trent Water’s Temporary Treatment Solutions notice, published in June 2026, takes a similar market‑sounding approach, exploring interest and capabilities for providing temporary treatment solutions, including the hire of treatment assets and related services, with a view to potentially developing a framework agreement for water and wastewater treatment sites.
Where investment is already moving into delivery, Anglian Water Services Limited has issued a Major Projects Framework contract notice, seeking to establish a framework agreement with up to two entities for the design and construction of major projects in water and water recycling, and requiring capabilities in early contractor involvement and comprehensive project delivery.
Taken together, these notices suggest that water companies are increasingly using Prior Information Notices and other engagement tools to test ideas on demand reduction, alternative supplies, leakage performance, temporary treatment capacity and technical support before locking in detailed specifications. The Thames Water call for proposals fits squarely within this pattern.
The shift is not limited to operational services. The Environment Agency has gone to market for Water Resources Training, procuring Water Resources Planning Learning Zone Training to support those involved in planning how water resources are managed.
Yorkshire Water Services Limited is also using early engagement to shape how it buys strategic advice. Its DPC Programme Advisory Engagement Prior Information Notice seeks early engagement with suppliers to develop a sourcing strategy for a Direct Procurement for Customers Programme Advisory Framework to support major infrastructure projects.
Beyond the UK, the water sector is also formalising external support. A contract notice from S.M.A.E.L. sets up an Assistance Services for Public Management framework agreement to provide assistance in managing public water services.
Elsewhere in utilities, Wales & West Utilities Limited is seeking market feedback on an Asset Investment Management System that will aid in asset management and investment decisions. While focused on gas rather than water, it reflects a similar trend towards procuring decision‑support tools alongside physical infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, Thames Water’s decision to invite proposals to feed directly into its Water Resources Management Plan shows how procurement is being used as a planning instrument as much as a route to buy infrastructure or services. Solutions that emerge from this process could inform investment sequencing, risk management and the balance between demand‑side and supply‑side interventions the company eventually pursues.
Other sectors are following comparable paths. In January 2026, procurement body PROSPER issued a Material Supply Framework Prior Information Notice for Materials Supply & Merchant services across various categories, inviting market input through a Request for Information to refine future procurement opportunities.
West Midlands Combined Authority’s Metro and Rail Works Engagement is engaging the supply chain to discuss collaborative contracting approaches for upcoming Metro and Rail projects, aiming to refine its procurement strategy ahead of formal activities planned for 2026.
Western Riverside Waste Authority is carrying out Market Engagement for Waste Management, using preliminary market engagement to assess market capacity and interest in future waste management services and to inform both procurement strategy and infrastructure planning.
Kirklees Council is preparing a procurement for Integrated Resource and Waste Management Services to operate and maintain existing facilities, again signalling the use of early engagement as it shapes a long‑term contract.
Transport for London’s Greenwich Bunds Project Engagement takes a similar stance, seeking supplier feedback on the Greenwich Bunds re‑lining project to inform the procurement strategy, with a particular focus on environmental compliance and risk management.
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation is consulting suppliers as it designs a new Utilities Framework Agreement for water, wastewater and ancillary services, explicitly linking the framework to enhanced service quality and compliance with the Procurement Act 2023.
At local authority level, the London Borough of Newham has trailed an upcoming Water and Waste Services procurement, flagging that details may change and that existing frameworks could be used, again signalling a desire to give the market early visibility while retaining flexibility.
These examples underline how early discussions with suppliers are becoming embedded in procurement practice. Authorities are using Requests for Information, preliminary market engagement and advisory frameworks to understand capacity, inform risk management and explore new delivery models before issuing tenders. Thames Water’s open call for solutions on water resources, demand management and leakage belongs in that wider shift.
For organisations active in water resources, demand management or leakage services, the Thames Water engagement highlights a growing appetite among utilities to hear from the market before designing formal procurements. Because the Water Resource Solutions Proposal is framed as an invitation for proposals rather than a defined contract competition, it offers scope to influence how needs are articulated in the next phase of the Water Resources Management Plan process.
Similar opportunities are emerging elsewhere. Severn Trent’s exploration of temporary treatment solutions, Affinity Water’s search for specialist technical expertise and United Utilities’ call for options on demand reduction and supply enhancement all show that the sector is opening space for ideas that bridge planning and operations, and that support both resilience and efficiency.
It is also notable that several authorities, including PROSPER, Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation and Western Riverside Waste Authority, describe these early exercises as a way to refine future frameworks and service models. Suppliers that can demonstrate how their offerings support long‑term planning, regulatory compliance and flexible delivery are likely to be well placed as these opportunities progress into more formal stages.
The Thames Water notice contains few hard details beyond its high‑level focus and link to the Water Resources Management Plan. There is no indication in the text of contract values, timescales or specific procurement routes. What it does provide is a clear signal that the company is open to external thinking on how it manages resources, demand and leakage over the long term.
As other water utilities and public‑sector bodies continue to use Prior Information Notices and market engagement exercises to shape their strategies, the responses Thames Water receives to this call for proposals may help set expectations for how solution‑led water resource planning can be. For suppliers and partners, it is a reminder that some of the most influential conversations now happen before a tender ever appears.
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