South East Water has secured a new contract with Southern Water to provide drinking water testing services for Southern Water customers.
South East Water confirmed the new partnership will result in a substantial expansion of the specialist facilities at its state-of-the-art laboratory, and result in a 50% increase in the number of commercial water quality tests carried out each year.
The company’s laboratory, based in Farnborough, Hampshire, has a team of over 60 microbiologists and chemists who carry out half a million water quality tests each year for South East Water customers.
It also offers a bespoke analytical service to a wide range of businesses, including this new contract with Southern Water, which will see the number of commercial tests carried out by its laboratory team increase by 800,000 annually for Southern Water alone – resulting in a total of 1.3 million commercial tests being completed each year.
With the laboratory operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, South East Water’s team of microbiologists and chemists at the specialist science and technology facility, provide analytical services for microbiology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and radiochemistry.
South East Water said the new partnership with Southern Water will see the team undertaking all testing required under the drinking water regulations for England and Wales for Microbiology, Cryptosporidium and Inorganic Chemistry, this includes testing for bacteria such as E. coli and Total Coliforms.
To facilitate the delivery of the new contract, South East Water confirmed it will recruit over 30 new staff across the laboratory team and also undertaking an expansion of its existing laboratory footprint. This includes converting offices into more laboratory space to increase its testing capacity to accommodate the new contract testing needs.
Dr Neil Hudson, Head of Water Quality at South East Water, said:
“We are delighted to have secured this new contract with Southern Water and be able to use our deep knowledge and extensive experience to provide a first-class water testing service for its customers.
“I am very proud of our skilled laboratory team who work tirelessly to provide the highest standards of service to both our own customers, and our commercial partners.
“It is vital that our clients have confidence in their water quality and our UKAS accredited testing provides this reassurance to our clients that they are receiving top quality drinking water from their taps.”
Guy Franklin, Southern Water’s Head of Water Quality Compliance, said:
“Our drinking water quality is among the very best in the world, so it is vital that we carry out the right level of testing to make sure we continue to maintain and improve these extremely high standards.
“We are excited about this new partnership with South East Water and are confident it will be of real benefit to customers throughout our region.”
South East Water’s laboratory is accredited to ISO 17025 by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) and meets the stringent regulatory requirements of the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
South East Water’s laboratory first opened its doors over 30 years ago, with the current site operational from 2015, and it supports a wide range of businesses, including other water companies, blue chip firms, environmental health organisations, private water suppliers and building maintenance companies.
The contract between South East Water and Southern Water commences on 1 July 2025 and covers drinking water only.
