DWMP28 Options Identification PMEN

We are therefore inviting proposals for demand and/or capacity management solutions that could contribute to the delivery of DWMP28 and help:

1. Improve efficiency and deliver better outcomes for customers at lower whole life cost;
2. Introduce innovative, market led approaches to managing long term drainage and wastewater resilience pressures;
3. Enhance natural capital in the North West, delivering wider environmental and social benefits;
4. Provide sustainable solutions to water quality and sewer flooding risks.

Through DWMP28, United Utilities aims to demonstrate best value planning by exploring innovative routes to delivery and solutions that deliver multiple benefits. We are particularly interested in proposals that support improved management of drainage and wastewater at a catchment scale.

We are open to the promotion of options across the range of risks addressed within the DWMP. Examples of potential third party options can be found in Appendix A include, but are not limited to:

• Customer‑side options: measures to manage demand from domestic or non‑domestic customers, including water efficiency, behaviour change and source control approaches;
• Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and surface water management options: measures to reduce surface water entering the sewer network, such as attenuation, SuDS and natural flood management;
• Sewerage network options: interventions to optimise or enhance network performance, including operational improvements, storage and conveyance solutions;
• Treatment and catchment management options: catchment‑based interventions delivered in partnership to manage water quality risks (e.g. diffuse pollution or nutrient management), alongside engineered or hybrid solutions to improve treatment performance and environmental outcomes.

Proposals may be brought forward by a range of organisations, including:

• Landowners or land users within the United Utilities region whose activities influence drainage or environmental performance, including opportunities for catchment based interventions;
• Design organisations offering services or technologies that could deliver demand or capacity benefits;
• Delivery organisations capable of implementing relevant interventions;
• Operators able to support the ongoing operation of such solutions.

It's also worth noting that, as part of water resources planning and the development of our Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP), we have undertaken a similar process of identifying options to, for example, increase our water supply or help us reduce demand for water.

If you'd like more information about our water resources planning, please contact us at [email protected].

Organisations/individuals wishing to submit a response can do so here (Appendix C provides a template to the form):

UU Call For Options - DWMP 28 (forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗)

If an organisation/individual is unable to submit by email, then a hard copy of the response template should be posted to the following United Utilities address:

Drainwage and Wastewater Manegement Plan Manager,

Haweswater House,

Lingley Mere Business Park,

Lingley Green Avenue,

Great Sankey,

Warrington,

WA5 3LP

No other documentation should be submitted at this stage.

Please complete the response form above as fully as possible but note where the required information cannot be provided, we will be happy to work with respondents to fill in any gaps after submission.

Interested parties should note the following indicative timescales and process associated with this Prior Market Enagement Notice (PMEN). These timings are provided for guidance only and may be refined as the DWMP28 programme progresses.

• All options will be subject to consistent screening and selection criteria at a number of stages, in the same way as options developed by United Utilities are
• No option identified will be implemented until 2028 at the earliest
• The PMEN deadline is 12:00 on 12/06/2026.
• The options appraisal stage will assess the whole‑life costs and whole‑life benefits of each feasible option, alongside consideration of its environmental impacts. This appraisal provides further screening against environmental requirements and enables options to be ranked on a cost‑benefit basis. The costs considered within the appraisal include:

i. Capital costs, including initial investment and any ongoing maintenance or replacement requirements over the life of the option;

ii. Operational costs, including fixed annual costs (such as reservation or standing charges, expressed in £/year) and variable or volumetric costs (expressed in £/megalitre);

iii. Environmental and social costs, including both fixed and variable impacts where applicable;

iv. Carbon costs, calculated from estimated greenhouse gas emissions and converted from tonnes of CO₂e into monetary values.

• Following the market engagement event, United Utilities will, wherever possible, work with respondents to fill in gaps in responses, as required, to allow screening of the options. The purpose of this screening is to ensure that only potentially feasible options progress to be developed further.
• We will inform all respondents as to whether the option(s) they have submitted have been successful in making it through to the feasible options list for further development. We will be open and transparent about this procedure.
• For those options passed forward to the "feasible" options list, United Utilities will request more detailed data on each option to allow a scope of the option to be developed. The subsequent feasible list of options will be appraised in line with the DWMP framework.
• The period for submission of more detailed data will be Summer 2026.
• United Utilities will select the more cost beneficial options as "preferred" options for inclusion within the Draft DWMP, and will notify all "feasible" options respondents accordingly.
• The programme appraisal stage will assess the benefits and costs, as well as the wider natural capital and environmental impacts of each feasible option, and apply constraints in order to develop a best value programme to be put forwards for the DWMP.
• Programme appraisal is expected to conclude by Autumn 2026.
• United Utilities will then continue to engage with "preferred" option respondents in order to confirm the inclusion of their option(s) within the Draft DWMP, including seeking to establish an "agreement in principle" for the option by December 2026.
• The Draft DWMP is then published in November 2027, for public consultation and subsequent modification, as required, prior to finalisation in August 2028.

United Utilities will develop a list of "unconstrained" options. Any options submitted will form part of this list. These options are then filtered (termed "screening") to remove implausible options that may not actually work and deliver a benefit; respondents will be involved in discussions during this period. The resultant feasible options will be further assessed to appraise the costs of construction and operation of the option alongside an appraisal of the environmental and social impacts of the option. Once agreed with stakeholders the primary screening criteria will fall into categories and will consider:

Whether the option can provide either a drainage benefit or manage wastewater capacity

• We will not discount any options based on uncertainty or the quantification of benefit at this stage and will work with providers of information to fully understand the option if the benefits are not clear at this stage.

Whether the option has a high risk of failure or inherent uncertainty

• We will consider for example the engineering complexity of the option and whether it is likely to deliver the stated benefits.

Whether the option could breach unalterable planning or environmental constraints

• We will consider for example if the option (with mitigation measures) is likely to result in significant adverse effects to designated sites or sites with significant heritage or visual amenity value.

Whether the option could face political and customer disapproval

We will consider for example if the option could cause significant negative socio-economic impact that cannot be mitigated.