Planning

Continuous Water Quality Monitoring

SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

19 Dec 2025 at 14:18

Summary of the contracting process

Southern Water Services Limited, located in Worthing, UK, is in the planning stage of a procurement process for a project titled "Continuous Water Quality Monitoring." The initiative falls under the services industry category, specifically focusing on groundwater and surface water pollution monitoring or control services, as well as water installations. This process has been initiated as a market engagement activity scheduled to include two Requests for Information (RFI) and an online event. The first RFI will be released on 19 December 2025, with a submission deadline of 29 January 2026. Subsequent engagement actions and a formal tender will commence later in 2026, particularly after further announcements in February 2026. The project is aligned with the regulatory requirements under Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021, intending to continuously monitor water quality as part of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) through to 2035.

This tender represents a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in water quality monitoring technologies, data management, and instrumentation. Companies that can offer complete or modular monitoring systems, real-time data transmission, and quality management solutions are well-suited for this opportunity. Additionally, businesses focusing on installation, maintenance, and analysis of water quality monitoring systems within Southern Water's operational regions (Kent, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight) are particularly favoured. The procurement aims to inform and develop further engagement requests leading up to an invitation to tender, requiring approximately 300 monitoring solutions. Companies that can align their products or services with the project’s objectives and regulatory standards, especially those with innovative approaches and the capability to meet a regulatory completion date by 31 March 2030, are encouraged to participate and submit responses to help shape the organisation’s future procurement strategies.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Continuous Water Quality Monitoring

Notice Description

Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021 requires sewerage undertakers, operating wholly or mainly in England, to continuously monitor the quality of the receiving water upstream and downstream of storm overflows and discharges from wastewater treatment works, enabling impact assessment of discharges from these assets on the receiving watercourse. Actions required to meet the requirements of the Section 82 CWQM are contained within statutory drivers under the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP). These duties are phased across AMP8 & AMP9, (2025-2035). The objectives of the CWQM programme are to: - Quantify local water quality impacts from Water and Sewage Company (WaSC) assets. - Improve stakeholder & public understanding of impacts from the WaSC assets on water quality. - Inform improvement programmes to meet Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP) targets. - Inform regulatory action. The draft technical specification requires that monitoring must: - Be linked to existing regulatory standards; - Provide data which can be attributed to the target assets; - Provide understandable data to the public; - Provide understanding of how performance and water quality impacts of water company assets change over time; and - Show water quality impacts of water company assets in near real time By 2035, SWS will be required to demonstrate that at least 75% of storm overflows discharging into or near 'high priority sites' cause no local adverse ecological impact. These sites are programmed for monitor installation during AMP8 (2025-2030) . DEFRA has published the Interim Technical Standard, setting minimum specifications & performance criteria, to cover the transitionary period prior to development & implementation of a bespoke CWQM MCERTS standard. The interim technical guidance recommends that WaSCs & contracted service providers undertake to develop, and or use, existing standards to establish Quality Management Systems (QMS) covering the following: - Equipment standards - Installation standards - Monitor siting - Maintenance & calibration - Data capture, storage, sharing, & validation Southern Water Services Ltd. is seeking information from all interested suppliers, manufacturers, and solution providers regarding solutions for CWQM, in line with regulatory requirements under Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021 and DEFRA's CWQM Programme. This RFI aims to gather insights into available technologies, capabilities, and approaches that align with or exceed the interim technical standards outlined below. Responses will inform future procurement and standard development. We welcome responses from organisations offering complete systems, modular components, relevant services or innovative approaches to monitoring, data management, and assurance. The objective is to understand market capabilities, indicative costs, and technical feasibility for deploying monitoring systems across riverine environments. To enable us to fully understand the market, interested parties should complete and return the "Continuous Water Quality Monitoring (Section 82) 2025 Request for Information". This first RFI will inform further procurement activities which will include additional engagement requests, concluding with an invitation to tender (ITT). Suppliers are invited to submit information on products and/or services related to CWQM, with regard to: - Site planning & investigation, including audit of final monitor locations, - Supply of approx. 300 monitors & data transmission equipment, - Installation of approx. 300 monitoring solutions, across Southern Water's Operational Region (Kent, East and West Sussex, Hampshire and Isle of Wight). - Operation of the monitoring equipment, including calibration and maintenance, - Data collection, visualisation & analysis, As this programme of work is a regulatory requirement within the WINEP, information should be provided to support capability and capacity for offered products and/or services to ensure adherence to the WINEP regulatory completion date of 31st March 2030. Solutions should include: - Instrumentation: Multi-parameter sondes, process instrumentation, chemistry analysers - Power Supply: Available options, focussing on self-contained units (e.g. solar powered) - Telemetry: Real-time data transmission every 20 minutes - Data Logging: Every 15 minutes - Options for Portal Access: Options for integrating with SWS digital systems, as well as Public-facing interfaces with reporting and API export.

Planning Information

Southern Water will be undertaking a series of market engagement activities during late 2025 and Winter/Spring 2026. These activities will include two Requests for Information (RFI) surveys, designed to help us better understand the market, as well as an online engagement event. - RFI #1 will be published via Jaggaer on Friday, 19 December 2025. The deadline for submission of completed responses is Thursday 29th January 2026 at 16.00 GMT. - Responses should be submitted through the Jaggaer messaging facility. In this instance, submissions may also be accepted via email at chris.bashford@southernwater.co.uk. - Details of the second, more in depth RFI and the online engagement event will be announced in due course, with publication scheduled for February 2026. Southern Water looks forward to engaging with the market and welcomes participation in these upcoming activities. The Tender is planned to commence later in 2026. The RFI can be found at: https://southernwater.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail?opportunityId=60625

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05fa7b
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084960-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

39 - Furniture (incl. office furniture), furnishings, domestic appliances (excl. lighting) and cleaning products

45 - Construction work

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

90 - Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services


CPV Codes

39370000 - Water installations

45247120 - Waterways except canals

71351800 - Topographical and water divining services

71800000 - Consulting services for water-supply and waste consultancy

90713100 - Consulting services for water-supply and waste-water other than for construction

90733100 - Surface water pollution monitoring or control services

90733600 - Transboundary water pollution management or control services

90733700 - Groundwater pollution monitoring or control services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£33,750,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
19 Dec 20251 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
18 May 20265 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Nov 2026 - 4 Apr 2030 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SOUTHERN WATER SERVICES LIMITED
Contact Name
Chris Bashford
Contact Email
chris.bashford@southernwater.co.uk
Contact Phone
07895 307123

Buyer Location

Locality
WORTHING
Postcode
BN13 3NX
Post Town
Brighton
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ27 West Sussex (South West)
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Worthing
Electoral Ward
Northbrook
Westminster Constituency
Worthing West

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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