Southern Water Services Limited has launched an important Request for Information (RFI) for an Alternative Water Supply and Incident Management solution, with a contract value of up to £192 million including VAT over eight years. This major public procurement initiative, highlighted on the UK Find a Tender portal, seeks ideas and innovations to secure continuity of drinking water supply in times of disruption, from burst mains and treatment failures through to extreme weather events. Of particular interest to providers of bottled water, water tankering, bulk storage bowsers and wider incident logistics and resilience services, this framework opportunity opens doors to long-term, high-value partnerships.
If you are considering bidding for this upcoming framework and need an expert partner to assess its strategic fit for your business, contact Thornton & Lowe. We offer rapid, no-obligation reviews to help you decide if this opportunity is a match for your capabilities.
Why this RFI matters
This Southern Water RFI marks a significant market engagement around ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of clean water during service incidents. Recent high-profile supply incidents at water companies elsewhere in the country, involving bottled water stations, tankering operations and priority deliveries to care homes and hospitals, illustrate exactly the kind of response capability Southern Water is looking to secure at scale and in advance. The utility provider is seeking insight from the market before any formal tender is released, aiming to understand the latest solutions from a broad range of suppliers. With a framework value of £192 million, the scale offers scope for both established and innovative organisations supplying bottled water, tankering and bulk water storage, mobile treatment, and wider incident support and logistics services.
Securing a position on this future framework agreement could unlock steady public sector demand for emergency water supply and rapid deployment solutions, especially vital during incidents or planned works impacting the water supply. The extended eight-year duration offers valuable long-term revenue and partnership stability.
Bidding considerations: Structure, scope, and market engagement
As this opportunity is currently at the RFI (Request for Information) stage, Southern Water is not yet seeking formal bids. Instead, your responses will influence the eventual shape and requirements of the future framework agreement. By engaging early, you can help steer the lot structure, delivery models and technical specifications to best suit your strengths as an alternative water supply or incident management provider.
- Lot structure: If the framework includes multiple lots in the future, this could allow for specialisation in certain types of equipment or services, such as bottled water, tankering, storage or logistics. Make clear your capability to supply across categories or niche areas in your submission.
- Benefits: Engaging now enables your business to showcase innovation, shape future requirements, and potentially get ahead of competitors in solution design and readiness.
- Term: The eight-year potential is unusually long, allowing you to build a robust business case for investment. Look at how your offer can scale and remain agile throughout this period.
Review all information in the full notice to understand specifically what Southern Water seeks at this stage. Do not assume requirements or evaluation criteria beyond those published.
Quick facts
- Opportunity: Alternative Water Supply & Incident Management RFI
- Authority: Southern Water Services Limited
- Estimated Value: £192,000,000 (including VAT)
- Term: Up to 8 years
- Scope: Incident response and alternative water supply, including bottled water, tankering, bulk storage and wider resilience logistics
Key dates
- Submission stage: Request for Information (pre-market engagement)
- Submission deadline: See the full notice for the latest
Top tips for engaging with this RFI
- Align with strategic objectives: Reference how your alternative water supply, tankering or emergency logistics services could directly support water continuity and resilience.
- Highlight innovation: Use this RFI to spotlight new approaches, rapid deployment solutions or unique technical capabilities.
- Sound out potential lot types: Indicate which service areas or product categories you could supply, aiding the authority in shaping the future framework lots and qualifying criteria. Our guide to how framework agreements work is a useful reference if this is your first RFI response.
This is an early but powerful moment to influence a critical public utility procurement. Being proactive now may give you a competitive head start.
Ready to assess this opportunity strategically? Get in touch with Thornton & Lowe for tailored advice and to maximise your position for the next stage of the Alternative Water & Incident Management framework journey.
