Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan
The water you use, whether that’s from your toilet flushing or from rain that comes off roofs and roads needs to be collected, treated and sent safely back to the environment. A growing North West and more extreme weather present challenges for how we manage your used water over the long term. We’re planning for this through our Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP).
This plan focuses on the future of drainage, wastewater and environmental water quality. We build this plan together with organisations that have interests and responsibilities relating to drainage, flooding and protection of the environment.
By working with other partners to plan for the future now, we can lead the way in sustainable and resilient growth in our towns and cities. It will allow us to manage the risks, mitigating and adapting to climate change, with robust infrastructure.
The plan will launch in summer 2022, and we're looking at some key areas:

Our ambitions for the future
We’ll be looking at our long term ambitions for the North West’s drainage and how we can achieve them. To find out more, please click the link above to read our Strategic Context.

Areas prone to environmental impacts
We’ll look at any areas that may be prone to environmental impacts and what difference we can make. More information to follow in summer 2022.

Challenges for the future
We’ll be looking to make sure we have the capacity to cope with the amount of sewage coming in and send it safely back to the environment and identify areas with growth or expansion that might impact our future plans. More information to follow in summer 2022.

Preparing for the future
We’ll be looking at how we can prepare for any future challenges. More information to follow in summer 2022.

Our customers and stakeholders
We’ll be speaking to our customers and stakeholders and finding out what matters most to them to help shape our plans. More information to follow in summer 2022.
To help us produce this plan, we’ll be looking at three key areas: flooding, environment and wastewater treatment. This will help us understand how a growing population and more extreme weather might prevent us from delivering the services that keep your toilets flushing.
The North West is made up of different areas we call catchments. By splitting the region into catchments we can manage, protect and enhance the water environment as an entire system, rather than looking at isolated challenges. This map shows you the different catchments in your region.
As our Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan progresses, you’ll be able to find out our plans for your area. More information to follow in summer 2022.
Planning for the future
Every five years we produce plans to support our key services of water supply, drainage and wastewater treatment. Watch the video to find out more about these plans and discover why a growing population and the impacts of climate change are making us think differently.
Water Resources Management Plan
Find out more about our plans to meet demand to 2045
Wastewater management portal
Discover plans for drainage and wastewater management in your area.