The Grand Union Canal Transfer (GUCT) is progressing to its next development stage as project partners launch a second phase of public consultation, marking a further milestone for one of the UK’s most significant strategic water resource initiatives.
Set out within Affinity Water’s Water Resources Management Plan, the project responds to increasing pressure on water supplies arising from climate change, population growth and environmental constraints. The scheme is being developed jointly by Affinity Water and Severn Trent, working in partnership with the Canal & River Trust, the charity responsible for owning and managing the canal network across England and Wales. At full capacity, the transfer could move up to 115 million litres of water per day from the Midlands to water-stressed areas of the Southeast, helping to safeguard future supplies for customers in the region.
Under the current proposals, highly treated recycled water would be sourced from the Minworth Wastewater Recycling Centre near Birmingham. The water would then be conveyed via a new underground pipeline before entering the canal network at Atherstone in Warwickshire. From there, water would travel along the Coventry, Oxford and Grand Union canals. After travelling through the canal network, the water would be abstracted and directed to a new water treatment works for further treatment and storage, before being supplied as drinking water to an existing reservoir near Luton and onward into Affinity Water’s distribution system. The project has been positioned as an innovative response to long-term water supply pressures, repurposing historic canal infrastructure to address modern water resource challenges.
The project is currently in the pre-application stage of the Development Consent Order (DCO) process. Following the close of the Phase Two public consultation in spring 2026, the scheme will move into further design development ahead of submission of the DCO application, after which the examination and approval process would take place within the nationally significant infrastructure planning framework. Subject to consent, construction is expected to commence in 2030, with the scheme scheduled to be completed and operational by 2033.
From a technical standpoint, delivery of the Grand Union Canal Transfer would involve the construction of new advanced water treatment facilities, strategic pipelines at both ends of the route, and targeted interventions along the canal corridor. These include new transfer locks, pumped and gravity bypasses, and limited stretches of bank raising, with design refinements introduced to minimise the extent of works required along the canal network.
Beyond addressing future supply deficits, the project is positioned as a strategic intervention to improve long-term water security in the Southeast. By transferring treated water from regions of relative availability to areas of forecast deficit, the Grand Union Canal Transfer is intended to form part of a wider portfolio of measures designed to ensure reliable and resilient public water supplies in the decades ahead.
