Affinity Water is a water supply company owned by a consortium of Allianz, HICL and DIF Tamblin. Affinity Water was established through the purchase of Veolia Water's UK water supply operations by Rift Acquisitions, an entity established by Morgan Stanley and M&G Investments, for £1.2 billion on 28 June 2012. The three separate Veolia Water-branded businesses: Veolia Water Central, Veolia Water Southeast and Veolia Water East were brought together as one company, under the Affinity Water brand on 1 October 2012. Veolia Environnement retained a 10% stake in Affinity Water for five years from incorporation, using the proceeds of the disposal to reduce its debt, as part of a €5bn debt-reduction programme announced in December 2011. In May 2017, a consortium of Allianz, HICL and DIF purchased Morgan Stanley and M&G's 90% holding, followed by Veolia's 10% holding.
#WhyNotWater
On 7 May 2019 Affinity Water launched a campaign to fuel a national debate about water conservation. The #WhyNotWater campaign raises the importance of water to the climate change debate and calls for legislative change to help water efficiency. Their call to action, highlighted in their manifesto includes: 1. Mandatory water efficiency labelling 2. Tenants to have the right to water-efficient goods 3. Domestic water efficiency through fittings and fixtures through mandatory certification 4. Every local plan in a water-stressed area to include a target of 110 litres per person per day. They launched a petition to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to change the legislation. On the 29 May 2019, Affinity Water pledged their support for the UK's bid to host the landmark UN 'Conference of the Parties' COP 26 climate conference in 2020. CEO Pauline Walsh said “The importance of climate change and the impact on our water resources is vast. We need to work together as businesses, cross sectors and across borders to tackle the most important challenge of a generation. Hosting COP26 would demonstrate the importance the UK places on the issue of climate change and shows that we want to act now and lead the way. We look forward to working with the Government to bring COP26 to the UK in 2020"
Supply area
Affinity supplies three geographically distinct regions of England. The Central region serves parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Greater London, Hertfordshire and Surrey. The East region serves part of Essex. The Southeast region serves part of Kent.
