Tender
United Utilities sounds out market for Windermere design and integration partner
By Staff Writer | 22 October 2026
United Utilities has opened market engagement for a design and integration partner on Only Rainwater into Windermere, a programme to end discharges into the lake, with roles valued from 60m pounds to 600m pounds.
The preliminary market engagement notice was published on Find a Tender on 21 October 2026. The water company says it will shortly launch a competitive tendering procedure for the appointment, and it expects to publish the tender notice by 5 November 2026.
The stated ambition of the programme is to make Windermere the cleanest lake in England by removing discharges from both public and private sources and by dealing with runoff from highways. The target end state, as its name says, is that only rainwater enters the lake, restoring it as close as possible to its natural condition and reducing the risk of harmful algal blooms.
The system to be designed
A coalition of United Utilities, local authorities, regulators and environmental organisations was set up to develop the feasibility phase, and it commissioned a feasibility study. The company says the study has identified feasible options for reaching the goal.
The proposed system has several workstreams. First time sewerage would connect properties that sit outside the public sewer network and have never been connected to it. Where that is not possible, first time treatment would provide a remote treatment solution. Other work covers reducing weather dependent flow, managing surface water and treating highway runoff, using nature-based solutions where possible, along with a tunnel and rising mains and the upgrade of an existing wastewater treatment works and its discharge point.
United Utilities expects the system and the associated strategic transfer and treatment infrastructure to be consented through a Development Consent Order, subject to approval by Defra under section 35.
What the partner will do
The partner will complete feasibility, outline design, constructability and related work needed to obtain the approvals and consents for the preferred solution, and will be responsible for the Development Consent Order and the planning approvals. The initial scope also lists environmental impact assessment and surveys, stakeholder and customer engagement, land agency and referencing, ground investigation, early contractor involvement and support with reporting to Ofwat.
The company has not settled its approach to the delivery phase. The notice says the partner may go on to act as system integrator and detailed design partner, as a system integrator across workstreams, or in a client-side support role, and that it may not be needed in delivery at all.
Values and timetable
The notice gives an anticipated value for each role. The pre-delivery design and integration role, over more than four years, is put at about 60m to 100m pounds. A system integrator role in delivery, for up to a further nine years in increments at the company's discretion, is put at about 100m pounds, and a combined system integrator and detailed design role over the same period at about 500m pounds, both subject to CPIH. The two delivery roles are alternatives, so the stated range of 60m to 600m pounds counts only the higher of them.
The indicative contract period runs from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2031, with a latest end date of 31 March 2040 if every extension is taken.
A virtual programme launch event will be held on Microsoft Teams on Thursday 29 October from 13:30 to 17:00. Attendance is limited to two people from each supplier, and registration closes at 2pm on Tuesday 27 October 2026. The notice states that it is not a call for competition and does not commit United Utilities to any future procurement.