A water-themed carnival will be making a splash in Norwich next week – and organisers want you to drop in.

Eastern Daily Press: Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water. Picture: Tim George.Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water. Picture: Tim George. (Image: Tim George)

The H2OMG festival rolls into The Forum from Monday, with more than 25,000 people expected to take part in a host of fairground-style games and activities throughout the week.

Visitors can try their hand at the Water Wheel of Fortune or Beat the Bog, and take part in an interactive quiz about how much water they use for the chance to win a family holiday.

But the event also has a deeper purpose, with Anglian Water using the information it gathers to shape its next five-year plan and beyond, helping to decide where money is invested in the region, what it is spent on and what key customer issues it prioritises.

In a region which receives one-third less rainfall than the rest of the country, Anglian Water is putting together long-term plans to ensure enough water is available for the new residents, homes and businesses expected over the next generation.

Chief executive Peter Simpson said the H2OMG event, part of a wider consultation, was a chance for customers to tell Anglian Water what mattered to them.

'We want to engage in the most comprehensive way we can with customers to find out what their priorities are: what they will support, and how much they will support them, because they are the ones paying the bill,' he said.

'This event aims to do it in a fun way, because we realise that people have busy lives.'

H2OMG is also a chance for Anglian Water to explain to customers the challenges posed by the reducing availability of water, the increasing demands of a growing population, the need to protect the environment and the complications of climate change.

'We have less water available when we need it, and across the Anglian Water region we have half a million new homes coming over the next 15 years,' said Mr Simpson, adding that the company was making plans up to 2045 through its Strategic Direction Statement.

'If we are thinking of desalination facilities or new reservoirs, we have to start them at the right point,' he said. 'It can take 10 years of planning before we put a spade in the ground.'

The previous consultation, on 2015-2020 priorities, saw 50,000 people take part, with cutting leakage to industry-leading levels identified as a customer priority.