"Managing Rain Better Where It Lands" with Matt Wheeldon, Infrastructure Development Director, Wessex Water

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Matt Wheeldon, Infrastructure Development Director at Wessex Water, about reframing storm overflow challenges as a rainwater quantity problem best solved through source control. Matt outlines Wessex Water’s service area and explains how high groundwater and prolonged rain can drive inflows to sewers, while summers bring scarcity. He promotes the simple narrative “manage rain better where it lands,” emphasizing rain as a resource to capture and reuse, and to return water to the environment close to where it falls, rather than relying on centralized end-of-pipe solutions. The conversation covers the need for systemic change in legislation, regulation, metrics, and incentives, ongoing UKWIR research, and plans for a rainwater management forum at the World Water Congress in Glasgow.00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro00:21 Matt’s Career Journey01:26 Meet Wessex Water02:07 Chalk Aquifer - Blessing and Curse03:08 Storm Overflow Root Cause05:51 Manage Rain Where It Lands08:03 Building Momentum and Allies10:04 Policy Reform and Metrics10:46 Research and Glasgow Forum12:07 Advice and Wrap Up