The merger will see services joined up, and some potentially shared with waste management company Viridor – also owned by Pennon – as part of a wider group restructuring.
Group chief executive Chris Loughlin said the £2 million integration would see costs at Bournemouth Water slashed by 25 per cent.
Speaking at a capital markets day last week, Loughlin said: “We’re in the middle of the Bournemouth Water integration at the moment and we’re looking at merging the licence and bringing the back office together at the end of this financial year.
“It is all going on track and going very well. The driver for it is that it gives us the opportunity to be at the frontier of efficiency.”
In a statement, the company said: “Full consultation is underway for directly affected staff, as a relatively small number of roles are expected to be lost across both service areas.
“However the number of people affected is being kept to a minimum as every effort is made to redeploy staff to existing vacancies or find alternative opportunities. At the same time new job opportunities are being created.”
The move comes as Bournemouth Water’s supply licence is set to be terminated and South West Water’s licence varied to incorporate the Bournemouth Water area.
Pennon announced the £100.3 million takeover of Bournemouth Water in April last year, and the deal was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in November.
Read Utility Week’s analysis of the Pennon restructure here.