Over the past week a number of companies across the sector have announced the commencement or completion of projects to improve their networks.
Midlands water supplier Severn Trent completed its third and final bypass pipe as part of its £300m Birmingham Resilience Project. Northumbrian Water meanwhile announced an £8 million investment to alleviate flooding.
Utility Week takes a look into these and other projects happening across the UK.
Severn Trent
Severn Trent has installed its third and final bypass pipe as part of its £300m Birmingham Resilience Project.
The 1.8km pipe will be used to transport more than 300 million litres of water into Birmingham while work is carried out on the 100-year-old Elan aqueduct which is used in transporting the city’s supplies from Wales.
The project will both upgrade the existing aqueduct and see a new pipe constructed from Stourport to the company’s water treatment works in the city. This will be used as a back-up supply while maintenance work is carried out on the original pipe.
Rutland
The company has also announced that work on a £4.5m scheme to replace 25km of older water pipes across its area since the end of last year has now been completed.
The project began in December last year and has seen work carried out in Stretton, Wing, North Luffenham, Lydington, Bisbrooke, Braunston, Langham, Thiselton, Owston and Oakham.
During the course of the work, 8km of pipes had to be laid across fields.
Northumbrian Water
Northumbrian Water has invested £8 million across its network to alleviate flooding dangers in Durham and North Tyneside.
In North Tyneside the group has completed a three-year flood reduction scheme, which saw a joint investment of £6 million from Northumbrian as part of a partnership with the Environment Agency and North Tyneside Council.
The work was completed in an area where 3,500 homes were at risk from flooding. The work included diverting a river away from the sewer network and towards a main river via new piping, construction of three natural surface water storage areas and re-contouring a lake to manage surface water.
Durham
Northumbrian has also announced it is investing £2 million in upgrading its sewer network in the Elvet Riverside area of Durham to reduce the risk of flooding and protect the environment.
New sewers are to be built in Elvet Waterside, Old Elvet and Whinney Hill, with work being co-ordinated with that being carried out in the area by Durham County Council and Durham University.
The company’s partner, Mott MacDonald Bentley, will be carrying out the work, which is scheduled to start on 9 September and is expected to last around 12 months.
Thames Water
A £3.5 million scheme to reduce the risk of homes flooding in a London street has been completed by Thames Water.
Properties in Dunoon Road, Forest Hill, had been prone to flooding in heavy rain, but the successful completion of the project means the sewer is more resilient.
In Dunoon Road, a new two-metre wide, 100-metre long pipe has been connected to the existing sewer, meaning it can now handle a much greater volume of water than before.
Thames says that at any one time the sewer can now hold 315,000 litres of water, the same amount that would be needed to fill three London double-decker buses.
The sections of the pipe comprise a steel core surrounded by plastic, and are 30 times lighter than traditional concrete sections, meaning they could be connected quickly.
Welsh Water
Welsh Water has announced a £6.9 million project to upgrade the drinking water pipes in Bodelwyddan, Kinmel Bay and Abergele.
Work will see over 11km of old pipe which is nearing the end of its operational life replaced with brand new water pipe.
In total, the amount of pipe that will be worked on will be the same as the length of 112 football pitches, the water company claims.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN)
Work on a £3 million upgrade to boost network resilience in Hampshire will commence on Monday (2 September).
SSEN will replace underground cables and renew substation equipment supplying the Fleet and Camberley areas.
Specifically the project will see the removal and replacement of underground cabling that is nearing the end of its working life.
Alton, Hampshire
SSEN has also announced two phases of improvement works totalling £1.3 million.
The first phase of the project, which sees an investment of over £570,000, will get under way on 10 September with an intended completion date of November.
Northern Powergrid
Northern Powergrid is about to start the next phase of its £300,000 investment to improve the resilience of its network in York.
Phase one of the work is the final phase of the work to reinforce the network along Aldwark, Goodramgate and Deangate in the city centre where newer underground cables will be installed.
Phase two will see the company reinforce its network along part of Tadcaster Road and St Helen’s Road and into Eason View in Dringhouses.