The utility has worked with North Tyneside Council and the Environment Agency on the plans for Killingworth and Longbenton, which has been designed to manage surface water in the natural environment rather than using storage tanks and pipes.
Water from Killingworth Lake and Longbenton Letch, which currently flows into Northumbrian Water’s sewer network, is to be diverted. This will reduce the risk of flooding as sewer pipes will be able to transport higher volumes of wastewater and surface water in times of heavy rainfall.
The route of Longbenton Letch will be diverted from the sewer network into a new 700 metre underground surface water pipe, which will transfer flows to Forest Hall Letch.
Wetland areas will be created along sections of Forest Hall Letch, to provide somewhere for water to go when flows in the watercourse are high.
To prevent Killingworth Lake from overflowing into Northumbrian Water’s sewer network, its surface water area will be increased and water will be transferred by another new 340 metre underground pipe into West Moor Tributary.
Northumbrian Water’s sewerage and new development manager Mike Madine said: “Removing surface water from our network not only increases capacity within sewer pipes, it also means that we will avoid treating water unnecessarily at our sewage treatment works.
“The environmental benefits are significant as water quality in the Ouseburn will be improved by reducing spills from our combined sewer overflow in the area and the proposed wetland areas will create spaces where wildlife can flourish and communities can enjoy.”
It is hoped that funding will be approved for the scheme by the end of the year and an estimated start date for main construction is 2017.
Northumbrian Water’s Mike Madine is speaking at WWT’s Integrated Water Resources Management conference on September 16th in Birmingham.
This article first appeared on WWT-online.