Several companies have announced plans this week to install or replace water mains around the country.
Utility Week presents its project roundup for the week commencing on 5 August:
Anglian Water
Anglian Water is investing £910,000 to install 2.4km of new water main in Pettaugh, Ipswich to supplement the existing supply and ensure pressures are maintained as demand grows in the area.
David Hartley, a company spokesperson, said: “Operating in one of the fastest growing areas in the UK, this scheme will help to support future growth and ensure that the current water network is maintained amid periods of higher demand.
“A large portion of our works will be completed in neighbouring fields to minimise disruption for residents.
“The communities we work in are important to us and we understand the impact we can have. To minimise our time onsite, we have challenged the way we usually do things and we will be trialling a new pipe testing process above ground before we move it into the trench in the road, this should considerably reduce the amount of time we are in the carriageway sections.
“To do this, we will have a second, smaller working area outside of our closure, likely to be within the field areas. This area may move as we progress, but we will keep traffic flowing with the use of give and take boards.
Anglian Water has also announced it will begin constructing a £5.4 million water main in Scunthorpe next week as part of the Lincolnshire Lakes development.
South East Water
South East Water is replacing more than a mile of “burst-prone” water mains dating from the time of the Second World War in Teynham, Kent,
Chris Love, delivery manager at South East Water, said: “The old water mains are around 70 to 80 years old and have burst more than 25 times in the last decade so we’re replacing them with flexible plastic pipes.
“We understand this work will be inconvenient at times but know that the long-term benefits of improving the local water supply will outweigh any short-term disruption.”
Scottish Water
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon attended Scottish Water’s treatment facility in Stirling to officially open a ground-breaking heat network which harnesses energy recovered from wastewater.
The network will be fed with hot water by a new energy centre at the treatment facility, which features heat pumps, a combined heat and power unit and thermal storage.
The biogas boilers for the existing anaerobic digester on the site will also be integrated into the energy centre, which in turn will provide any top-up heat required by the digester over winter.
The network is being delivered by Scottish Water Horizons and Stirling Council, which have respectively invested £3 million and £1 million in the project. It also being supported by £2 million of funding from the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme.