This year marks the start of a new business period for the water industry, which operates in five-year cycles. With the most ambitious plan South East Water has ever created, the fresh drinking water supplier is planning a record investment of nearly £1.2 billion into their network over the next five years.
The company is currently planning to install or replace more than 388 kilometres of pipeline to upgrade and enhance their water supply across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. The first project was completed in Smarden, Kent, in September.
Jeremy Dufour, Project Manager for South East Water, said: “We’d like to thank the residents of Glebe Close for their patience. Working in a cul-de-sac is always tricky as we try to balance completing our work quickly with maintaining access as much as possible for residents.
“We needed to replace around 150 metres of an ageing water mains which had become unreliable, and had a history of bursts. By replacing this section, we’re reducing the likelihood of future bursts and the supply interruptions caused as a result.”
Work started on Monday 4 August, and was completed on Monday 15 September. The work comes ahead of a second scheme in the area, on Smarden Bell Road, Pluckley, where around 640 metres of new pipeline will be laid. This project started last week, on Monday 22 September, and will take around nine weeks to complete.
Head of Engineering for South East Water, Desmond Brown, said: “We’re pleased to have smoothly delivered the first project of this new business cycle. We have an ambitious plan to upgrade our water supply network; replacing unreliable mains, upgrading our treatment works and reservoirs, and installing new pipelines to provide support to the network in localised areas and to provide us with a more connected, more flexible, more resilient network. This investment over five years will ensure we can always continue to supply our customers with top quality drinking water for years to come.”
Customers wanting to find out more about current and future projects across South East Water’s supply regions can visit southeastwater.co.uk/engineering
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