Water main to be replaced in £280,000 investment

Residents in Newhaven are set to benefit from an investment into improving the water supply network in the town.

Fresh drinking water supplier South East Water will be replacing approximately 270 metres of water main in a project totalling £280,000, which forms part of the company’s commitment to invest £489 million in improving their infrastructure between 2020 and 2025.

The section of water main to be replaced is in the Fort Road area of Newhaven and will take place in two phases. The first will be between the junctions with Geneva Road and Court Farm Road, and the second will be along Court Farm Road, from the junction with Fort Road to the children’s play area.

Jeremy Dufour, Project Manager for South East Water, said: “The burst rate of this water main is unacceptable to us, having burst 10 times in the last five years. We know how disruptive this is to our customers, both from the interruption to their water supply and the traffic disruption caused while the pipe is repaired.”

The work is due to start on Monday 30 October and is expected to take approximately 10 weeks to complete. To ensure the safety of the public and the work force, multiway traffic lights will be in place while the new main is being laid.

Phil Jones, Head of Leakage Operations for South East Water, said: “It’s great to see another engineering project due to start to replace an unreliable section of water main.

“While we work hard to find and repair leaks on our 9,000 miles of pipeline, it is vital that consistently unreliable water mains such as this one are replaced. This project will improve our infrastructure, protect the long-term supply of water to the area, and reduce unexpected disruption to the community.”

Residents in the area will be able to keep up to date with progress by visiting southeastwater.co.uk/fortroad.

For more information on South East Water’s work to improve its network of pipes, visit southeastwater.co.uk/engineering.