£20m pipeline to boost water security in Essex

Essex and Suffolk Water has set out how it will connect two water treatment plants to improve resilience in the Essex region and ease abstraction pressures locally.

A 19.5km pipeline will run between Layer-de-la-Haye and Langford, both south of Colchester to serve customers in both regions by moving raw water between nearby sources to be treated at the plants.

Langford is supplied by a river while Layer-de-la-Haye is connected to a reservoir.

In its PR19 plan, the company stated that a lack of raw water transfer capability meant water stored in the Abberton reservoir could not be properly utilised across the Essex region. The area does not have a raw water deficit or treatment constraints, but saw opportunities for boosting resilience via transfer options.

When completed next year, the £20 million pipeline will be able to move 50 million litres of water daily to supply 370,000 people.

“It’s exciting that we are now close to beginning the construction phase of this project, which will add much-needed resilience to customers’ water supplies across our Essex operating areas,” said project manager Daniel Wilson.

“Our team are using the experience gained from previous successful pipeline projects we have completed in the Chelmsford and Abberton areas to deliver this investment with the best possible results for customers, communities and the environment. We hope this preparatory work will help ensure a successful delivery phase in 2024.”

The company said distributing water between the two sites and the regions they serve will help protect supplies and the environment.

Concerns around the UK’s water security have been raised this week by the British Standards Institution (BSI). In a new report, the BSI rules that the UK has one of the lowest levels of renewable water in the developed world.