Anglian Water on track with £4.5m investment in Ipswich

Water company expects to complete work in spring 2018

Anglian Water is on track to replace and improve 14km of water pipeline in the Belstead area of Ipswich as part of a £4.5 million investment.

The scheme is one of the largest investment projects the water company will undertake in Suffolk between now and the end of the decade.

Work to replace pipework which has reached the end of its “useful life”, started in April. Anglian Water has now installed more than seven kilometres of new pipes and is on track for completion in spring 2018.

The company has installed new pipes on Belstead Road, Kingfisher Avenue, Wren Avenue, Robin Drive, London Road, Scrivener Drive and Sprites Lane. Work on Hawthorn Drive and Sheldrake Drive is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

Mark Pryke, Anglian Water’s network manager for Suffolk, said: “The next phase of the project will see us moving into Tern Road, Cambridge Drive and Fitzwilliam Close with work in Maple Close starting after Christmas.

“Everything we do is designed to minimise disruption for our customers, minimise our carbon footprint and impact on the environment.  That’s why we’ve had four engineering teams working across the area at the same time which has allowed us to crack on with the scheme and get things back to normal as quickly as possible for local residents and customers.”

He added: “We’re using advanced main-laying techniques wherever the ground conditions are good enough.  Slip-lining and boring techniques allow us to go underground like a mole, meaning the road surface doesn’t need to be disrupted.  In some places we have needed to dig trenches, but 95 per cent of any material we’ve excavated has been reused to backfill the trenches, meaning we’ve been able to cut down on lorry movements in the area and it’s better for the environment too.”

Pryke explained historically customers have noticed “discolouration” of the water, describing the scheme as an “important step in finding a permanent solution” for customers.

He said: “By doing such a thorough job now and laying new sections of pipe we will minimise the chance of discolouration in the future.”

Discolouration in the water is caused by a build-up of iron sediment in the pipes. Anglian Water said it is not a risk to human health and the company has been regularly flushing the pipes to prevent a repeat of the issue.

Ofwat recently proposed an outperformance payment of £2.6 million for Anglian Water after the company reduced leakage by five million litres of water per day in the last two years.