Billion pound investment programme
25/05/2005
Millions of customers are to benefit from a one billion pound investment programme over the next five years.
Northumbrian Water Limited provides water and sewerage services in the north east of England to 2.6 million people and in the south east, trading as Essex & Suffolk Water, supplies 1.7 million people with water-only services.
This level of investment is possible due to Ofwat approving rises in customers’ bills which is helping to meet the cost of this extensive fourth Asset Management Plan.
Colin Price, Northumbrian Water Limited’s Technical Director, said: “We are very pleased to announce our programme of work for the next five years. Customers told us what work they would like doing as a priority and amongst their choices is work to combat discoloured drinking water and sewer flooding.
“We are committed to providing our customers with excellent standards of service in all areas of our activity. We are able to provide this service and make these improvements due to the investment of customers’ money.”
The programme, which runs from April 2005 to March 2010, will include upgrading 46 sewage treatment works and 15 water treatment works. Some 2715km of water main will be renovated or replaced, as will 160km of sewers. Nearly 500 unsatisfactory sewage overflows will be improved and flooding of nearly 400 properties will also be addressed.
In Northumbrian Water’s supply area, from Berwick down to north Yorkshire and across to the Pennines, £380 million will be invested on upgrading sewage treatment works and the sewerage network, £100 million will be invested on water resources and treatment, £97 million will be invested in improvement of supporting assets, like vehicles and computer network, and £230 million will be invested on improving the water network which will include upgrading 2500km of water main.
In Essex & Suffolk Water’s supply area, £100 million will be invested on water resources and treatment, £70 million will be invested improving the water network which will include upgrading 215km of water main and £23 million will be invested in improvement of supporting assets, like vehicles and computer network.
In the north east, work will be carried out to upgrade some of Northumbrian Water’s major water treatment works and sewage treatment works. These include Whittle Dene water treatment works and Horsley water treatment works in the Tyne Valley and Warkworth water treatment works in Northumberland, where work will concentrate on the removal of the threat of pesticides. Improvement work will also take place at Mosswood water treatment works in County Durham and Lartington water treatment works in Teesdale.
Northumbrian Water is constantly working to improve and protect the environment. Five sewage treatment works will also be upgraded including Aycliffe sewage treatment works and Stressholme sewage treatment works in Darlington, the international award winning Regional Sludge Treatment Centre and effluent treatment works at Bran Sands, Teesside, Billingham sewage treatment works in Cleveland and Howdon, which is Northumbrian Water’s largest sewage treatment works, on Tyneside.
The work, which will be carried out over the next five years, will reflect guidance from Government to comply with new regulations and directives. The requirements are agreed after consultation with the appropriate quality regulator, either the Drinking Water Inspectorate or the Environment Agency.
One major requirement for Essex & Suffolk Water, as well as maintaining and improving the quality of drinking water, will be to meet the growing demand as East Anglia is the driest region in the country. To meet this growing demand the capacity of Essex & Suffolk’s largest reservoir, Abberton, will be increased by around 60% over the next decade.
Hanningfield water treatment works and Layer water treatment works in Essex will be upgraded as will Ormesby water treatment works and Lound water treatment works in Suffolk.
The suppliers which have been successful in securing contracts and who will be instrumental in helping Northumbrian Water Limited deliver the extensive programme of work are Fastflow Pipeline Services, Balfour Beatty Utilities, Alfred McAlpine Infrastructure Services, MWH, Gleeson, Byzak, Entec, Bentley, MWH Constructors, Stonbury, Graydon Dawson, Mowlem, Lumsden & Carroll, Mott MacDonald, Seymour (Civil Engineering Contractors) Limited and C&A in the north and M Holleran, MWH, Mowlem, Stonbury, Aquazone and Eastern Contracting in the south.
For further information contact Cara Hall on 0191 301 6720 or Alistair Baker on 0191 301 6851.