Water supply in Sunderland
East end of Sunderland city centre and parts of Hendon
To maintain and improve the quality of water supplied to more than 1000 domestic and commercial properties in the east end of Sunderland city centre and parts of Hendon, we are going to upgrade 22km of water main at a cost of £1.5 million.
This improvement work, which began on the 18 April 2005, should take up to eight months to complete, will also improve water pressure, reduce leakage and safeguard water supplies for future generations.
We appreciate that this improvement work may cause some inconvenience to customers and we will do all we can to keep disruption to a minimum. We will be working closely with Sunderland City Council and the bus company, Nexus, to plan any traffic management required while this improvement work is carried out.
This will be the first of two phases of improvement work – the second phase, to be carried out in the west end of the city centre, will be done within the next 18 months.
If you have any queries about this work, or special needs please ring our Customer Centre on 0845 717 1100.
For more information download the Improving your water supply leaflet.
Second phase of work
Some of the pipes supplying Sunderland are at least 70 years old and they are not as reliable as they were. Improvement work will begin on Monday 3 October 2005 with the vast majority of the work complete within 12 months.
A total of 86 kilometres of water pipes will be upgraded at a cost of £4.5 million, directly improving supplies to about 12,000 properties.
Contractors working for Northumbrian Water will gradually work through Sunderland renewing or relining the old iron pipes.
Some of the pipes have furred up and, although not harmful to health, this can restrict the flow and reduce the volume and pressure of water in the pipes. Old pipes can also lead to harmless discoloured water when sediment is disturbed.
For more information download the Important information about our second phase of work in Sunderland leaflet.