Key milestone reached as three years of works set to begin on new pipelines for Havant Thicket Reservoir
A three-year project to create a new pipeline to Havant Thicket’s new water reservoir is about to begin
A key milestone has been reached on the Havant Thicket Reservoir project, with work about to begin to create two new pipelines to help fill it up.
The works will take place over the next three years to create the pipelines in Havant which will fill the reservoir with water from Bedhampton Springs - its primary source for water - and take it out to supply customers when needed.
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The pipelines route is 7km in total, with each pipe 1.7m in diameter – that’s the height of the average person. Once complete by 2029, they will be able to transport 40 million litres of water per day to the reservoir, enough to fill 16 Olympic swimming pools.
Portsmouth Water said it has been working closely with the community, including schools, councillors and businesses, to make sure local people are at the heart of its plans.
Bob Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Portsmouth Water, said: “This is a major milestone for the Havant Thicket Reservoir and an incredibly positive step forward. The past year has seen excellent progress on site, and we’re really excited to now be starting this vitally important stage of work.
“Installing any large infrastructure is challenging, and we’re acutely aware that these pipelines run through a busy residential area. We’ve done all we can to keep disruption to an absolute minimum.
“This includes adapting our original design, which involved digging up public roads and pavements, and using micro-tunnelling instead. We have also worked incredibly closely with members of the local community to find ways to reduce our impact.
“This includes planning work around school holidays and changing the design of parts of the route.
“We’re absolutely committed to keeping this conversation going as work progresses. We’ve set up a group made up of local community representatives, including councillors, which will meet regularly and continue to shape how we deliver the scheme and communicate with residents.
“We are also doing all we can to keep local people informed and make sure they can easily reach us with questions and concerns. This includes holding public drop-in events, writing to them with full details of the planned works, and creating an interactive map so they can see where the pipeline will be in relation to them.”
More information about the pipeline programme, including an interactive map showing the route, is available at: havant-thicket-reservoir.uk.engagementhq.com
The pipelines will be constructed by Ward & Burke, one of Ireland’s principal Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control and Automation contractors. The company has an outstanding track record for innovation and has built more than 165,000 metres of tunnels, including for water pipelines, in the UK, Ireland and North America, and has been involved in a wide range of major infrastructure projects.
In the future, the pipelines could also carry purified recycled water, should Southern Water receive approval for its Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project which has been the subject of some controversy. However, under the current approved plans, they can only transport spring water to and from the reservoir.
Havant Thicket Reservoir is the first new reservoir to be built in the UK in more than 30 years. Once complete, it will play a key role in protecting two world-renowned chalk streams in Hampshire by providing a new, sustainable source of water.
The new water reservoir is expected to be operational and fully open to the public in the 2030s.
More information is available at: havant-thicket-reservoir.uk.engagementhq.com
If you have questions or would like more information about the pipelines scheme, contact Portsmouth Water directly at [email protected] or call 023 9249 9888.