United Utilities is assembling a 450-strong team for its upcoming inspection of the Haweswater Aqueduct in September.
Two years have gone by since 80 carefully selected United Utilities specialists engineers – the aquanauts equipped with the very latest tunnel inspection wear and assisted by 16 specialist Vehicle Access Systems – “pipe mobiles”, entered the Haweswater Aqueduct for the very first time since the first water from Haweswater arrived to Manchester in 1955.
The structural analysis was carried out over a two week window to make sure the 56 mile pipeline which brings fresh water from the Lake District continues to meet the demands of today.
John Butcher from United Utilities said:
“When we headed into the aqueduct it was a delight to step into a moment of history and see and touch the tunnel during the inspection.”
“The aqueduct has stood the test of time however; it does need a little TLC. While we’re in there this time, our aquanauts will be scanning every inch of the tunnel and fixing what they can.”
United Utilities said it will take a team of around 450 people to successfully deliver the project. A bespoke training camp has been set up to make sure everyone is ready to hit the ground running on go live date at the end of September this year.
Paul Anderton, senior project manager added:
“By working together, we should be able to offer a seamless service, and our customers’ won’t even notice us working hundreds of feet beneath their homes investigating and repairing the pipe that serves water to their taps.”
The Haweswater Aqueduct is a remarkable feat of engineering which took over twenty years to build. Capable of delivering 570 million litres of fresh, clean drinking water per day from Cumbria to Manchester and surrounding towns and villages in Lancashire, in places the aqueduct is hundreds of feet deep.
Listen to John Dawson, construction manager at United Utilities talk about how the team is gearing up for the big return on the Waterbriefing Watch channel.
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