Anglian Water has this week completed two mult-million schemes worth £4.6 million in total – one of which was completed significantly ahead of schedule.

A £3million scheme to upgrade the water company’s Morton Crescent and Stepshort Road pumping stations and reduce the risk of flooding in Great Yarmouth has been completed.

The investment consisted of a combination of engineering solutions across Bradwell and Belton, including the construction of underground storm water storage, a new foul sewer, and various other upgrades and modifications to the sewer network to reduce the risk of flooding.

Nearly 4km of brand new sewer pipe has been installed, to take away sewage from the area and reduce the amount of used water passing through the Morton Crescent Pumping Station at the same time.

Alongside the new sewer, a large underground storage facility has been installed to better manage the flow of used water, particularly in times of extreme rainfall. The storage tank can hold any excess water in the pipe network until there is enough capacity for it to be taken away and treated.

A new pumping station will also further reduce the risk of flooding by pumping used water away for it to be treated, before returning it to the environment.

A separate major Anglian Water scheme to upgrade and improve the current method of water treatment at the company’s largest water treatment works at Grafham Water near Huntingdon has now been completed significantly ahead of schedule.

Work began in 2016 on the £1.6million scheme and was originally due to be completed by 2019. The scheme involved decommissioning the legacy chlorine gas equipment and replacing it with a safer, modern technology which uses a liquid chlorine disinfectant called sodium hypochlorite.

Chlorine, in gas or liquid form is widely used in the water industry in the drinking water treatment process.as a highly effective microbial disinfectant which kills germs,

However chlorine is toxic in its concentrated form – the scheme saw the removal of the chlorine gas equipment and its replacement with an innovative, equally effective liquid disinfectant which is safer to transport, store and handle.

The removal project was put into action after a small a leak in the treatment centre - the move from the gas to a liquid disinfectant has removed the risk of gas leaks in future. Regan Harris from Anglian Water commented:

“A project of this scale and complexity takes time, however following the hard work and dedication of a collaborative team from Anglian Water engineering, operational and construction teams the project was completed months ahead of the expected date.”