South East Water is inviting residents in the Kent village of Leeds to find out about the second phase of a project to upgrade the area’s water network at a meeting on 16 May.

Forming part of South East Water’s commitment to invest more than £489 million into improving its water supply infrastructure between 2020 and 2025, the project includes installation of a secondary pipeline and the replacement of an ageing, burst-prone main with a new, wider pipe.

Phase one of the project took place in 2022, with a new pipeline being laid in private land to provide additional support to the existing network.

Jeremy Dufour, Project Manager for South East Water, said:

“The second phase of the project will benefit the community in two key ways. Firstly, as the current main in Upper Street has become increasingly unreliable with frequent bursts, repair work can often result in road closures. By replacing the main with a new pipe, the likelihood of bursts will be reduced resulting in far fewer disruptions to the residents of Leeds.

“Secondly, the new pipe is wider in diameter, meaning that we’ll be able to feed more water into Leeds and the surrounding area. This is a key component of the project as it allows us to protect future tap water supplies to the area as the community grows.”

“Due to the number of utility services within Upper Street, the road is quite congested and so threading a new pipeline into the road will be a complex project.”

Phase two of the £840,000 project, to replace approximately 535 metres of water main, is due to begin on 24 July and is expected to take six months to complete.