Southern Water is getting work underway to seal up to 2.2km of sewer to help reduce storm overflows near the village of Fairlight in East Sussex.

The village is one of the company’s Pathfinders schemes that work on different solutions to help reduce the amount of ground and surface water entering the sewer system – which after heavy rain can cause storm overflows when the network cannot cope with demand.

Southern Water said the scheme is one of the many ways its teams are working hard to reduce storm overflows across its region - it also comes following the launch of the utility’s £1.5 billion Clean Rivers and Seas Plan.

Photo: some of the equipment used during sewer sealing in Fairlight

So far, Southern Water has carried out the following work:

• Installed 322 slow-drain water butts at customer properties which will prevent more than 32,000 litres of water running off the ground into sewers during rainfall
• Carried out 5km of detailed surveys on the main sewer spines. The results will be used to create a programme of works to line key areas of the sewer to stop infiltration, with a view to start next Summer.
• Found and sealed eight illegal surface water connections within existing foul manholes
• Carrying out surveys on large roofs in the area to manage their rainwater run-off.
• Collaborating with the Marsham Sewer Trust and the Environment Agency on investigations into how the rainfall induced infiltration impacts the surrounding area.

The water company is also currently reviewing and optimising the way it returns stormwater stored in the storm tanks back into the treatment works for processing, enabling it to hold and treat even more flows at treatment works. It is also reviewing the treatment process for other optimisation opportunities.

Project Manager for Southern Water, Angus Cramp, said:

“We’re excited to reach this stage of this project, which is already producing some impressive results we will be sharing in the coming weeks.

“Sealing sewers has been proven to work elsewhere in our region and can make a real difference in stopping groundwater infiltrating our network which in turn can prevent spills.

“Customers will expect to see a number of our teams in the area, and we’re sorry for any disruption this may cause in the coming weeks – but we know that this work is going to make a difference and will help with our wider goal of creating healthy rivers and seas.”

Southern Water is aiming to reduce storm overflows significantly over the next ten years, and last year launched its £1.5 billion Clean Rivers and Seas Plan that sets out how this will be achieved.