Southern Water is continuing with a £3.3 million investment to help prevent sewer flooding in locations across Hampshire, together with a £1 million investment in the Lavant Valley.
Following the wettest winter on record during 2013/14, groundwater levels across the county reached record highs. Together with flooding from surface water run-off and river water, this led to Southern Water’s sewer network being inundated by millions of litres of water it was never designed to deal with.
In Hampshire the flooding affected places as far afield as Hambledon near Portsmouth and St Mary Bourne to the north of Andover , while locations in Lavant Valley included West Dean, East Dean, Lavant, Charlton, Singleton and Binderton.
As part of a region-wide, multi-million pound effort, Southern Water deployed a fleet of tanker lorries and mobile pumps to maintain wastewater services for customers in the face of unprecedented winter weather conditions.
On top of the £1.8 million investment it has already made, the company is now investing a further £1.5 million in Hampshire to implement a long-term solution to groundwater infiltration into its sewers. In Lavant it is investing a further £700,000 in addition to the £300,000 investment it has already made.
Mark Thompson, Southern Water’s Head of Integrated Planning, said:
“We have been working hard to carry out a wide-scale survey of sewers which have been affected by groundwater. This is helping us identify and, where appropriate, seal major sources of infiltration to help reduce the risk of sewer flooding in the future. In addition, we are carrying out sewer cleaning and repairs to damaged sections of pipe.
“We have also developed dedicated Infiltration Reduction Plans (IRPs) for the worst-affected areas. These documents set out the strategies to effectively manage groundwater infiltration of the sewers, including our updated plans to respond to any issues which arise this winter.”
Southern Water’s dedicated Infiltration Reduction Plans are among the first plans of their type in the UK.