Severn Trent Water has launched a consultation on its proposals to develop an alternative water supply for Birmingham - one of the largest engineering projects it has ever undertaken. 

The water company is planning an alternative water supply for the city which will work when the Elan Valley Aqueduct, now over a hundred years old, is off line for maintenance.     

The aqueduct , a feat of Victorian engineering which supplies the city with water from reservoirs in the Welsh hills, will require maintenance to keep it in service which will involve taking it off-line for significant periods.  

This involves the construction of a new water pipeline linking an abstraction site on the River Severn near Stourport to Frankley Water Treatment Works.   An extension to the Frankley works would treat water delivered through the new pipeline.

Known as the Birmingham Resilience Project (BRP) , the scheme will be one of the biggest engineering challenges the firm has ever undertaken. Severn Trent is planning to take the new supply of water from the River Severn – the project includes building a new pumping station and pipeline to take the water to treatment works in Birmingham.

The water company will need to abstract an average of around 240 million litres everyday from the River Severn, but only for a short period (roughly 40 days) during the winter months - when the river is at its highest level.

Severn Trent looked at 22 possible places along the River Severn between Trimpley and Ombersley and assessed them against a range of technical, environmental and planning criteria. The firm has shortlisted options and is about to start consultation on its preferred site near Stourport-on-Severn.

Severn Trent is still working through the detailed plans for the abstraction, but hopes to take the total amount of water from more than one place to help reduce any possible impact. Target completion date for the scheme is March 2020.

The plans have been submitted to water industry regulator Ofwat and are currently being discussed in detail. The company’s proposals will be subject to a full Environmental Impact Assessment which will be part of the planning application due to be submitted in December 2015.

Severn Trent Water is holding a series of public exhibitions in November to explain the proposals and gather local views.

Simon Hinsley, resilience manager said:

“This investment is really important and will make sure there’s a constant supply of fresh water to Birmingham.  The people who know the area best are the local residents, so when we’re doing work like this, we like listening to suggestions and talking to the community to help us to find those little gems of information which can make a huge difference to our plans.

"We want to keep the community informed about what we’re doing, and listen to feedback."