Southern Water has published its updated plan to tackle sewer flooding in villages along the Nailbourne river near Canterbury.

During the wettest winter on record last year, groundwater levels reached record highs, filling local sewers with huge amounts of water they were never designed to deal with and affecting a number of local households and businesses.

Southern Water has already invested £1.6 million in a long-term solution to reduce groundwater infiltration into its sewers in locations including Barham, Bridge, Patrixbourne and Bekesbourne. The investment is part of a region-wide programme to reduce flooding from sewers which totals more than £8 million.

The company has also further updated its local plan for minimising infiltration, which has been approved by the Environment Agency, setting out the actions it is taking, assisted by other organisations.

Mark Thompson, Southern Water’s Head of Integrated Planning, said:

“We have worked hard to carry out a survey of sewers in the Nailbourne catchment, or area, which have been affected by groundwater. This has helped us identify major sources of infiltration and seal them to reduce the risk of sewer flooding in the future.

“We have also used our experience from last year to further develop our response plan, putting us in a strong position to react quickly and effectively to any issues which may arise in the months ahead.

Infiltration Reduction Plan is one of first of its kind in the UK

Mr Thompson continued:

“Our updated local Infiltration Reduction Plan (IRP), one of the first plans of its type in the UK, has now been published. This document sets out the strategy to effectively manage groundwater infiltration of the sewers, including actions by other organisations which may help protect our sewers.”

During 2013/14 Southern Water spent more than £18 million to deal with the effects of flooding on its sewers.

Click here to download the Nailbourne IRP