Anglian Water plans new 90km pipeline through Peterborough

The project is the next stage of the water company’s multi-million-pound investment to create hundreds of kilometres of new, interconnecting water pipelines across the East of England.

When complete, the new pipelines will pump water from ‘wetter’ parts of north Lincolnshire to drier areas in the south and east of the region, in total creating up to 500km of new water mains. It will be one of the biggest water infrastructure projects for a generation.

The mammoth project is part of Anglian’s Water Resources Management Plan, which looks 25 years ahead to make the East resilient to drought. Without taking this action, the East of England would face a water deficit of 30 million litres a day by 2025. That’s a shortfall of 4,380 Olympic swimming pools of water, every year.

The public will be able to find out more about the plans and give feedback via a virtual exhibition, which will go live on Monday September 6 and run until Monday September 20.

A planning application is due to be submitted for the work by the end of the year, and, subject to approval, construction could begin in summer of 2022.

The virtual event is open to anyone and will give full details of the massive project, including a construction timetable and information on how the environment will be protected during the work. Users will be able to give their feedback on the plans and have their questions answered by visiting https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/about-us/our-strategies-and-plans/new-water-pipelines/.

The new pipeline will not only take water to the dryer south and east of the region but will also strengthen local resilience by reducing the number of homes and businesses which rely on a single water source.

Strategic Pipeline Alliance Director for Anglian Water, James Crompton said: “The strategic pipeline is vital in addressing the predicted future imbalance where demand for water greatly outstrips the available resources in the east of England. It is the most fundamental challenge Anglian Water faces in its region, due to the combined impact of a rapidly growing population, climate change and being located in the most water-scarce part of the UK.

“With 175,000 new homes to be built in the next five years. It is vital we ensure we have resilient infrastructure in place to keep taps running in the future.

“Our engineers are currently carrying our environmental and ecological surveys, to ensure the scheme is designed have the least disruption possible for local communities and the environment.”

The entire pipeline has also been designed to have the lowest carbon footprint possible in line with Anglian’s pledge to reach net zero carbon by 2030.