Investment in action

Ensuring clean, fresh tap water continues to flow to our customers taps 24 hours a day, seven days a week is one of our top priorities. That’s why between 2020 and 2025 we’re investing more than £489 million upgrading old water mains, installing new pipelines, improving our water treatment works and maintaining our reservoirs.

Some of this improvement work takes place on our own sites, however a lot more besides happens along roads in public areas. Here are just a few examples of the vital work we are undertaking across our supply area.

Butler Water Treatment Works, Maidstone

Work continues at pace on our brand-new, state-of-the-art water treatment works near Maidstone.

The new £39 million facility will provide up to 20 million litres of treated drinking water a day to the area, once built, representing a key investment for Kent and a vital part of our plans to ensure we can continue to supply the area with tap water as the population grows.

In addition to new boreholes, we will also make use of the existing boreholes, pipework and storage tank already at the site. By upgrading infrastructure already in place, we are ensuring these existing facilities reach drinking water quality standards, reduce construction costs and reduce the carbon footprint of the project.

With the main structure erected we are on track for the site to be fully operational by March 2025.

Maidenhead Water Treatment Works upgrades

We are committed to using the most up-to-date technology to ensure we provide the highest quality drinking water to our customers. The multimillion-pound upgrade of our Maidenhead Water Treatment Works is key to future-proofing the top-quality drinking water we already provide in the Maidenhead area.

Work is being carried out in two phases, with new tanks and a UV plant being added to improve the quality of water supplied to customers. All this work is taking place within the existing water treatment works site, with construction having begun in July 2023, the first phase is due to complete in Autumn 2024.

We have also submitted our planning application to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for the second phase of the project, which forms a key part of our five-year, £489 million investment programme to improve water supply infrastructure across our supply area.

Boosting resilience in Wealden

In a direct response to recent incidents, we are investing £12.1 million laying approximately 17 kilometres of new pipeline between our water treatment works at Bewl and our drinking water storage tanks at Wadhurst and Rotherfield.

The project will take place in two main sections, with teams working on both at the same time. Section one, from Wadhurst to Rotherfield, involves laying approximately nine kilometres of new water main between our treated drinking water storage tanks at Wadhurst and Rotherfield. Section two involves laying approximately eight kilometres of new water main between our Wadhurst storage tank and treatment works at Bewl.

Along with upgrades to our Bewl Water Treatment Works, this project will provide a more resilient network, allowing us to maintain customer supplies more readily during unexpected disruptions. With advanced vegetation clearance having taken place in February, work begun on this multi-million-pound investment to create a more resilient water supply network in Wealden in April.

Alongside the greater flexibility, this project gives us to move water around our network and improve resilience in Wealden, it also responds to a requirement to prevent the transfer of zebra mussels, a invasive non-native species.

Ardingly Reservoir bank repairs

Back in 2022, slippage on a bank of the reservoir, close to the Ardingly Activity Centre, worsened, necessitating urgent repairs to prevent further damage and potential impact to water quality.

Repair work was split into two phases, with the first phase beginning in May 2023 and completed in June. The second phase of the project will be a permanent repair, the details of which are yet to be finalised. But, as part of the design and investigation for phase one, we carried out bathymetric and drone surveys to generate detailed 3d models of the slip, both above and below the water line. These surveys helped inform our team’s response and determine the scope of work required.

This innovative work was recognised at the Ground Engineering Awards 2023, as a finalist in the Technical Excellence category of Geotechnical Engineering award on 12 July.

Chilham network improvements

We have invested more than £2 million improving our water network in Chilham, Shottenden and Old Wives, Lees. Following recent and historic water supply issues in these villages, we identified this key portfolio of work to help reduce disruptions to customer supplies by installing new equipment and pipework.

Now complete, this project has enabled us to hold more water in the area in the event of an interruption, maintaining supplies while repairs can be made. Alongside this work, we also upgraded and replaced the generator system at our nearby Godmersham Water Treatment Works. This work ensures that, during power cuts, there is sufficient standby power to operate our booster pumps, which help to pump water to properties on higher ground. The generator replacement is fundamental in ensuring supplies in these areas are uninterrupted during a power cut. This project was completed in May 2023.