Anglian Water’s @one Alliance is due to begin upgrades in Old Leake which will see the replacement of 4.5 kilometres of water pipes to ensure that water supplies are safe and reliable for decades to come.
The water company sends nearly a billion of litres of clean and healthy drinking water to its customers each and every day, and in order to achieve this, the infrastructure needs maintenance and investment to ensure the taps can keep running over the next few decades.
When pipes get old, they’re more likely to burst or leak – meaning customers could experience low pressures or interruptions to their water supplies. With the added pressure of a changing climate, more aging water mains are at risk of failing under extreme weather conditions.
The scheme – totalling to over £3 million – is expected to be completed next summer with 85% of the new pipe being replaced by using an innovative technique called directional drilling. This will allow the company to install pipes underground without the need to dig open trenches and reduce their carbon footprint.
Whilst the works take place there will be some road closures and traffic management in place. The Gride will be closed from January 5 until March 20, Station Road will be closed from March 23 until May 1, and Sibsey Road will be closed from April 27 to May 31.
There will also be traffic lights on Church Road from January 5 to January 26, and then again from June 16 to June 18.
Once the pipes are installed, they will need to be connected to the existing water network. To complete this, there may be some interruptions to customers’ supplies for a short period.
Georgia Phillips, Customer Experience Specialist for the project said: “We operate in the driest region of the country, but the East of England is also one of the fastest growing. As part of our Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP), this project will help make sure we can keep taps running and toilets flushing for residents in and around Old Leake for years to come. “To do this work safely, we’ll need to implement some traffic management throughout the project in order to keep our teams and members of the public safe. We’d like to thank everyone for their patience while we carry out this essential work.”
The WRMP, published every five years, outlines how Anglian Water manages current and future water needs across the region. Without such proactive planning and investment, there will simply not be enough water to supply customers in the East of England.
This work follows what may be the UK’s driest summer since records began. Anglian Water is continuing to encourage customers to be water-wise and keep supplies readily available for the region.
Further details on the planned road closures and relevant diversions can be found on the one.network portal by visiting https://one.network/?GB143963722
Road closures in Old Leake for mains water repairs will see lengthy diversions over the next 5 months.
