A multi-million-pound water grid – one of Europe’s biggest environmental projects and the most important in Anglian Water’s history – has reached the halfway point for pipelaying in the East of England. Now, more than 170 kilometres of interconnecting pipes are in the ground. In its entirety, the whole stretch will be around 340 kilometres once complete, meaning the pipelines will be longer than the M1.

It is the largest drinking water project the UK has seen for a generation.

The grid will allow between 15 and 55 million litres of water to be moved from ‘wetter’ to ‘drier’ areas of the region. Without it, the region’s rapidly growing population and the visible impacts of climate change would mean that water demand would outstrip supply by 2030.

Importantly, it will significantly reduce the amount of water needing to be taken from sensitive areas, such as chalk streams, protecting the environment.

Andy Alder, Managing Director for Major Infrastructure Delivery and Strategic Pipeline Alliance, said: “This is a significant milestone for a project that, put simply, cannot be underestimated. If we weren't building the strategic pipelines, there wouldn’t be enough water left. What’s more, our water-stressed region requires careful use of this most precious resource to meet long-term water demand without coming at a cost to our environment. This is an obligation that we are proudly fulfilling.

“We’re not stopping there, either. Providing our next business plan is approved by Ofwat, we can take the pipelines even further into Suffolk and Norfolk to ensure the East of England remains resilient to drought for generations to come.”

In addition to the pipeline, supporting infrastructure such as pumping stations and storage reservoirs are being constructed along the route for water delivery. Work is almost complete at a large, above ground, clean water reservoir at Rede, near Bury St Edmunds. In total, it will hold 20 million litres of water, the equivalent of eight Olympic swimming pools, which will supply customers in the town and onwards towards Ipswich and Colchester.

The project is leaving more than pipes behind, too. SPA has donated more than 2,500 books to primary schools and is proactively working with children on literacy development, planted thousands of trees to boost biodiversity, built special 'commuter' fences to help bats with their navigation and donated life-saving defibrillators to communities.