New water main network

We’re creating a new drinking water grid for the east of England.

It is one of Europe’s biggest environmental projects and the most important in Anglian Water's history.

Once complete, hundreds of kilometres of underground, large-diameter, interconnecting pipelines will stretch from North Lincolnshire to Essex.

They will allow 265 million litres of water to be moved from ‘wetter’ to ‘drier’ areas of the region, helping to combat the risk of shortages, boosting resilience and securing water supplies.

The importance of the work cannot be underestimated: Anglian Water's region is the driest in the UK and has a rapidly-growing population. Without our new drinking water grid, demand for water will outstrip supply meaning the east of England could run out of water as soon as 2030.

Our work will leave a green and social legacy. We've donated more than 2,000 books to 11 primary schools, planted thousands of trees to boost biodiversity, built special 'commuter' fences to help bats and donating life-saving defibrillators to communities.

Learn how we’re creating hundreds of kilometres of pipeline to safeguard long-term water supplies

We're building the network in sections. Construction started on the first section of pipeline, between Lincoln to Grantham in the summer of 2021, which has now completed. Pipelaying is expected to start on the other sections this year (2023).

Click on the links below for further details about the each section. A map showing all the pipelines, and answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs), are also below.

A 52km pipeline from Elsham to Lincoln
A 34km pipeline from Lincoln to Grantham
A 90km pipeline from Grantham to Bexwell, via Peterborough
A 71km pipeline from Bexwell to Bury St Edmunds
A 69km pipeline from Bury St Edmunds to Colchester
A 12.5km pipeline from Norwich to Wymondham

Improving local water supplies

The new pipelines will also strengthen resilience by reducing the number of home and businesses which rely on a single water source.

This programme forms a key part of our Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP), which sets out how we will manage the water supplies in our region to meet current and future needs over 25 years.

It is a critical, long-term project and construction is due to begin in the summer of 2021.

Peter Simpson, Anglian Water Chief Executive

The challenges of population growth and a changing climate are felt nowhere more keenly than here in the East of England. Starting this programme is a significant part of our planned investment in the region over the next five years, which will begin to tackle those challenges and secure customer supplies well into the future.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a Water Resources Management Plan?

Every five years we write our Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) which sets out how we will manage the water supplies in our region to meet current and future needs over a minimum of 25 years.

Our 2019 WRMP considers four key challenges:

Climate change – as the east of England is very dry
Environmental protection – we have to reduce our abstraction of water in sensitive areas
Population growth – we are the fastest growing area in UK which means there’s increased water demand
Drought – we need to plan for greater resilience in the face of drought

How exactly will you be helping to tackle climate change?

One of the key drivers for the Water Resources Management Plan is to address the unpredictable impacts of climate change which include changes in extreme weather – making it hotter, drier and wetter. We take climate change very seriously and have made a commitment to our customers to reduce the amount of carbon we use, so we will look to minimise the carbon impact of this project.

Will you let communities know if and when they’re likely to be impacted?

The initial route planning takes account of sensitive environmental and historic sites. We involve landowners, environmental and archaeology specialists and local parish councils to challenge the route and identify alternative options or variations. The engineers assess the ability to build along a corridor and how the pipeline will join and affect the existing water network.

How exactly will you let us know?

We aim to reach the widest cross-section of stakeholders through our communications and engagement activity. We will adopt a variety of techniques and channels to reach people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and ages and this will be reflected in the supporting detailed engagement plans for each project. The engagement will be proportionate to each specific pipeline project and will vary dependent on its scale, sensitivity and consenting route.

How can we see the documents you are submitting?

All of the drawings, plans and reports associated with each planning application will be published on the relevant local authority’s website.

What about the environmental impact of your work?

Where it is deemed that a scheme has the potential for significant environmental impact, this would then be subject to a planning application and an Environmental Impact Assessment. This means we would need to submit an Environmental Statement with the planning application to the relevant local planning authorities to obtain consent to build the scheme.

I’m concerned about hedgerows being removed

Anglian Water will be removing hedgerows within the working width/redline boundary and where practicably possible we will look at reducing that working width during the construction phase.

Our Outline Reinstatement Strategy (ORS) submitted with our planning application, sets out the general principles and approaches Anglian Water will use for the reinstatement of landscape, post construction. All hedgerows damaged or removed during the construction phase, will be replaced in line with the ORS and the submitted landscape plans.

Are hedgerows being reinstated?

Hedgerows will be reinstated following completion of construction works to either the same or greater species composition than prior to removal.

To ensure quality assurance, reinstatement works will be overseen by an Environmental Clerk of Works and input will be provided by suitably qualified landscape ecologist as appropriate.

An establishment aftercare maintenance period of five years is to be undertaken for all new replacement/ mitigation planting. This would include replacement of failed or defective plants that in all aspects shall be the same as the original stock at the time of planting, except that it shall be an additional year older for each year that has elapsed since the original stock was first planted.

On completion of the establishment aftercare maintenance period, Anglian Water will organise handover of reinstated vegetation within the pipeline corridor to the respective landowner.

Has anything been found through the archaeology investigations?

We’ve carried out, and continue to dig and plan, thousands of archaeological investigations in the areas where we’re working. These have opened a window to the past for communities across the region, providing an insight into their heritage – while also helping to enhance our understanding of regional and national development throughout history.

We have made some exciting discoveries: Stone Age tools, Bronze Age burial grounds, Iron Age and Roman settlements including an intact 2,000 year old vase, roads, early medieval (Anglo-Saxon period) artefacts and a medieval burial ground.

We endeavour to preserve as many of the archaeological remains we find as possible, whether through excavating and preserving the remains by record and in archives, or by designing changes to construction to allow the archaeological remains to stay, undisturbed, in their original locations and contexts.

All reports, analysis and the artefacts themselves will be transferred to the local archive facilities (if landowners grant their permission) and will be publicly accessible in due course.

How do I tell you what I think? How can can I raise an issue with you?

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New water main network