Anglian Water has successfully put its £28million Grafham resilience scheme into operation for the first time, the company has revealed.

 

The new scheme allows the transfer of treated drinking water between the Rutland, Grafham, and Pitsford Water Treatment Works (known collectively as the Ruthamford network).

 

The 16 months prior to September 2019 were one of the driest the East of England has seen in recent times. Proving the viability of this ground-breaking flow reversal scheme is the another major ‘piece of the puzzle’ in ensuring a resilient water supply for the west of the region.

 

The engineering element of the multi-million-pound scheme was completed in 2017 and used industry-first technology to support Grafham Water Treatment Works. By installing specialist large scale pumps, Anglian Water engineers have now completed the trial to reverse the flow of water between Grafham WTW and Hannington, near Wellingborough through a single pipeline.

 

Paul Valleley, Director of Water Services at Anglian Water said: “We knew the concept of transferring potable water through this network was always feasible, but the trial entailed a significant amount of work to ensure customers water supplies were not affected or water quality compromised. Over the first half of this winter the trial has proven to be a complete success.

 

“Our reservoir at Rutland is almost full, but we wanted to make the most of the extra water available to us at this time of year by moving it to support the area supplied by Grafham Water. Our colleagues at Affinity Water also rely on some of our water from Grafham reservoir to supply their customers, allowing them to rest their abstraction on chalk aquifers, so by using this surplus water, we’re doing all we can to bolster supplies ahead of next summer and benefitting the wider environment.”