Client login
Password

News & Media > Utility Services

A sensitive approach

Forward planning and dialogue with stakeholders is minimising the environmental impact of a project to reinforce the water supply for Essex and Suffolk Water’s customers in the Witham area in Essex.

The new £600k, 3,700 metre pipeline will support and reinforce an existing 21” main supply from Crierswood Reservoir to Witham.

The route passes through the Shut Heath wood nature reserve, which is managed by Essex Wildlfe Trust and home to foxes, heron, cormorants and a host of smaller creatures. An environmental study will ensure that the wildlife and their habitat will be protected.

The new water main also passes through agricultural land, potentially posing problems for local farmers and landowners. However, through direct liaison with local farmers and estate managers before starting work on site, the programme is scheduled to enable crops to be harvested before topsoil is removed.

The project team will use a specialist pipe trencher to install the pipeline across the agricultural land to minimise damage to the soil structure. At the River Blackwater crossing, directional drilling will be used to install the new pipeline underneath the river and the adjacent public footpath to prevent disruption to walkers and the river itself.

Gavin Scarr Hall, managing director utility services, said: “Through good forward planning and direct contact with the various stakeholders, we will ensure that we minimise the effects of our works in this sensitive area.”