Thames Water is carrying out several multi-million-pound upgrades across the Guildford area to ensure a safe and secure water supply for its customers. The area currently operates as an ‘island’ water supply zone, supplied directly from nearby reservoirs and water treatment works.
This creates challenges if there are issues onsite and means there isn’t a back-up supply for its customers. To build greater resilience the company is upgrading sites and building new infrastructure to address this challenge.
In early 2024, work will begin to build a new 9km water pipeline, which will transfer up to 14 megalitres of water per day between Pewley Reservoir in West Guildford to Netley Mills water treatment works in East Guildford.
The project is expected to complete in time for winter 2025 and will provide greater resilience against supply interruptions for around 9,000 homes in East Guildford.
Currently, East Guilford is supplied by a single source at the Netley Mill water treatment works. The new pipeline will ensure East Guildford benefits from a back-up source, helping prevent future supply interruptions across the local area.
Paul Wetton, Director of Water for Thames Valley and the Home Counties, Thames Water said:
“We’re committed to providing a secure and reliable water supply to all our customers, especially those in Guildford who have been impacted by recent water outages.
“As part of our strategy to turnaround our business and deliver better for our customers we are investing over £93million to build resilience across the area and keep the taps flowing for our customers, starting with a new 9km water transfer pipe between west and east Guildford.”
