Ground surveys

Water for Life – Hampshire is a central component of Southern Water’s answer to the twin pressures of climate change and a growing population. It will protect the county’s sensitive chalk stream habitats while ensuring there’s sufficient water for public supply – especially during a drought.

The programme will transform the way we source, treat and supply water across the county, which is home to some of the world’s rarest water habitats.

Some 85% of the world’s chalk streams (rivers fed by underground chalk aquifers) are in the UK – and two of the finest examples are found in Hampshire. These rivers, along with their underground aquifers also supply water to more than 750,000 people across the county.

Water for Life – Hampshire will ensure we can continue to balance the needs of local people with those of wildlife and the environment in the face of climate change and a growing population, enabling us to keep Hampshire’s taps and rivers flowing – especially during a drought.

We’ve been developing several potential options to achieve these vital twin aims, alongside investment to reduce leakage and improve water efficiency.

We’re working closely with Portsmouth Water to develop a plan that maximises the benefit of the water available in the planned Havant Thicket Reservoir which recently received planning permission.

The reservoir is being funded by Southern Water and developed together with Portsmouth Water. This innovative cross-company agreement will boost resilience and improve the sharing of water supplies across the county. Under the Water for Life – Hampshire programme, we propose to:

• Build a new pipeline to transport more water from Havant Thicket Reservoir to Southern Water’s Otterbourne Water Supply Works, where it will be treated further to become drinking water.
• Top up the reservoir with recycled water to ensure more water is available for public supply, especially during a drought. This will require construction of a water recycling plant and connecting pipelines.

These proposals were not part of the original, approved planning application for Havant Thicket Reservoir. There will be extensive consultation on Southern Water’s plans and any planned activity that requires additional consents will be the subject of further engagement and approvals before the pipeline and water recycling proposals can go ahead. A public consultation is expected to take place in summer 2022 as part of the consenting process.

We’re considering several possible routes for the pipelines that will transfer water from Havant Thicket Reservoir to our Otterbourne Water Supply Works and between our Budds Farm Wastewater Treatment Works, the recycling plant and the reservoir. Your land and/or property is within or near one of these possible routes, known as “corridors”.

A pipeline corridor is a broad area within which an underground pipe could be laid. This area also includes sites where above-ground infrastructure (such as pumping stations, break pressure tanks, construction compounds, access routes and areas for environmental enhancements) could be housed.

Not necessarily. We are in the process of undertaking preliminary surveys that will inform the preferred route for the pipeline, wherever possible avoiding any environmentally-sensitive areas and minimising impacts on residential properties. Generally the land required for the pipeline itself is relatively narrow, however, there will also be land requirements for environmental enhancements (such as to achieve biodiversity net gain) and above-ground infrastructure within the pipeline corridor that will require wider plots of land. The area being surveyed to assess the environmental and other sensitivities is larger than the land that will actually be required for construction and operation.

To help us identify the preferred pipeline corridor and locations for above-ground infrastructure along the route, we need to carry out site surveys to fully understand the environmental and engineering constraints. We may need access to your land to complete these surveys. If this is the case, we’ll contact you to let you know what surveys we’d like to carry out on your land and to ask for your permission and to arrange a suitable date and time.

We’re working with local planning authorities and environmental bodies to help us understand the sensitivities of the area. This will help us identify the preferred pipeline corridor and pipeline route that meets technical requirements whilst avoiding, managing or mitigating any likely significant impacts.

Once we’ve gathered the facts, we’ll compare the suitability of each corridor option against a range of engineering, planning, environmental and other criteria in order to identify a preferred corridor. We will share details of the corridor options that have been considered, as well as the emerging preferred corridor and potential pipeline route options within that corridor, at our next public consultation later in 2022, where customers, landowners and other stakeholders will be invited to give their views on the developing proposals.

A preferred corridor will then be selected and a proposed pipeline route within that corridor will be identified. We will then engage and consult on the selected pipeline corridor and route so that we can seek the views of customers, landowners and other stakeholders and have regard to them as part of finalising our application for consent. We will endeavour to avoid impacting residential properties, wherever practicable.

The current corridors we’re using to determine the survey area have been identified using aerial maps and known constraints, such as environmental sensitivities and designated sites. We’re continuing to gather information about the corridors so we can identify the best performing corridor and pipeline route. This includes carrying out surveys on the ground and will be followed by detailed engagement with local communities and stakeholders in order to inform the route selection process.

Our preference is to seek agreement from landowners, where possible. However, we also have statutory powers to access land if access is refused and is still necessary.

As part of the process to select the pipeline route, we’ll consult with customers, landowners, and stakeholders throughout the design process to seek their views. We will consult on the corridor options being considered and the emerging preferred corridor and pipeline route options within that corridor, at our next consultation, which we expect to take place in summer 2022. Once the selected corridor and pipeline route has been identified, we will again engage and consult with customers, landowners and stakeholders on the updated design and routing proposals. Consultees will be invited and encouraged to give their views throughout this process. We’ll advise you of the date of the consultation nearer the time and will share details of how you can review and comment on the proposals.

We expect to identify an emerging preferred pipeline corridor and route options within that corridor later in 2022. This will be subject to public consultation so that we can have regard to the views of customers, landowners and stakeholders as part of refining the design and location of the pipeline route.

We expect to select the preferred corridor and pipeline route following further public consultation in early 2023. This will then be included in our application for consent, which is currently expected to be made in late 2023.

There will be public consultation and engagement at various stages of the pipeline route selection process as the design is developed. This will include public consultation on a preferred route once this has been identified. There will also be an opportunity to make comments about the application when it’s submitted.

We need contact details so we can make sure we’re speaking with the right individuals about the developments on the project, to ensure we can ask you for your views and so that we can speak with you regarding access for surveys if they are required.

More information is available about our future consultations and the wider Water for Life – Hampshire programme.