More than £4million of work to help improve water quality, reduce storm overflows and protect the environment on the Isle of Wight will begin this month.
The project, which will take around a year to complete, is the first of 4 similar schemes, which will all get underway across the Island over the coming months. This will take the total investment in this area to more than £10million.
During this scheme, contractor GTb, which is joint venture between Galliford Try Environment and Binnies UK Ltd, will install new equipment at the Roud Wastewater Treatment Works – adding Ferric chemicals to the process.
These chemicals will further improve and speed up the treatment process, by removing solids quicker. A new sludge storage tank and various new pipework will also be added, and this sludge will be removed from site by tankers.
The Isle of Wight is already home to Southern Water’s Sandown Pathfinder Project, set up to help explore solutions to the water industry’s reliance on a network of storm overflows, designed to stop homes and communities from flooding at times of prolonged rainfall.
Interventions which aim to reduce the amount of surface water entering sewers include the installation of thousands of water butts, investment in treatment processes and capacity, and sustainable drainage systems.
Project Manager for Southern Water, Taniko Aston-Kolek, said:
“We know how important it is to protect and enhance water quality and our precious environment across the areas we serve. These vital improvements at Roud add to the other investments we’re making on the island and the pathfinder project at Sandown to reduce storm overflows.”
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Martin Richards, Project Manager for GTb, added:
“We are pleased to be working collaboratively with Southern Water on this project to help improve the River Yar’s water quality and meet new Environment Agency targets. The work we are doing will help protect the area around Roud.
“This work will involve increased vehicle movements to the site. We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience our work may cause to those people living in the area”.
Roud, most never heard of it as it only has 12 houses or so in it.
Well, I have certainly heard of it… Drive past it each day, lovely little hamlet.
‘The Isle of Wight is already home to Southern Water’s Sandown Pathfinder Project’.
Nice to give it such an ‘important’ sounding title.
Here’s an idea Southern Water…
You have reaped the profits from Customers for YEARS, all to the benefit of Shareholders and other Parties.
Perhaps, just perhaps, IF you had bothered to invest in new infrastructure instead, we would not be in the situation we are now!
How about objecting to new housing developments on the basis that you KNOW the present system cannot cope!
Less publicity sound-bites, more engineering works!
No wonder the water bills are going up .
My house could do with a make over will southern water pay for that
Are they going to significantly increase the size of the pipes, for when the huge housing estate is built.. ?
What we need are more reservoirs so perhaps the Council and SW would get together and discuss this along with the new project of basically stop dumping contaminated waste in the sea. One thing the human race can not live without is water and with the current climate changes the water holding capacity of the mainland to feed the Island will diminish so reservoirs not only for use but nature are as high as the new storm drain project in my opinion.
Good to hear that the waste water treatment at Roud will soon be up to the usual standard implemented in the rest of UK as industry standard for many years.