Repairs to a main pumping station in Ryde are set to continue for at least another two months, meaning a reduced number of parking spaces available at the seaside throughout the Summer holidays.
As originally reported back in February of this year, multiple pumps used to protect homes from flooding failed at Appley Pumping Station, resulting in emergency temporary measures being put in place and a section of Appley car park cordoned off to allow room for the temporary equipment.
Now, some 5 months since the pumps failed, access to a small number of parking spaces remains restricted and is set to continue for a further two months whilst £250,000 of repairs and improvements are carried out. Up until last week, around 20 parking spaces were blocked off (pictured right), however the majority of the temporary equipment has now been removed – two months later than expected.
During normal rainfall, stormwater is held in a 950,000 litre tank on-site and is then pumped back to treatment, however when this fills up and the rain continues to fall, the pumps come into action and release the excess into the Solent after being filtered to remove any solids. Without these pumps, the sewer system could become overwhelmed by rainwater, causing toilets to back up and flood people’s homes.
A spokesperson for Southern Water has told Island Echo:
“We are upgrading the storm pumps with ones that have a higher pumping capacity and are more easily serviced. This will improve the resilience of the station and help protect homes from flooding.
“The temporary pumps are expected to remain in place for another two months or so while the work is completed.”
