Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | AUGUST 2015 | 17 Project focus Water resource management Building resilient supply for Birmingham Project focus S evern Trent is finalising plans for one of its biggest ever infrastructure projects, a £242M scheme to develop an alternative water supply for Birmingham to complement the Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA). The aqueduct, completed in 1904, carries water using gravity from the JAMES BROCKETT EDITOR WATER & WASTEWATER TREATMENT ● Severn Trent scheme to develop alternative source of water for England's second city ● P roject will allow Elan Valley Aqueduct to be closed for maintenance ● Construction for £242M project to start next summer ● Birmingham is currently dependent for its water on the Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA) but this needs to be maintained regularly to prolong its asset life ● An alternative supply is needed if the EVA is to be shut down for long enough to repair it effectively ● Using River Severn water instead of Elan Valley water requires a new treatment stream at Frankley to deal with pesticides and turbidity • Drivers for longer than three days at a time. With substantial repairs likely to be required at some point, Severn Trent has drawn up plans for an alternative supply route which could provide security of supply and allow the EVA to be shut down for more lengthy periods. The Birmingham Resilience Project will create a new abstraction point and pumping station on the River Severn, at Lickhill Quarry near Stourport. Water will then be pumped along a new 25km pipeline, through pipes with a 1m diameter, to Frankley Water Treatment Works. "What this solution gives us is a new source, the Lickhill intake, which will take water from the River Severn at Stourport and pump it into Frankley," says Severn Trent project manager Simon Hinsley. "It won't provide an entire duplication of the capacity of the aqueduct, but it will give us about a third of what we need. Some other flow will come from our existing site at Trimpley, where we are making a cross connection to allow Trimpley water to flow into the EVA." While this Trimpley intake will still use a section of the EVA east of the River Severn – the East Free flow – it will leave the western section able to be shut down and maintained (see diagram). The West Free flow, which has a single watercourse, is the critical section for maintenance as the eastern section contains multiple watercourses and is therefore inherently more resilient. "Those two sources will give us about two thirds of Birmingham's demand," continues Hinsley. "The Elan Valley Reservoirs in mid Wales to Frankley Reservoir and Treatment Works in Birmingham, providing the vast majority of the city's water. Although the EVA is generally in good condition for a 100-year-old asset, Birmingham's reliance on it means it is currently impossible for the aqueduct to be closed for repairs

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