WESSEX Water will be commencing a four-month project to replace over a mile of degrading water main between Bremhill and Ratford this November, bringing their investment in improving the Calne area's supply to nearly £2.5 million since 2023.
The work, which is set to continue until March 2025, is the latest project in the Calne area which will have seen more than six miles of pipe replaced by next summer. Similar works were completed last summer in Bremhill at a cost of £400,000.
Three other projects to enhance water supply in the Cherhill area are due to be concluded by January 2025 at a cost of over £700,000.
Meanwhile, a £500,000 project to replace 1,900 metres of main to the north near Hilmarton will get under way next April.
Wessex Water’s Director of Engineering & Asset Management Eddie Rant said: “All of these projects are essential pieces of work to ensure our customers in the rural areas around Calne can benefit from improved water quality and reduced risk of bursts affecting their supplies.
“Following our five-month project in Bremhill last summer and a number of projects in and around Cherhill, we’re continuing to renew our water main network in this area and indeed Wiltshire, using plastic pipes to replace the existing cast-iron ones.
“Our two-year project to renew water mains through Devizes has also been taking place throughout 2024, with more than £2 million being invested to replace more than two kilometres of the network in the town.
“We’ve written to local customers to advise them about this work (in Ratford) and we’ll be working quickly and safely to get this improvement finished.’’
Teams will move on to Bremhill Lane near Ratford from 18th November to complete the renewal, which is expected to be completed by mid-March, with the section of road affected being closed to through traffic.
Bremhill Lane will be closed to through traffic between the junction with Turfhouse Lane and road into Bremhill village in the north to just south of the hamlet of Ratford while the work is carried out, with a diversion using Turfhouse Lane, the A3102 and Chilvester Hill (A4) in place.
Wessex Water is continuing to invest in the supply network by renewing ageing water mains as well as maintaining and improving facilities that help store and move water around the region to supply its customers, with around £12 million spent each year on a regional network spanning more than 12,000 kilometres.
The company has also proposed its largest ever investment in water and sewerage services – more than doubling its current five-year investment period spend to around £3.5 billion of new investment – as part of its 2025-2030 Business Plan.
The plan, now subject to regulatory approval, includes ambitious proposals in relation to the supply of water to ensure the system can cope with the growing demands from population growth and challenges of climate change.
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