RAPID clears continued funding for four water resource schemes

RAPID has cleared four strategic water resource schemes to continue through to the next stage of its gated assessment process, and to continue to receive funding for further investigation.

Two projects – Hampshire water transfer and water recycling, proposed by Southern Water and Portsmouth Water, and Water recycling in Hampshire, proposed by Southern Water – will now progress to accelerated gate three. RAPID confirmed a further proposal in Hampshire for a desalination plant in Fawley, which had been considered at gate one, will not progress any further.

Meanwhile, newcomer schemes – the Upper Derwent Valley Reservoir Expansion proposed by Severn Trent and Yorkshire Water, and the Mendips Quarries solution proposed by South West Water and Wessex Water – will progress to standard gate two.

RAPID highlighted the following key points:

• more needs to be done by Southern Water and Portsmouth Water to help customers understand the water recycling process including how reverse osmosis filtration of treated wastewater turns it into clean water;

• Southern Water needs to do more to progress environmental and water quality monitoring;

• the Derwent Valley has doubled in size and budget from the original proposal, due to the need to reduce abstraction levels in the Midlands; and

• the Mendips quarry proposal is innovative in form and has a much smaller carbon footprint than any of the other solutions.