Southern looks to desalination to cut chalk stream abstraction

Southern Water is seeking views on its proposed Fawley desalination plant, as part of a wider strategy to secure supplies while leaving more water in chalk streams the Test and Itchen.

The company’s Water for Life – Hampshire programme plans to “revolutionise the way it sources, treats and supplies water across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight over the next decade”. Southern has pledged to take significantly less water from the rivers to protect wildlife during dry weather and drought – a commitment that leaves it with a shortfall of up to 190 million litres of water a day during a 1-in-200 year drought. It also has its eye on further expected reductions which, during a drought, could lead to the loss of about 80% of the water required to supply Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Through Water for Life – Hampshire, the company is seeking planning consent for its central plan – a desalination plant in the Fawley area which will produce up to 75 million litres of water per day.

The consultation also considers back-up alternatives in case desalination proves undeliverable, including alternative sizes of desalination plant, different configurations of water recycling plants and a possible additional bulk transfer of water from the proposed Havant Thicket Reservoir, which Southern Water is co-developing with Portsmouth Water.

The improvements are intended to both secure future water supplies for customers and help protect the Test and the Itchen which have rare and precious ecosystems but, with their

associated underground aquifers, also serve as the main source of water for more than 700,000 people as well as private abstractors.

Until plans are agreed, Southern said the area is at risk of water shortages, and that it may need to apply for drought permits or drought orders to ensure customers’ supplies are maintained. It is developing a £9.5 million suite of environmental monitoring and improvement projects to offset the potential environmental impact of drought permits and drought orders in the meantime. These include monitoring of wildlife including fish, breeding birds and Southern Damselfly, and restoring rivers to more natural states by removing man-made barriers.

Southern Water chief, Ian McAulay (pictured), said: “Water for Life – Hampshire is our commitment to go to even greater lengths to strike the balance between protecting the environment and serving a growing population…This wide-ranging programme is the first of its kind in the UK and gives us an opportunity to help redefine how we think about water in a more holistic and sustainable way and create examples for the future.”