Wight lines up scheme to shield chalk stream

Southern Water is planning to create a new, sustainable, drought-resistant source of water for the Isle of Wight. This follows the company's plans to reduce abstraction from the “rare and delicate chalk stream ecosystem” of the River Test in Hampshire, which currently provides about one-third of the Isle of Wight’s water supply.

The proposed new resource would come from pumping up to 8Ml of treated wastewater a day into the River Yar at Alverstone via a new pipeline, and taking more water downstream from the Yar to be recycled at the Sandown Water Supply Works during a drought. Southern Water said it is planning to build four similar water recycling plants, including one in Havant that will also help protect the River Test.

Water recycling uses several stages of treatment including reverse osmosis – a process deployed in seawater desalination. The approach has been used around the world for more than 40 years and is now being developed by water companies across England.

Southern Water said it has undertaken, and is continuing, a number of surveys and investigations at the proposed construction site and along the proposed pipeline route. And it plans a public consultation for the winter/early next year to give people opportunities to find out more about the project and have their say on the developing plans. The consultation will be followed by a planning application to the Isle of Wight Council early next year. If approved, construction would begin towards the end of 2025, with the plant operational by 2030.

• Southern Water has claimed that it has prevented 300 storm overflow spills over the past two years on the Isle of Wight. 

It said the island has provided a “perfect testing ground for the use of innovative engineering and nature-based solutions” to stem the need to use storm overflows.

The company said that under its Clean Rivers and Seas Plan it has upgraded pumping stations, installed thousands of water butts in customers’ gardens and partnered with the Isle of Wight council and other key organisations to work together on reducing the use of storm overflows.