Havant Thicket Water Reservoir: Key step taken at ground breaking ceremony for site
The first major step to create a new water reservoir at Havant Thicket has taken place with a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the transition from the preparation to construction phase.
More than 70 guests gathered on the site of the new reservoir to watch chairman of Ofwat, Iain Coucher, and Environment Agency area director, Simon Moody, mark the start of main construction works by putting spades in the ground. They were joined by chief executive of Portsmouth Water, Bob Taylor, chief executive of Southern Water, Lawrence Gosden, and Esther Boafo, an apprentice working on the project, as well as pupils from local schools.
The ceremony marks the start of a new phase of the project, which was first approved in 2021, and is one of nine being constructed to help meet the country’s water needs with a changing climate and growing population putting a strain on resources.
When it is completed it will be about a mile long (1.6km) from east to west and half a mile wide (0.8km) from north to south - occupying the space to the north of Staunton County Park.
The project is being built and operated by Portsmouth Water and paid for over time by Southern Water’s water supply bills. Under current plans, Portsmouth Water customers would receive water from the reservoir during a drought. This would enable the company to share water with neighbouring Southern Water in the west, allowing less to be taken from the Test and Itchen.
Bob Taylor, Chief Executive of Portsmouth Water, said that the team has spent the past two years preparing the site and clearing it, as well as creating a new access road and removing or relocating flora and fauna.
He explained that while there was a need to make sure the reservoir would provide the water needed by local people over the coming decades, the project was ‘environmentally-led’ to ensure that water is not unnecessarily taken from chalk streams.
He said: “This is the first major UK reservoir to be constructed in more than 30 years and I am incredibly proud that Portsmouth Water is delivering the project.
“It will probably take around three or four years to build, we have some difficulties with ground conditions that we are working our way through at the moment, but its about that scale of duration. Then it could take another three years to actually fill up with water.”
Preparation work for the project began shortly after planning permission was granted, with much of the water to fill to come from Bedhampton Springs which currently runs out to sea in the winter moths. However local concerns have been raised about some the details of the proposals which have emerged more recently.
As previously reported by The News, permission is now being sought to top up the reservoir with treated wastewater which water bosses say would use advanced treatment techniques to turn it into purified recycled water because it is added.
If approved, the Southern Water Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project could increase the amount of water available in the reservoir from 21 million litres of water a day to up to 111 million litres a day.
Lawrence Gosden, Chief Executive of Southern Water, said the reservoir project was ‘an essential part of our plans to create a new resilient water supply for the South East’ but said that he was ‘sensitive to people’s concerns’.
“But in truth this is technology which is used around the world,” he added. “Famously in Australia after the ten year drought, they have fully embraced using recycled water as a necessary part of being resilient to drought in the future.
“It’s essential that we leave more water in the environment and protect Hampshire’s chalk streams, while also catering for climate change and population growth. Overcoming these challenges means developing new robust and resilient water supplies for us and future generations.”
Iain Coucher, chairman of Ofwat, said the project was ‘leading the way as the first of a pipeline of major new water resource projects that are crucial to addressing challenges brought on by climate change and population growth.”
He added: "This marks an important milestone on the journey to securing long-term water resilience for a significant area of southern England, whilst protecting and improving the local environment at the same time.
Once complete, Havant Thicket Reservoir will hold up to 8.7 billion litres of water, and under the currently approved plans supply 21 million litres per day in long periods of dry weather. This is in addition to being a new, green leisure hub for the area, with a visitor centre, wetland and network of footpaths, cycle routes and bridleways.
The reservoir itself is being constructed by Future Water MMJV Ltd – a joint venture between leading civil engineering contractors Mackley and Jones Bros, which have a combined total of over 150 years of experience in tackling complex and challenging civil engineering schemes.
For more information about Havant Thicket Reservoir, visit https://havant-thicket-reservoir.uk.engagementhq.com/
To find out more about the water recycling scheme, known as the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project (HWTWRP) at www.southernwater.co.uk/about-us/our-plans/water-recycling/