Capital Investment 2005/6 to 2009/10
At the fourth periodic review, OFWAT determined that South Staffordshire Water required £113m of capital investment during the five year AMP4 period 2005/6 to 2009/10 to enable the company to maintain the high standards of service provided to customers.
Around £82.5m is planned to be invested in replacing worn out assets as detailed below.
£41m on replacement of underground assets. This comprises mainly replacement of water mains and the connection pipes from the main to the boundary of customer properties. The company is targeting the water mains that burst the most as they cause the highest level of unplanned disruption to customers’ water supplies and nuisance to the general public. Replacing these poor condition mains will also reduce the amount of water that leaks from the mains system. Water can be leaking from mains that do not visibly burst and these mains will be replaced as we discover them through our leakage detection activities. We expect to replace in excess of 300km of main over the period.
£41.5m on replacement of above ground assets. This investment comprises the replacement or major refurbishment of assets associated with the production of drinking water and the transmission of water to customers. This mainly relates to :
- Abstraction of raw water from the River Severn at Hampton and from groundwater boreholes spread throughout the company’s area of supply.
- Treatment plant at Hampton Loade and Seedy Mill surface water treatment works and at groundwater sources.
- Pumping stations that pump the water into the underground pipework system and to drinking water storage reservoirs.
- Drinking water reservoirs that store water to meet periods of high customer demand.
- Investment in this area also includes the replacement/major refurbishment of buildings, vehicles, portable plant and equipment, IT systems and office equipment.
The remaining £30.5m will be invested in additional assets over half of which, primarily water mains, relates to providing water supplies to new domestic and commercial developments whilst maintaining service levels to existing customers. To help in detecting leakage from the mains system, we will invest in completing the installation of district meter areas which will enable us to effectively target water leakage detection activities and mains replacements.
The company produces high quality water from its various sources which meets all current standards and it is expected that this will be maintained without the need to invest in further treatment processes. Water conditioning is carried out at source works to reduce the tendency for lead, from lead connection pipes, to dissolve into the water and the effectiveness of water conditioning is under review with the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Following completion of the review, the company will invest in replacing lead connection pipes if found necessary but the numbers are expected to be small.
The company takes environmental issues of low flows in rivers and streams seriously and is undertaking investigations, with the assistance of the Environment Agency, of flows in the Spittle Brook. The results of the investigations will determine the need for future works to improve flows in the brook.