SOUTHERN Water has had positive feedback on a £1.3bn scheme to reduce the amount taken from the county's chalk streams.

The water company is consulting the public over plans to build a pipeline from Havant to Otterbourne to transport recycled water.  It will reduce pressure from the water currently taken from the Test and the Itchen.

The project involves building a new water recycling plant south of Havant to turn treated wastewater into recycled water. This will be transferred via a new underground pipeline to the proposed Havant Thicket Reservoir.   They will transfer it, via a new pipeline, to the Otterbourne Water Supply Works, where it will be treated further to become drinking water.

Southern Water has held a series of consultation events, with one at Jubilee Hall, Bishop's Waltham, on Saturday, June 22 attracting around 100 people. The latest round of public consultation ends on July 23.  The next stage will be an application for a Development Consent Order over the next two years. Construction wouldn't start until 2029 with the system up and running by around 2034.

Sam Underwood, strategic water resources engagement lead, said: “The feedback has been overwhelmingly supportive in the four consultation events we have run so far.

“What's really encouraging is that people recognise the need for the project. They know and understand that we need to take less water from the environment and create a new source of water through recycling is the way to do that. There have been lots of detailed questions from people about where they are on the map in relation to the project and that is exactly what this type of event is all about. We have blown up images of all the sections of the pipeline to show exactly where it goes. It has been encouraging to hear from people of all generations recognising the need to protect the environment and keep the taps flowing.”

He added: “People recognise the need for the project and they understand that they need to protect the Test and the Itchen.

“We're currently wasting 1,500 litres a second. We have a shortfall of 166m litres a day. So taking some of the treated waste water that takes around 14-16 hours to be treated and will go through a new water recycling plant.

“We would expect construction to start in 2029 and we would expect the project to be up and running by about 2034.”

For more details, visit www.hampshirewtwrp.co.uk .

Hampshire Chronicle 27th June