Work to resume on delayed 205-mile water pipeline

A water company has said a section of a 205-mile (330km) pipeline will be completed next year.

Anglian Water's £500m pipe has been designed to take 55 million litres (12 millions gallons) per day from North Lincolnshire to Essex.

The pipeline, which was announced in 2019, has faced several delays, but work on sections from Elsham to Grantham is expected to resume in the spring and be completed by the autumn of 2026, the company said.

Meanwhile, work on the Grantham to Peterborough section will resume in summer 2026, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Pumping stations will be built at Welton, Waddington and Welby.

Lincoln's Westgate water tower will also be upgraded, and a storage reservoir will be constructed at Welby.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water said the construction of the pipeline had been impacted by "significant challenges" over the last few years, including steel supply issues, the wettest winter on record last year and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the original application, the company stated: "The east of England is officially classed as 'water stressed' meaning we must make careful use of this precious resource to balance supply and demand in the region.

"To tackle this challenge, Anglian Water is taking a twin-track approach to planning for the future, reducing demand through reducing leakage, installing smart meters and investing in water efficiency measures whilst also looking at new ways to supply water, reducing the amount of water taken from rivers and boreholes."

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