Severn Trent Water attended the Newark Traffic Summit meeting last Friday to share its plans for a multi-million pound investment in a major new scheme that will protect homes in Newark from sewer flooding.

The water company said the plans are still in the early stages and the work will not be starting until later this year. It is expected that more than 20 kilometres of old pipes will be replaced with new, larger ones over the next three years.

According to Tim Sawyer from Severn Trent Water, there are around 400 properties in Newark that are at risk of sewer flooding, so we’re making this investment in to help prevent it. He said:

“The sewer pipes in the town are just not big enough and, with the changing weather patterns, we’re seeing more rain than we’re used to and the original pipes are now too small to cope with it.  They’ve also grown old – some are more than 100 years old - and it’s important we act now to make sure they’ll be in good working order for years to come to prevent any issues in the future. “

The project is  the largest investment the utility has made in a project to replace sewers in one area for many years.

Severn Trent is currently carrying out extensive investigations and surveys in the local area, as well as working closely with the highways department at Nottinghamshire County Council. 

Specialised tunnelling machinery will be used  to replace the sewers. The tunnels, which are large enough to drive a transit van through them, will reduce the number of roads it has to dig up to install the sewers.

Tim Sawyer said the firm is in the process of appointing a contract partner to carry out the work. Severn Trent will also be replacing water pipes while working in the area.