Affinity Water has now completed an extensive programme of mains flushing on Romney Marsh following a £4 million upgrade of its Denge Water Treatment Works.

The flushing programme has removed a build up of sediment which could cause discolouration of supply in mains serving around 8,700 properties have been flushed in New Romney, Lydd-on-Sea, Littlestone and Greatstone.

Operations Manager Tony Whitehouse says that local water sources contain naturally occurring iron and manganese which led to the build up of sediment.

 He said:

“We developed a two stage plan to minimise the build up of sediment in the future. First we undertook a £4m upgrade of Denge Water Treatment Works and installed new equipment which more effectively removes iron and manganese. We then followed this up with the flushing programme. Together these moves will substantially reduce the chances of discolouration occurring in future.”

The water company has more than 1,000 kms of mains pipes in its network in the Folkestone and Dover area with a rolling programme of mains maintenance and replacement planned.