Plans for Bexwell to Bury St Edmunds Pipeline capable of transferring up to 20 megalitres of drinking water a day
A massive drinking water pipeline is planned to be built between a West Norfolk village and Bury St Edmunds.
The 55 kilometre Bexwell to Bury St Edmunds Pipeline will be capable of transferring up to 20 megalitres of water a day.
Anglian Water has submitted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) scoping report to outline the scheme to authorities including West Norfolk Council.
In a letter to West Suffolk Council, Natalie Durney-Knight, planning lead at Anglian Water, said it was part of a programme to 'create a series of interconnecting pipelines across the region' which will 'play a key role in meeting long-term water demands'.
The scoping report said the underground pipeline would run north south from a reservoir at Bexwell to a reservoir in Rede, near Bury St Edmunds.
The report notes the region is 'one of driest in the country with just 600 millimetres of rain each year, a third less than the rest of England', while its 'population has grown by 20 per cent in the last 20 years and continues to grow'.
Anglian Water has developed a Water Resources Management Plan which has identified 'requirements for additional water resources comprising water re-use schemes, groundwater sources and new transfer mains, including the Bexwell to Bury St Edmunds Pipeline'.
The report said the main construction work on the pipeline would 'begin and are anticipated to be completed over a period of 16 months, from April 2022 to July 2023'.
It added: "The whole pipeline is expected to be reinstated, tested and commissioned by December 2023."
Above ground structures to maintain water flows and pressure within the pipeline include a new water storage tank, to replace the existing reservoir, and a new pumping station at Bexwell; a new water storage tank and a new pumping station at Kentford; a new pumping station at Isleham; a new water storage tank, to replace the existing reservoir, and a new pumping station at Rede; as well as five kiosks.
