Downton and Fordingbridge households to get purer drinking water
Upgrades to Bournemouth Water treatment works will also help 'keep bills low'
A multi-million-pound project is underway to secure even purer drinking water for 500,000 households in the south, including those in Fordingbridge and Downton.
Bournemouth Water is investing £200 million to ensure their population continues to receive high-quality drinking water for the next 50 years.
The project will see both of the company’s water treatment works at Alderney and Knapp Mill upgraded with state-of-the-art technology.
Richard Stanbrook, Bournemouth Water’s Director of Drinking Water, said:
“This new process is groundbreaking, there will be new water quality standards and this treatment process will be able to meet those and actually exceed them.”
Construction at the Alderney water treatment works in Bournemouth began earlier this year and is scheduled to finish in 2025.
As part of the investments, Bournemouth Water will be combining the existing nature-based filtration system at the treatment works with a new innovative and sustainable treatment technology.
Mr Stanbrook told us how the process worked:
“We take water from the River Avon and that's pumped across to Longham where it settles in the lakes and goes through a primary filtration which takes the large bits out.
“The water is then pumped up the hill to the Alderney site and into sand filters which act as a biological treatment and a fine filtration process to the water.”
The new process, however, will take that water and, instead of distributing it directly to the consumer, will filter it even further.
“The water will go through ‘ozonation’ which helps break up the bacteria before it goes through very fine ceramic membranes which basically blocks any bacteria or contaminants,” Mr Stanbrook added, “finally, it gets dosed with chlorine, to kill off anything that is remaining.”
Alongside improved drinking water quality, the advanced treatment process is more sustainable, uses fewer chemicals and generates less waste. The process will also generate fewer operating costs, helping to keep bills low.
The project follows three years of research undertaken by Bournemouth Water to identify the right solution to best meet the needs of the company’s 500,000 customers.
Mr Stanbrook said: “I want to reassure our customers they get high quality water through the technology we use the moment but this brand-new technology deals with viruses and bacteria’s in a much better way.
"It is also better for the future with a smaller chemical footprint and smaller power footprint, it is even more environmentally friendly as well.”