Water supply company Watergrid has claimed that existing canals and rivers could supply water and wastewater to three of the four South East “growth areas” outlined in the government’s Sustainable Communities Plan.
The plan, published in February, proposed 200,000 extra homes in the South East, in four growth areas: Ashford in Kent, Milton Keynes, the Thames Gateway and the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor.
Last week a Commons committee warned that it could take 10 years for water companies to install water sources to meet the plan’s demands.
But Watergrid said that Milton Keynes could be supplied via the Grand Union Canal, with the Thames Gateway and the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor drawing on the River Lee and its associated waterways.
Watergrid chief executive Andrew Jessop said: “Canals and rivers act like linear reservoirs flowing through our towns and cities.
“I’d like to draw the committee’s attention to our South East network, which can offer a sustainable water supply helping to negate the need to install an extensive, time-consuming and costly underground water supply infrastructure.”
Watergrid was launched in November 2002.
It is a joint venture between British Waterways, awg, utility Bristol Water Holdings and Partnerships UK (PUK), the specialist financial institution set up by the Treasury with private sector shareholders to develop public/private partnerships.
References: EGi News 06/05/03
