News

Severn Trent has started work to refurbish two century-old boreholes in Wolverhampton, to ensure customers continue to receive a reliable supply of drinking water in the area.

The water company is investing over £6 million to refurbish water supply boreholes at pumping stations at Bratch, built in the late 1800’s and Dimmingsdale, built in the early 1900’s.

The multi-million pound project also includes plans to drill brand new boreholes at the same locations, to provide greater resilience and avoid any supply interruptions to customers.

Boreholes, often drilled hundreds of metres into the ground, provide access to a source of naturally filtered water that is collected in an underground layer of water-bearing rock, known as an aquifer.

After years of being slowly filtered through layers of rock, it is pumped to the surface, needing very little treatment before it reaches people’s homes, because of its high quality.

Severn Trent’s Ian Hodgkiss, programme manager for the project, said: “To ensure our customers continue to receive a reliable supply of drinking water in the area, we need to carry out vital refurbishment work on our boreholes at Bratch Locks and Dimmingsdale Road, which have been serving the people of Wombourne and Wolverhampton for over 100 years. It’s now beginning to show its age, which is why we have decided to carry out this renovation work.

“In order for us to carry out this work, without interrupting supply to our customers, we’re drilling new water supply boreholes as part of the same project.”

Ian added: “New boreholes at Bratch and Dimmingsdale Pumping Station will secure water supplies in the area for the next 80 years, allowing us to access this wonderful and naturally filtered water with greater ease.”

Work to complete the new boreholes and renovate the existing ones is expected to be complete by March 2020.