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Coventry’s water network is set for an upgrade in May, as Severn Trent prepares to kick off a £1.8m investment that will see aging water pipes in the city replaced - while also rolling out its ambitious Green Recovery programme to Coventry.

The company will begin work to replace its own water pipes in the CV1 area of Coventry, starting on Acacia Avenue just off the London Road. Teams will then work in phases towards Gosford Primary School. 

At the same time as carrying out the essential upgrades on its network, Severn Trent is also offering customers where work is already taking place to have their old, lead or leaking supply pipes replaced for free as part of a £76m supply pipe replacement scheme for Coventry. 

The company says that replacing the aging water pipes will ensure fewer leaks and problems for customers, ensuring they have a reliable water supply – with the added benefit of a free supply pipe replacement, something that would be a customer responsibility to fix should anything go wrong. 

It's now hosting community drop in sessions for customers in this area and the wider area, to come find out more about both projects, where it will be at St. Anne and All Saints’ Community Church, Acacia Avenue, Coventry, CV1 2AN on Thursday 14th April 2022 and then again on the 21st and 28th of April.

Callum Sproull, Green Recovery Project Manager at Severn Trent said: “This is a really exciting time for Coventry, as through this capital investment, and our Green Recovery programme we’re really making sure that that the water network in Coventry is up to date, and in the best possible condition. The older pipes get, the more likely they’re to cause problems and by replacing them we can make sure that the chances of anything going wrong, is massively reduced. And while we know that to do this we will need to close some roads, we wanted to make the most of that and reduce any potential future disruption, which is why we’re rolling out two projects at the same time to bring double the benefits, with minimal disruption.

”Severn Trent has begun rolling out an ambitious lead pipe replacement scheme in Coventry, where it is set to replace 25,000 customer owned lead or leaking supply pipes. 

The project is part of the company’s wider Green Recovery programme, and it is looking to replace the customer owned pipes in a pilot for the city, at the same time as renewing the water pipes in the area to reduce disruption, and create a fully up to date, reliable and better network for customers.

Teams from Severn Trent will be at St Anne and All Saints’ Community Church between 15:00 and 19:00 on Thursday 14th April to talk about the projects, and allow people to register their interest in having their lead pipe replaced for free.The team will be returning the following two Thursdays so will also be at the church on 21st and 28th of April 

“So this project can run as efficiently as possible, we will be working in stages starting from Acacia Avenue, and finishing near Gosford Park Primary School near Humber Avenue,” says Callum. “While we will definitely be replacing the main pipes in the road, in order to replace the customer supply pipes we need people to let us know they’re interested, and we can do the rest which is why we’ll be at the community church so people can some down and have a chat with us face to face about the project and benefits.”

For the company to replace the customer’s supply pipes, customers will need to sign up and the team will carry out an inspection so the work can take place at the same time. 

Callum adds: “We’re going to be out and about in this area of the city over the coming months, and will be visiting communities to let them know about this exciting opportunity for them and how they can get involved. We know due to the ages of the homes in this area, that the likelihood that the pipes are lead are high, which is why we’re focussing on signing up customers here as we know they will be able to not only have a main water supply they can rely on, but also their own supply pipe will be upgraded too.”

Severn Trent is encouraging those in Coventry who may benefit from a new supply if they have an old lead or leaky pipe, to register and find out more info here stwater.co.uk/coventrylead.