Southern Water
Update 26 April - the tankers have gone!
Despite unprecedented levels of groundwater the last tanker left Kimpton village this afternoon and our villages are now tanker free!
Janet Wright
Secretary to the Pillhill Pan Parish Forum
The Pillhill Pan Parish Forum is made up of representatives from Kimpton, Thruxton, Fyfield, Amport, Monxton, Quarley, Abbotts Ann and Upper Clatford Parish Councils. Together the Forum is working with SW to represent resident’s best interests. You may notice that our name has changed. This is because other groups of parishes want to use our model with Southern Water and new Pan Parish groups are being set up. i.e. the Pan Parish River Pollution Forumheaded up by Houghton PC. So in order to avoid confusion we are renaming ourselves the Pillhill Pan Parish Forum so it is clear who and where we are.
Update 8 February - Good progress being made
This week Southern Water completed relining works in Kimpton Village. So with relining already completed in East Cholderton and Thruxton relining teams will move on to Fyfield to start work here next week.
There will be 3 distinct phases of relining work: 1) junction of Fyfield Road and Saddlers Mews up to junction of Dark Lane and Snoddington Road; 2) Snoddington Road along to Stanbury Road Water Pumping Station (WPS); and 3) from the WPS to the junction of Water Lane in Kimpton. Progress will depend on ground conditions and weather but Southern Water hope that this work will be completed by the end of April. Traffic management will be in place between 9am and 5pm week days and a road closure will be required when the team get to the end of phase 1 at the junction of Dark Lane and Snoddington Lane. As always residents will have priority access.
Please take care on the roads. If you have any traffic access issues please report them directly to Glenn McCubbin on 07840 717987 or to your Parish Council.
Is all this relining work making a difference? Well the Pan Parish Forum think it is. As a picture is worth a thousands words take a look at the before and after photo below which shows the impact of locking out groundwater infiltration.
Update 24 February - Village Street, Thruxton closed again next week Monday 26 through to Thursday 29 Feb
between 9am and 5pm on each day to enable 4 more manhole chambers to be sealed. This will complete the manhole sealing in this area.
I know that these road closures are inconvenient and frustrating so I thought I would just explain why it is so important that Southern Water carry out this work.
Groundwater levels are the highest they have been since the 2014 flooding. So you won’t be surprised to hear that most sewer pipes are below groundwater level. As groundwater continues to rise it engulfs the manhole access chambers too. Groundwater puts the access chamber brickwork under great pressure and regular inspection now shows that some manhole chambers are now suffering from groundwater inflitration (see photo). The ‘leaky’ manhole chamber walls must be sealed to lock out this additional groundwater infiltration.
Update 18 February - Village Street, Thruxton closed Wednesday 21 Feb/Thursday 22 Feb
between 9am and 5pm on both days to enable 2 manhole chambers to be sealed.
Update 12 February - Good News Additional tankers removed
Big Glenn has informed me that the additional tankers deployed as a precaution against last week’s storm have been stood down. This means that there are no longer any tankers at Furzedown Lane or Little Ann Bridge Water Pumping Stations (WPSs) or at Manor Farm, Abbotts.
We do still have 5 tankers in Kimpton and 1 at Mullens Pond WPS managing flow but Southern Water hope that the combination of dropping groundwater levels and their relining programme will enable these tankers to be gradually removed.
Update 7 February - Heavy rain forecast so additional tankers being deployed as a precaution
Big Glenn has informed me that because of the heavy rain forecast tonight he is, as a precautionary measure, increasing the number of tankers in the catchment. This will between 11pm this evening and 1pm tomorrow. Hopefully the tankers can be removed swiftly once the storm has passed.
What does this mean? It means 2 tankers will be at the misnamed Furzedown Lane Water Pumping Station (WPS) at the bottom of Wiremead Lane; 2 up the hill at Manor Farm, Abbotts Ann and 2 at Little Ann Bridge WPS. Shame because the tankers at Manor Farm and Little Ann Bridge were stood down last week. The good news is that no additional tankers are deemed necessary at Mullen Pond WPS - the relining in this area has made a difference.
Please be aware that the tankers at Manor Farm will be operating in the road so do take care if you are heading that way.
Don’t forget that if you have any questions about SW’s relining programme or infiltration reduction plans they are holding a drop-in session at Thruxton Memorial Hall this Saturday between 11 am and 2 pm.
Update 1 February - Good news no over-pumping in the Pan Parishes!
In light of improving groundwater conditions Southern Water have confirm today that the mobile treatment over-pumping equipment being set up on Kimpton Green will not be switched on other than to carry out some closed loop testing (which would not see any discharge to the local environment).
There are currently 5 tankers supporting the sewer network and Stanbury Road pumping station and Kimpton PC supported by the Pan Parish Forum have been working closely with SW to minimise disruption to residents. It is hoped that the current spell of dry weather in combination with SW’s continuing relining programme will soon enable the number of tankers to be reduced, not just in Kimpton but throughout the catchment.
Update 10 January - re Wiremead Lane road closure today & tomorrow 10 & 11 January
It’s not closed! Groundwater conditions have worsened & so it is just not practical to do any of the planned manhole access chamber sealing work.
Big Glenn apologises but has had to deploy tankers to help manage flow throughout the area. Whilst groundwater continues to rise there may be additional challenges with flow ahead.
Gritting is taking place in these low temperatures but if the road looks wet please take care in case of black ice.
Update 8 January 2024 - tankers back in Amport and up at Manor Farm, Abbotts Ann
With exceptionally high levels of groundwater & rainwater entering the sewers through manhole covers submerged by floodwater SW are deploying 5 tankers to Amport’s water pumping station & 4 more up at Manor Farm, Abbotts Ann. This is as a temporary measure to help the sewer network cope whilst rainwater work its way off the hills and down through our valleys to the coast - a journey that can take several weeks assuming we have no more rain in the interim.
Take care on the roads, especially where lying water can be treacherous in icy conditions.
Big Glenn from SW apologises for any inconvenience caused. Please report any traffic access issues directly to him on 07840 717987 or to your Parish Council.
Update 5 January 2024 - Wiremead Lane road closures
Southern Water (SW) are working hard to continue their relining programme whilst battling high ground water levels and road flooding caused by the recent storms. Every litre of groundwater that is locked out of the sewer is a good thing but groundwater isn’t just getting into the sewer pipes but also through the brickwork of manhole access chambers. So SW want to seal 4 manhole chambers in Wiremead Lane between Mullens Pond Water Pumping Station & Waterloo Bridge as soon as possible. This will require a road closure but as Hampshire County Council are closing Wiremead Lane overnight on Monday 8 & Tuesday 9 January to carry out carriageway repairs (more information can be found on one.network) SW will start their work after this. So Wiremead Lane will be closed between 9am - 5pm on Wed 10 & Thu 11 January & then again on Mon 15 & Tuesday 16 January except for resident access.
Update 29 December 2023 - Emergency Road closures
Unseasonably high groundwater levels and saturated ground means that continued heavy rainfall is causing flooding hotspots in our villages. Sewer manholes that remain submerged in these hotspots let rainwater into the sewer system negating all the good progress Southern Water (SW) have made so far with their relining programme. Therefore SW have made the decision to seal 3 manholes subject to flooding at the top of Wiremead Lane, under the A303 & at the southern end of Village Street, Thruxton as quickly as possible. SW apologise for the short notice but this work is to take place tomorrow and requires these roads to be closed, accept for resident access.
Update 22 December 2023 - Good News
Southern Water’s (SW) sewer relining programme is really starting to make a difference. Since the relining in Thruxton was completed the pumps at Mullens Pond Water Pumping Station have started to cope without the full time support of a tanker. This means that, despite unseasonably high groundwater, infiltration in our sewers is reducing to a manageable level.
With a flood warning in place and more heavy rain forecast for next week SW knows that it’s premature to state that they have solved groundwater infiltration in our catchment. However they are confident enough in the success so far to:
- reassign the last tanker from Mullens Pond to Kimpton and only have it visit every 5 hours to check that the pumps here are coping, and
- remove the water treatment equipment from the Mullens Pond compound. They did this yesterday, Thursday 21/12/23. This equipment is required when infiltration is so severe that tankers cannot remove the excess flow fast enough and to avoid sewage backing-up into our homes, treated sewage is (over-) pumped into the Pillhill Brook. The last time this happened was over the winter of 2021. The attached diagram shows the positive impact that relining has had on tanker deployment within the Pan Parishes since we became a SW Pathfinder Project at the beginning of 2022.
Relining work has now stopped for the Christmas period and will recommence in Kimpton on Tuesday 2 January 2024. Unfortunately we do still have tankers in Kimpton. They are there to support Stanbury Road Water Pumping Station as its pumps are still struggling to cope with sewage flow.
Take care on the roads, especially in Kimpton where roads are narrow and please report any traffic access issues directly to Glenn McCubbin of SW on 07840 717987 or to your Parish Council.
Rising main burst at Little Ann Bridge resolved - 24 November 2023
Good news the burst pipe, which was actually in Anna Valley some distance behind Greenfield Farm shop, has been fixed. So the tankers have been stood down and the traffic lights at the junction of Foundary Road and Salisbury Road removed - hurray!
So we now have just 2 tankers supporting Mullens Pond Water Pumping Station. This time last year there were 8 so the relining work is making a difference.
Latest Update 24 November 2024 - Road closures in Thruxton next week
Relining work in Thruxton now unfortunately requires road closures. Next week Stanbury Road will be closed between 8am and 5pm on 27 - 29 November, accept for access, from the telephone box at the bottom of the hill up to the fork with Thruxton Hill. The relining team will then move to Village Street where this road will be closed between 8am and 5pm on 30 and 31 November, again accept for access, from Lovell Close up to Church Lane. Unfortunately it is not possible to work around the school runs due to limited daylight hours.
Take care on the roads & be please be civil to Southern Water’s contractors as they are carry out essential maintenance to our sewer network.
Further Update on rising main burst at Little Ann Bridge 20 November
High groundwater continues to make repairing the burst pipe challenging. However Southern Water now have a plan that will enable them to carrying out the repair safely. This will unfortunately mean that the fleet of tankers & 3-way traffic lights at Foundary Road will be with us for a while longer.
Plans to close Wiremead Lane this week have had to be postponed until the burst main has been repaired.
Take care on the roads & if you do have to negotiate the 3-way traffic lights at Foundary Road please be patient, they are working!
Update on rising main burst at Little Ann Bridge 19 November
Big Glenn says SW have located the burst pipe but cannot reach it because groundwater keeps filling the hole & causing the sides of the excavation to collapse. Additional equipment is on its way to address this & make working conditions safe. This will involve pumping groundwater out of the excavated hole & into the Pillhill Brook. This is because the ground is too soft to get a tanker onto the site.
Once the leaking pipe has been uncovered SW will be able to give a better estimate of the repair time. So tankers are likely to be in the villages into early next week & the 3-way traffic lights on Foundary Road will reamin in operation too.
Not an ideal situation but we are where we are. Please be courteous to SW & tanker staff they are just doing their job.
Further Update 17 November 2023
Big Glenn has just informed me of a rising main burst at Little Ann Bridge. In order to prevent further pollution & manage flow additional tankers are being deployed at Mullens Pond, Furzedown Lane (bottom of Wiremead Lane) & Foundary Road (Anna Valley) Water Pumping Stations. Time to resolve unknown at this time but will keep you posted 🙁
Update 17 November 2023
Wiremead Lane will be closed to through traffic next week on 21 - 24 November between 9am & 4pm, to enable Southern Water to seal a number of manhole covers along the lane. With the current high level of groundwater several stretches of the lane are subject to flooding; under the A303 & outside Manor Farm in particular. Whilst flood water is lying on the roads it can infiltrate the sewer network through any submergered manhole cover. With a wet winter forecast ahead of us Southern Water want to ensure that flooding events do not adversely affect their relining efforts.
Update 6 November 2023
Due to the heavy rain caused by storm Ciarán Southern Water have had to put a tanker at Mullens Pond Water Pumping Station to help cope with the excess of ground water currently in the sewer system. This is hopefully a temporary measure until the storm water has had a chance to drain away. Time will tell but it does look as if the storm has accelerated the approach of groundwater season this year.
Big Glenn McCubbin tells me that Southern Water will continue with their relining work for as long as it is feasible & safe to do so. Tankers are also required to divert flow in the sewer section being relined. So tankers will be a feature in the northern villages of Kimpton, Fyfield & Thruxton for the foreseeable future.
Update 25 October 2023
Wiremead Lane Road Closure
Southern Water (SW) apologise but they are going to have to close the road at the top of Wiremead Lane again to carry out urgent repairs the road surface by the White Horse Inn. If you’ve travelled that way over the last few days you will have seen (or felt!) the large pothole there. Unfortunately SW don’t feel this can wait until 30 October when HCC are scheduled to undertaking carriageway resurfacing works here.
The road will be closed either this evening 25 October or tomorrow evening 26 October between 20:00 untill midnight.
Update 13 September 2023
Update on Wiremead Lane road closure
SW are currently resurfacing the road at the top of Wiremead Lane. Big Glenn apologises for the disruption but the amount of GW infiltrating the excaved hole has made the whole operation quite a challenge. The slurry that had to be removed is currenlty piled up in Mullens Pond Water Pumping Station lay-by - it isn’t pretty but SW ’s priority is to repopen the road. Please be patient, it will be dealt with over the next few days.
Update 12 September 2023
Wiremead Lane to be closed overnight
Unfortunately Wiremead Lane will be closed from 8 pm & overnight tonight so that SW can excavate & remove the piece of machinery that is currently stuck in the sewer pipe there. Big Glenn tells me that if this work extends into Wednesday morning access to the villages will be possible via Monxton High Street.
Update 10 September 2023
Good news - Wiremead Lane now reopened. Bad news - a piece of relining machinery got stuck in the sewer pipe on last Friday afternoon and until it can be removed a tanker is needed to control flow. This means that traffic lights are in operation just north of the A303 underpass at the top of the lane. Will post when traffic lights are removed.
Update 4 September 2023
Closure of Monxton High Street Monday 11 September
Monxton High Street will be closed weekdays between 9:30 am & 8 pm from Monday 11 September for several weeks. The closure is necessary to enable Southern Water to complete essential relining of the main sewer here. However to minimise disruption for Amport School parents the road will be reopened each day between 3 - 4 pm.
Please report any traffic access issues directly to Glenn McCubbin of SW on 07840 717987 or to your Parish Council.
Update 23 August 2023
Spill outside Manor Farm, Abbotts Ann had stopped when Southern Water engineers arrived to investigate on 22 August. Water quality testing of puddling on road returned ammonia readings within normal levels.
Update 22 August 2023
Spill reported at top of hill outside Manor Farm, Abbotts Ann. Incident reported to Southern Water (Incident No. 12888129) & engineering team on the way. Hopefully an adjustment of the valves at Mill Lane will resolve the problem & there should be minimal traffic disruption. Will post again when situation resolved.
Update 21 August 2023
Wiremead Lane now closed for the next few weeks between 9 - 5 pm weekdays except for resident access & access to the White Horse Pub. Someone from Highways is manning the closure at the south end of the lane & so will be able to guide traffic accordingly. This closure is necessary to enable Southern Water to continue their essential relining programme.