Contractors appointed to help build new reservoir for 50,000 people 

Northumbrian Water has appointed a contractor to help it build a new £53 million pound underground reservoir and pipework, in Springwell Village, Sunderland. 

The chosen supply partners are civil-engineering firm, Mott Macdonald Bentley (MMB), who will help construct the reservoir, which will help secure water supplies for 50,000 customers in South Tyneside. 

Construction on the project is expected to start in spring 2023 and complete in 2025.  

Northumbrian Water’s Richard Johnston and Paul Featherstone are the project managers for the scheme. Richard Johnston, said: “This is a huge investment project for us which will play a vital role in ensuring a reliable supply of drinking water for our customers long into the future, and we’re pleased to have MMB on board. 

“We’ll be working closely with them and we’re confident that they will help us to deliver this project to a high standard whilst minimising any disruption to the local area. 

Paul added: “As populations continue to grow, the reservoir will further support the wider South Tyneside area with a more reliable and resilient water supply for many years to come and we’re looking forward to working with MMB to deliver it.” 

The reservoir, which will be the size of four football pitches, will be able to hold 43 million litres of water.  

The project will also involve the construction of a five and half kilometre pipeline, stretching from the new reservoir to the east of Usworth in Washington. 

Plans for the project were first unveiled back in 2019 and customers living nearby will be invited to a customer session in the coming weeks to find out more about the final proposals. 

Our Ref: WN021/0158 Springwell Enhancement Project

Dear Customer

Important information about improvements to your water supply

We want to give you an update on our £43m investment project to create a new underground service reservoir in Springwell Village. This new reservoir along with inlet and outlet pipes will directly supply over 50,000 customers and will allow us to not only continue to provide a reliable supply of top-quality water to Springwell Village but also add resilience to, and future proof, water supplies across Wearside and South Tyneside.

As part of our detailed planning and design for one of the new inlet pipes to the reservoir, we will be carrying out trial hole works in the vicinity of Galloping Green Road, Thomas Street areas, in Eighton Banks. Work will commence on the 28 February for up to one week and there may be short term disruption to the movement of traffic whilst we undertake the works, with local traffic management in place for the duration. A location plan of the areas where we will be working is attached for further information.

Please be aware that your water supplies will not be affected by these works.

Our work & COVID-19

We’re following government guidelines, to keep our teams, customers and communities safe during our work. If u want to ask us a question or simply say hello to any of our site team, please remember to keep a safe distance.  

We thank you for your understanding and co-operation throughout this work. If you require any further information or advice, now or during the work, please contact our Customer Centre on 0345 717 1100 or tweet us @nwater_care to request a call back from the Project Team.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we carry out this work.

Yours sincerely

Richard Johnston

Project Manager

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to those who were able to attend the recent SVRA Village WM Club on the 2nd November, I opened with a statement that NWL going forward would update SVRA and customer on regular basis this is likely to be bimonthly, I touched on updates on current construction activities on the site, for example Hellens progress on the new access road which is now complete with infrastructure and landscaping works to complete before the end of the year, as well as their involvement with the groundworks for the Esh Homes development which has commenced.

Esh Homes will be on site for the next two years.

As for our own planned works NWL have decided that slightly smaller service reservoir can be constructed, as a result we have commenced discussions with the local planners Sunderland City on a variation to the current planning approval, we are well under way with outline designs of the reservoir and inlet/outlet pipes. 

You may of noticed that we have mobilised to the reservoir site in the last few days with a specialist ground investgation (GI) contractor who will on site for three weeks collecting data which will inform and allow us to develop design for construction later on next year.

I will be updating the SVRA on the village WM Club again on the evening of the 14th December on progress and will update on the concerns raised on the 2nd November.

Many Thanks

Richard Johnston

Project Manager

Morning Everyone,

I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce myself on the back of Andy's post on Friday.

I'm Amanda Hunt, Customer Care Manager and part of the Northumbrian Water's team for this project 

To provide you with an update about our proposals letters were sent out on Friday to some 1200 customers inviting all to a drop in session on Tuesday 19 June 2018 at Springwell Social Club.

I cant make this event but the rest of our project team are really looking forward to meeting you and if you are available please pop along and say "Hello". 

If you can't make it you can always use the 'Contact us' button at the top of this page if you have any queries or would like to speak to us. Whichever way is best, we'd really like to hear from you.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Amanda

Hi

Looking forward to meeting Springwell residents on Tuesday 19th June at Springwell Village Social Club to hear your views on our plans for a covered reservoir for storing treated water. We'll be there from 2pm to 7pm so please drop in at some point if you're able.

Andy