Major lead pipe replacement scheme starts in Deal to improve water quality for households

Preparations are underway to begin work in Deal to replace a number of old water mains across the city.

The work, which begins July 11, will future-proof the water supply by replacing pipes that are reaching the end of their useful life to ensure the local community continues to be served with quality water.

This replacement program also provides a great opportunity to identify and eliminate any lead risk in the network, further ensuring a quality water supply for Southern Water’s customers.

Most water mains themselves are made of cast iron, ductile iron, or polyethylene, but there may be lead fittings or tubing between the main and properties. Exposure to lead can be harmful to health, so we are committed to keeping lead levels in drinking water low.

Kevin Fausset, Senior Project Manager for Southern Water said: “This project is great news for the people of Deal because it involves more than just replacing water pipes. During this work, we will proactively search for and remove old lead elements within the network.

“We will be replacing the water mains along with any lead based ‘communications’ piping that runs from the water main to the property line. If on the job we discover that a customer’s supply line contains lead, we can also replace it free of charge if requested. This is usually the responsibility of the property owner.

“This is an experiment and if successful, we will conduct similar programs in other areas where higher levels of lead are predicted in the network.”

Guy Franklin, Head of Water Quality Compliance, Southern Water, adds: “Deal is a historic town and with a large number of buildings constructed before 1970 we know there is a likelihood of lead being present – particularly in the supply lines of the customers.

“Strict procedures are common practice across the UK and are implemented by all water companies to minimize the impact of lead pipe work on water quality. However, this opportunity to remove lead from the supply should not be overlooked.”

Southern Water and Clancy Docwra will work together on this project and will do everything possible to minimize the impact on residents and visitors. The work will be done street by street rather than all at once, minimizing the impact on each street to about two weeks. The total duration of the program is 24 months. Southern Water apologizes for the disruption this work will cause.

Notes for editors:

See Replaceing old water mains in Deal (southernwater.co.uk) for more details of the scheme

For more information on lead and drinking water, visit our dedicated website.

If a road is affected, customers in the surrounding area will receive a letter with detailed information about what this means for them two weeks before work begins.

Due to works, the water supply of some houses may be interrupted for a short time. If this is the case, this will always be communicated 48 hours in advance.

Southern Water is working closely with Kent County Council Highways to minimize the impact on traffic in Deal, particularly during the busy holiday periods. You can check which streets are affected across the city on the One Network website.

A customer session was held at Deal City Hall on June 16, allowing residents to speak and ask questions with the Southern Water and Clancy teams. If people missed this meeting they can contact Southern Water on 0330 303 0368 quoting reference PRN 730010 or use our online form at Replacing old water mains in Deal (southernwater.co.uk)..

Streets included in the scheme:

street name	street name	street name
Alfred series	Hufschmiedstr	Hufschmiedstr
Alfredplatz	Five Step Alley	Ranelagh Road
anchor alley	George Avenue	Robertstr
Ark Lane	George Street	Sandown Street
beach road	Gilford street	silver road
Beaconsfield Street	Golden Road	Sonde’s street
Blenheimer Strasse	gulf road	south courtyard
Brewer Street	Griffin Street	south street
bridge road	high Street	St Andrew’s Road
wide street	road of hope	St David’s Street
Bulwark Street	Ivy Square	St George’s Passage
cannon road	king street	St. George Street
Capstan series	market street	St Patrick’s Close
century walk	Middle street	St Patrick’s Road
Chapel Street	Nelsonstrasse	Stanhope Street
Clanwilliam Street	New street	Stanley street
Clarence Square	north street	The avenue
college street	Northcote Street	The Marina
Coppinstr	Nordwallstrasse	Unionstrasse
Crown Court	oak road	Victoria Parade
Deal Castle Road	From the depths	Viktoriastrasse
dolphin street	park road	waterway
Douglas Terrace	Peterstr	Wellington Street
Herzogstr	Portebello dish	West Street
Enfield Street	Prince of Wales Terrace	Western Street
stock exchange street	Prince Street

For more information on lead see Lead in water (southernwater.co.uk)

Deal Pathfinder Project:

As a result of a recent report, Southern Water has a separate work program in Deal that supports flood and pollution relief plans.

The Deal Water Action Taskforce (Deal-WAT) report – co-led by Natalie Elphicke MP and Southern Water – shares the findings of engineering investigations to find out why the area, particularly the Albert Road, has been regularly flooded over the years. The work for this started on June 6th. More details can be found here