Chadwick Nick 

We want to express how deeply sorry we are for the recurring issues you've experienced. We understand how devastating and frustrating this must be, and we never want our customers to go through such problems, especially repeatedly.

We're pleased to share that we've received the results of the pipe analysis. The pipe is in very good condition, and the recent burst was caused by ground movement, which is consistent with the analysis from 2022. 

We understand how important it is to help prevent issues like these from happening again, and we’re committed to making the necessary improvements. To help prevent future issues, we will continue to monitor the pipe closely and take proactive measures to address any potential problems before they escalate.

We're happy to let you know that we have short-term mitigation in place. We have installed a permanent high-speed logger on the water pipe, along with an additional acoustic logger. This means we can now quickly identify any leaks in the pipe and respond with repairs before they become serious problems like the ones you’ve experienced before.

Our experts are still actively exploring all available options and conducting thorough checks to ensure we find the best solutions for the medium and long-term.

We're afraid we are still unable to share these details with you. We understand this might be disappointing, but please know that we are committed to keeping you informed, and we will provide an update no later than 13th June.

I’d like to thank you for your patience since our last communication in April, we really appreciate this whilst we continue to work up our mitigation plans.

Since the incident we’ve been focused on finding the right mitigation to help prevent future occurrences of flooding to your homes.

I’m happy to share  with you that we will be installing two actuated valves along with an upstream and downstream insertion meter on the section of pipe between Chadwick Nick Lane and Bullbrige Hill, we’re currently in the design phase to get ready for the work to commence which we’re expecting to be by the end July.

We will be arranging a drop in session so we can talk through the scheme in more detail and we’ll be in touch by the end of June to let you know when this will be.

The insertion flow meters will detect any increased flow of water on this section of pipe which will indicate if there may be a leak. We’ll then be able to operate the actuated valves which will significantly reduce the flow of water to the pipe.

To put this into context, the pipe in question is 24” which has a high flow of water passing through it, the actuator valve will reduce the flow to what you’d expect to see from a 3” pipe which is significantly less. By us being able to operate the actuated valves remotely, it also removes any wait times for an engineer to arrive onsite which we know hasn’t help reduce the impact in previous incidents. We’re confident that by installing the valves and flow meters will stop the risk of flooding to your home.

We are still exploring what our long-term plan is to prevent future bursts from this pipe. It’s important that we make sure that the right solution is put into place, and I’d like to assure you that this is still our highest priority. Our teams will continue to work hard on what the next phase will be.

Just to set expectations, the solution for this isn’t going to be straight forwards and we’re estimating that this will be at least 3 years for the work to begin. However, we are confident that the most recent work will resolve the issues you’ve experienced with flooding to your properties.

We’ll be holding a drop-in session on 16 July. The purpose of this session is so we can discuss the work we’ll be carrying out towards the back end of July to stop the flooding risk to your homes. The session will be held at Fritchley Congregational Church, Chapel Street, Fritchley, DE56 2FR and we’ll be there from 6pm-8pm. If you want to learn more about what we’re doing, please drop in and see us. 

Thank you to all who attended our drop-in session on 16 July, it was great to see you and hear the concerns you have, and we really appreciate the experiences you shared with us.   

We discussed the work which will be carried out to prevent the flooding to your homes, where we’ll be installing two remotely operated actuated valves alongside an upstream and downstream insertion flow meter.

We’re currently in the land and planning stage to make sure we have everything we need to start the work, which we are expecting to begin at the end of August / early September – if there are any changes to this, please be assured that we will communicate this with you.

There were several questions / concerns that we’ve taken away from the session and we have committed to giving you an update within the next 2 weeks - there are some concerns that may take a little longer to get the answers you need, we are committed to keeping you updated and further updates will follow. 

We’d taken away several questions and concerns from you and we’d like to provide you with an update for the ones we’ve been able to answer so far.

What monitoring is currently taking place on Chadwick Nick?

We are currently monitoring the pipe with high-speed loggers which were installed after the most recent burst in January 2025. This will give us an automated alert for any early leak that is detected.

We will also be increasing the amount of physical leakage detection on the pipe where our leakage engineers will walk the length of this on a bi-weekly basis.

What geotechnical analysis has been completed?

Three surveys have been carried out on the pipe, both internally and by an independent assessor which has given the insight into ground movement. We’re now in the process of acquiring ground movement sensors which will give us early warnings of ground movement in the area.

How long will it take for the alarm to be picked up by our Network Control team and how long will it take to press the button to shut the valves?

When the alarm is received into our Network Control team, this will trigger an immediate response for initial assessment. This activity will take, a number of minutes, then they’ll push the button to begin the process of closing the valves remotely.

How long will the actuator valves take to shut?

When the high flow alarm is received, we’ll trigger the process for the valves to start closing, once this has been triggered, they will begin to close within 1-2 minutes.

What we don’t know just yet is exactly how long it will take to fully close the valves. This will be determined at the commissioning phase, once the work to install the valves and loggers has been completed. This is where we will run a mock incident and operate the valves with several different loggers on the network. This will help us understand how quickly the valves can be closed, this is to ensure everything runs smoothly without causing surges on the wider network, which could lead to further bursts and impacts to our customers.

What size leak will the flow meters pick up on?

The logger we have gone with will allow us to set the variance anywhere from plus or minus 2% - we need to make sure we set the sensitivity to the right level which hasn’t been determined yet. This will also be determined at the commissioning phase mentioned above.

How many people will you need on the ground to attend as part of the response?

We won’t need anyone on the ground to isolate the water - this will be done remotely. With the loggers and actuator valves we’re installing we’ll be able to pick up on changes to the flow indicating a leak before the burst gets to the level it has previously.

We’ll still need some manual intervention to operate a small number of valves - this will be to ensure customers are back on water supply as soon as possible. We’ll also have a repair team to fix the leak -you may not see these engineers due to the location of the pipe and valves.

What reduction will there be in the volume of water compared to previous events when you begin operating the valves?

We have installed more acoustic loggers on the network which will allow us to pick up leaks before they happen, so we don’t anticipate there being future events that cause the flooding you’ve experienced previously. However, if this was to occur, we have calculated the risk and volume of water will be reduced by 98%.

We have previously been your highest priority, where will be once this work has been completed for a long-term solution?

Although we’re going to be installing remotely operated actuated valves and loggers to mitigate against the flooding, we’re pleased to confirm you will remain our highest priority.

What will be the distance between the two actuator valves?

There is circa 1km between the two valves.

What solutions have we looked at so far, and why haven’t you gone with this as viable option?

We have investigated several solutions so far which include, completely abandoning this section of water main which wasn’t a feasible option. We have also explored the possibility of slip lining the water pipe, but the maximum size we needed to do this isn’t available also meaning this wasn’t a possibility. We are still considering other design options for the permanent solution.

For the interim solution, we have also explored the option of installing mains powered actuator valves, rather than being battery operated. However, if we were to go with the mains powered actuators, this was going to delay any work by at least six months due to various factors - we didn’t go with this option because we wanted the mitigation is place as soon as possible.

We know there are still some questions outstanding and as soon as we have the answers for you, we’ll be back in touch with you again.