News

We're working hard to improve the resilience of Birmingham’s water for the future.  Next week, as part of this work, water supplies for the south east of the city will be changing for a few days to test part of a new back-up supply.

‘Brummies’ are proud of their water supply and many people will know that the Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA) has been bringing water from wales for the city of Birmingham
and surrounding suburbs for over 100 years.  What they may not know is that the EVA also provides water for our wider network of pipes which supplies water to thousands of customers right across the region.

We need to carry out regular maintenance on the EVA to make sure it stays in good condition so that future generations can benefit from the wonderful water from Wales. 
This means that from time to time engineers need to get inside the aqueduct so we’ll need to take it out of action for a few weeks each year.

To allow us to do this, we’re creating a new back up water supply for the city which brings in water from the River Severn to keep water flowing for customers.  We’ve
also developed and improved all parts of our network so water can be brought
from right across the region to supplement the city’s water supply during these
maintenance periods.

Next week we’re running a short test on the main pipe which links Birmingham’s water pipes to the rest of our network, to make sure we can pull water into Birmingham from
nine water treatment works outside of the city. 

Carol Bloor, from our community team, explains: “This is a fantastic step forward in significantly improving the resilience of Birmingham’s water supply.  It means we can carry out the vital maintenance work on the EVA, make sure water is always there and have a back-up in case of emergencies.

“During the test the source of the water supplied to customers in the south east area of the city will change for a few days.  However the water will keep flowing as usual and people can just carry on with normal water use.  As water is a natural product, different sources have a different mix of minerals and salts and so some people might notice a slight change in the water.

“We’ve sent out messages to let those customers affected know what’s happening.  We want to reassure everyone that they can carry on using the water for drinking, cooking
and cleaning as they would normally and also how this will mean we can protect the long term supply of water from Wales and give the city a more resilient supply for the future."

There’s tons more information about the project and this work here.  There’s even a book and a video!