About Havant Thicket Reservoir

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Why do we need a new reservoir?

Havant Thicket Reservoir is first and foremost an environmentally-led project.

Its purpose is to protect some of our country’s rarest chalk streams – the River Test and the River Itchen.

Southern Water, which supplies our neighbours in West Sussex and Hampshire, is taking steps to protect these rivers by reducing the amount of water it takes from them. This means it needs to find new sustainable sources of water to maintain water supplies to its customers in the Hampshire region.

Portsmouth Water is in a position to help with this major challenge. This is because of the large number of natural springs in the Havant area which provide 30 per cent of the company’s water. These springs deliver a high quality, sustainable supply of water all year round and are thought to be the largest individual source of spring water in Europe.

In the winter, and during periods of high rainfall, there is a surplus of water from the springs over and above what Portsmouth Water needs for its own customers and this surplus flows straight out to sea. We can make better use of this excess water by storing it in the Havant Thicket Reservoir and using it to facilitate a bulk supply to Southern Water.

This will enable us to share water from our network with Southern Water and make water supplies much more resilient across the whole region.

You can find out more about the Havant Thicket Reservoir project by clicking on the links below, as well as the further links at the top of this page. There's also lots of information in our Q&A on this page. Plus, you can download and read our reservoir Design & Access Statement - it's available in the Documents section of this page.

Please note that the current approved plan for the reservoir has no element of recycled water associated with it. Together with Southern Water, we are exploring options for the future, which might include adding recycled water to the reservoir, but these options are subject to further consultation and planning approval. For more details, please click here.

What else we are doing to safeguard water supplies

It’s important we make the best use of the supplies we already have, so we can leave as much water as possible in rivers and the ground to support our environment and wildlife. Filling the reservoir with water which would normally flow out to sea in winter is one way to do this. However, we’re also planning to become more efficient with our existing supplies, as discussed below.

  1. Leakage - It makes complete sense to you and to us that we lose as little water as possible through leaks. So, we’ve set ourselves challenging targets to reduce leakage by 20 per cent by 2025 and by 50 per cent by 2050. During 2020/21, we drove down the amount of water lost through leaks on our pipes by nearly a fifth, to the lowest on record.
  2. Saving water - We’re also helping our customers to use water more efficiently in their homes. Currently our customers have high personal water use (148 litres per person per day), but we want to reduce this to 135 litres by 2025 and to 100 litres by 2050. We’ll do this by sharing advice and water-saving products. Find out more by clicking here.
  3. Metering - We’ll also be encouraging more customers to have water meters installed – particularly where this will save money on their water, wastewater and energy bills. We’re planning to install 3,000 'smart' meters by 2025 to give customers much more information on their water use and opportunities to save. Find out more about switching to a meter by clicking here.

Why do we need a new reservoir?

Havant Thicket Reservoir is first and foremost an environmentally-led project.

Its purpose is to protect some of our country’s rarest chalk streams – the River Test and the River Itchen.

Southern Water, which supplies our neighbours in West Sussex and Hampshire, is taking steps to protect these rivers by reducing the amount of water it takes from them. This means it needs to find new sustainable sources of water to maintain water supplies to its customers in the Hampshire region.

Portsmouth Water is in a position to help with this major challenge. This is because of the large number of natural springs in the Havant area which provide 30 per cent of the company’s water. These springs deliver a high quality, sustainable supply of water all year round and are thought to be the largest individual source of spring water in Europe.

In the winter, and during periods of high rainfall, there is a surplus of water from the springs over and above what Portsmouth Water needs for its own customers and this surplus flows straight out to sea. We can make better use of this excess water by storing it in the Havant Thicket Reservoir and using it to facilitate a bulk supply to Southern Water.

This will enable us to share water from our network with Southern Water and make water supplies much more resilient across the whole region.

You can find out more about the Havant Thicket Reservoir project by clicking on the links below, as well as the further links at the top of this page. There's also lots of information in our Q&A on this page. Plus, you can download and read our reservoir Design & Access Statement - it's available in the Documents section of this page.

Please note that the current approved plan for the reservoir has no element of recycled water associated with it. Together with Southern Water, we are exploring options for the future, which might include adding recycled water to the reservoir, but these options are subject to further consultation and planning approval. For more details, please click here.

What else we are doing to safeguard water supplies

It’s important we make the best use of the supplies we already have, so we can leave as much water as possible in rivers and the ground to support our environment and wildlife. Filling the reservoir with water which would normally flow out to sea in winter is one way to do this. However, we’re also planning to become more efficient with our existing supplies, as discussed below.

  1. Leakage - It makes complete sense to you and to us that we lose as little water as possible through leaks. So, we’ve set ourselves challenging targets to reduce leakage by 20 per cent by 2025 and by 50 per cent by 2050. During 2020/21, we drove down the amount of water lost through leaks on our pipes by nearly a fifth, to the lowest on record.
  2. Saving water - We’re also helping our customers to use water more efficiently in their homes. Currently our customers have high personal water use (148 litres per person per day), but we want to reduce this to 135 litres by 2025 and to 100 litres by 2050. We’ll do this by sharing advice and water-saving products. Find out more by clicking here.
  3. Metering - We’ll also be encouraging more customers to have water meters installed – particularly where this will save money on their water, wastewater and energy bills. We’re planning to install 3,000 'smart' meters by 2025 to give customers much more information on their water use and opportunities to save. Find out more about switching to a meter by clicking here.

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    Will people be able to canoe on the reservoir?

    Caden227 asked over 1 year ago

    Thank you for your interest in the Havant Thicket Reservoir project.

    We’ve carefully considered a range of potential leisure activities at the reservoir site, including water sports, such as sailing and canoeing. The overwhelming feedback we’ve received, both from written surveys and discussions with the local community, has been not to offer large-scale public water sports, including canoeing, at the reservoir.

    This was because it would feel like a much busier place, attract more people and put greater strain on the environment, facilities and local communities. We are, however, open to conversations with specialist partners about providing activities, which could include canoeing, on a small scale in non-public sessions, e.g. for schools or youth groups.

    We can also confirm that it will be 2028-29 before the reservoir is built and filled with water and we’ll continue our discussions with local communities about what activities they would like to see in the years ahead.