VISIT TO MYTHE WATER WORKS: WORK MUST BEGIN TO SECURE FUTURE WATER SUPPLY

12.07.25pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 17th Sep 2007

Following a visit recently by Liberal Democrat councillors to the Mythe Water Treatment Works near Tewkesbury, Lib Dem councillors are calling for work to begin to secure future water supply for Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.

Flood water overran the Mythe works and caused substantial damage to much of the equipment including the pumps which send the water out to the reservoirs at Churchdown and Hewletts in Cheltenham.

Cllr Roger Brown, Lib Dem shadow cabinet member for Environment said "There is clearly much engineering work that Severn Trent must plan for to protect the Mythe works against future flooding. The temporary wall that was built by the military effort during the flood was a great achievement but this only gives a few years protection. Severn Trent staff worked day and night to get the Mythe works up and running in a record time, they achieved one month's work in just over a week. However, now the company must plan for the engineering on the site that will prevent a similar scale of flooding overrunning the Mythe works."

The Mythe Treatment Works supplies over 100 megalitres of water to Gloucestershire every day. The nearest alternative supplies such as Strensham can only supply a quarter of this capacity, due to the size of the connecting pipeline.

Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Lib Dem leader said: "Critical for the future is planning for alternative supplies of water in case of Mythe being inoperative. The areas supplied by Mythe have other possible sources of water from both Strensham and Mitcheldean. During the recent crisis a limited supply was diverted from Strensham to help Tewkesbury. The Severn Trent water company must start planning for the future to ensure there is capacity to supply Gloucester and Cheltenham as well as Tewkesbury from an alternative source. Many other towns and cities in the Severn Trent area have a back-up alternative supply, Gloucestershire must not be left out in the future."