3 September 2014

A customer exhibition is keeping local residents up-to-date with developments in the drilling of three boreholes.

Costain is carrying out work at the Severn Trent Water (STW) Edgbaston Depot as part of the Birmingham Resilience Scheme – the drilling and testing of several boreholes in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham that can be used to provide locally produced water to customers in Birmingham.

Edgbaston has been identified as a source of water that could add five million litres per day to the Birmingham public water supply. Costain drilled a pilot borehole at the Edgbaston Depot site in the first phase of the scheme that got underway in 2011. In phase two of the works that began in 2013, the Costain team drilled two production boreholes. In 2014, the existing observation borehole was decommissioned as it was deemed unsustainable and Costain is now carrying out pump testing on the remaining three. This phase is expected to last until Summer 2015.

“The close proximity of residential housing to the works makes communication with the local residents vital,” said Michael Josephs, Graduate Site Manager, who hosted the exhibition along with Khuram Rafiq, STW Programme Manager. Local people also receive a regular newsletter keeping them updated on the progress of the works and Michael conducts regular site visits with the local residents as the work continues.

One visitor who skipped the site tour however was Maddie the Mallard, a duck who took up residence in the straw bales brought onto site to act as sound barriers. When Maddie laid a clutch of eggs the construction work programme was amended, without extending time on site, to keep her and her nest safe.

The ducklings were born with perfect timing on a Friday evening. When they left the nest a few hours later Michael kept an eye on their progress across the compound and reports that they all made it safely into the water.

Ends

 

Enquiries:

Costain 
Tel: 01628 842 444
Graham Read, Communications Director 

Instinctif Partners
Tel: 020 7457 2020
Helen Tarbet