A village known for frequent flooding is set to have its sewers relined. Southern Water said it is carrying out major work in East Dean, near Chichester, to prevent more groundwater flooding. The project, which will cost £1 million, will see the sewers relined across the area and patching work carried out.
READ MORE: 'Unfair' Southern Water 91 per cent price increase slammed This is to stop the village flooding during periods of wet weather, with last winter being one of the wettest on records. A spokesman for Southern Water said: "The village has very chalky ground, which acts as a sponge for all the extra rain we’ve had this year. "The ground can only absorb so much rain and once it’s done so, the extra water starts to squeeze its way into our network through cracks in the pipes.
"This is known as groundwater infiltration and too much of it can quickly overwhelm the system." Southern Water said the work will help future-proof the network in this village and the surrounding areas. The company said it will mean the area will be less at risk of flooding as less groundwater will enter the sewage network.
Storm overflows will therefore not need to be used as frequently. Alex Saunders, head of wastewater networks, said: "Some of the past groundwater levels in this area in the last two years have been some of the highest we have ever seen and pose a real challenge to tackle. "We know this is a problem for East Dean and villages in this area and we hope by extensively relining sewers in this area we can protect homes from flooding.
" The project comes after Southern Water announced huge improvements at a wastewater treatment site in East Hoathly, near Uckfield. The work, which is set to cost almost £2 million, will involve building a new storm tank. This is to increase the site's capacity so it can treat more flows, especially during and after wet weather.
Director of wastewater operations at Southern Water, John Penicud, said: "Storm tanks are one of a variety of important engineering solutions in our commitment to cut storm overflows. "This helps us keep these flows on site, rather than it being released into the environment.".
