FAQs

Once complete, Broad Oak Water will be the second major reservoir to be built in the south east in the last three decades. The reservoir will have an estimated capacity of 5,126 million litres of water (which is 29.3 million standard baths) and from the mid-2030s, will be able to supply up to 22 million litres per day.

Based on an average output of 15 million litres per day, Broad Oak Water could serve approximately 45,000 homes (this is based on the average amount used per person is 150 litres per day and 2.3 people per home). The water will supply areas of Canterbury, as well as Whitstable and Seasalter.

Raw water will be abstracted from the Little Stour at West Stourmouth and the Great Stour, at either Plucks Gutter or north of West Stourmouth, and pumped along a pipeline (approximately 13km) to the reservoir for storage. A further pipeline (approximately 7km) will transfer the treated water from the new water treatment works to Blean Service Reservoir.

The pipelines will mostly be laid in open trenches, which will then be covered over with the landscape reinstated, trenchless or tunnelling methods will be used to avoid protected woodlands and pass under the railway and main roads. 

Pumping stations will be required at the abstraction sites to pump water along the raw water pipeline, at the smaller reservoir embankments to drain water away and within the water treatment works. These are now being designed, and noise-reducing measures will be added where needed to protect local amenities and wildlife.

A new water treatment works will be located to the east of the reservoir, close to the main embankment and will process the water from the reservoir into clean, safe drinking water, meeting all necessary Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) standards. 

The water will be carefully tested as it moves through each stage of the process. After treatment, it will be piped to the existing Blean Service Reservoir for supply to homes and businesses.