FAQs
How much water will Broad Oak hold?
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.
How many homes could Broad Oak Water serve?
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.
What will the reservoir look like?
The reservoir will have a horseshoe shape. It will be about 1.5 km (1 mile) wide east to west, 1 km north to south, and cover roughly 0.84 km² - around the size of 118 football pitches.
The design uses three earth embankments, one main embankment, approximately 20 metres in height, to hold the water and two smaller ones to stop flooding of nearby protected woodland and nature sites. These banks will mostly be built from soil and clay dug out from the reservoir area and nearby works. Most of this material will come from London Clay, which is ideal for forming the strong core and sides of the banks. The outer slopes of the embankments will be covered in grass, and a rocky or stony surface will line the embankments at the water’s edge, to protect them from erosion by waves.
The existing Sarre Penn river will be flooded by the reservoir so a new channel will be built along the south side of the reservoir to divert the Sarre Penn river. Special structures will let fish safely travel between this channel and the river beyond.
We plan to design the operational and visitor facilities so they fit naturally into the landscape, creating an attractive setting while keeping the visual and environmental impact low and preserving the rural character of the area.
Where will the road access to the reservoir be located?
The main entrance to the site will be from A291, Herne Bay Road. This route can handle construction, day-to-day operations, and visitor traffic with the least impact on the environment, safety and local roads. A secondary access - for operational, maintenance, and emergency services vehicles only - will be via Hackington Road / Wood Hill. We’ll do more work to finalise the design and check traffic effects, as well as ways to reduce any problems.
Where will the new reservoir pipelines run and how will you build them?
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.
Where will the pumping stations be? What will they be like? Will they be noisy?
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.
How will water quality in Broad Oak Water be maintained?
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.
