Work on a £2.2 million flood defence scheme to protect Exeter's water supply has begun.

A 600-metre long steel sheet piled wall, ranging from 1.5 metres to 2.4 metres high, will be built around Pynes Water Treatment Works at Upton Pyne, near Exeter, to protect the site should the nearby River Exe flood severely.

Around 1,000 cubic metres of earth will be moved during the work as the steel wall is driven into the mudstone five to six metres below ground. Some of this will be used to create refuge areas for livestock.


In the floods of summer 2007, Mythe Water Treatment Works in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was flooded. Around 140,000 properties lost their water supply. The clean-up operation, replacement of damaged equipment and supplying clean water to customers cost Severn Trent Water in the region of £25 to £35 million.Following the floods, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs instructed all water companies to review their sites and take appropriate measures to protect those at risk from flooding.

The scheme at Pynes has been designed to guard the works against a future one in 100-year flood event, plus an additional allowance for climate change. It has been reviewed and agreed by the Environment Agency.

The scheme has been designed by AECOM Limited and will be built by Dean & Dyball Civil Engineering Limited. It is due to be completed by December 2010.

Construction work will not affect the water treatment process.