Work begins on upgrading historic 96-year-old Sevenoaks drinking water reservoir

WORK has begun on the rebuilding of the 96-year old Solefields Reservoir which currently holds 3.7 million litres of drinking water for the Sevenoaks area.

South East Water, the company responsible for the historic reservoir, says the work will take 10 months to complete but that supplies to the town will not be affected as customers will receive their water from a second underground storage tank on the site served by the Cramptons Road Water Treatment Works located to the north of the town.

The new Solefields Reservoir in Sevenoaks will be similar to one currently being constructed in Ashford (pictured) but will be half the size.

To minimise disruption to nearby homes and Solefields School, a new temporary road is currently being built to carry construction traffic between the reservoir site in Ashburnham Close and the A225 Tonbridge Road.

Construction vehicles travelling to and from the site have been instructed not to travel though Sevenoaks town centre. They will access the site using the A225 and A21. Another safety measure will be a 20 mile per hour speed restriction on approach to the new access road 200 metres either side of it.

Paul Beaumont, Project Manager at South East Water said: “As the reservoir comes to the end of its usable life at the grand age of 96, we’re future-proofing Sevenoaks’ water supply by replacing the tank with a larger structure designed to meet the town’s water needs for the next 100 years.

“The tank stores treated drinking water produced at Cramptons Road Water Treatment Works in the north of town and is released on demand as customers turn on their taps. Without this vital work, Sevenoaks residents in the future could experience low tap water pressure or no water at all during times of high demand.

“Another existing storage reservoir will remain in place at the site to keep taps flowing during the work. Residents can keep up to date as work progresses via our website, corporate.southeastwater.co.uk/Solefields.”

This work forms part of a £424 million improvement project between 2015 and 2020.

* South East Water is also considering what route to use for a new pipeline through Knole Park. But some local residents are unhappy with the plans. Look out for more on this story on My Sevenoaks Community in coming weeks.