UU suggests £2.5bn North-South water pipeline
UNITED Utilities has suggested plans to use the “once in a lifetime opportunity” presented by the High Speed 2 rail link to build a North-South water pipeline.
The idea, which at this stage is only on the drawing board, would cost more than £2.6bn to deliver.
Russ Houlden, chief financial officer at United Utilities, who came up with the idea said: ‘There is more water available in the North than the South, and this issue will become more acute as climate change impacts hit us over the next 50 years.
“A North-South pipeline could be built to address that.”
Warrington-based United Utilities will put the idea before MPs in the next month.
A spokesperson told TheBusinessDesk.com: “A new east-west pipeline between Manchester and Liverpool has just become operational and it got us thinking about the once in a lifetime opportunity to help the South with their drought issues.
“It’s a wacky idea at the moment, but one that is not impossible to see happening – but we would not build or operate it.”
Parts of the South East and East Anglia are now experiencing severe levels of drought for this time of year due to two dry winters and low levels of groundwater reserves, sparking fears that hosepipe bans could be introduced within weeks.
The £33bn HS2 scheme which will see a new railway line created between London and Birmingham that will eventually reduce travel times between the two cities to just 45 minutes was approved by the Government last month. A second leg of the scheme bringing trains north to Manchester and Leeds is expected to complete by 2026.
