“Future Water MJJV Secures £167M Contract for Havant Thicket Reservoir Scheme”
Future Water MJJV Limited, a joint venture between Mackley and Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK, has been awarded a contract worth £167 million to construct the Havant Thicket Reservoir in Hampshire. This marks a significant step forward for the first large-scale new water storage reservoir in the UK since the 1980s.
The Havant Thicket Reservoir project is being advanced through a partnership between Portsmouth Water and Southern Water. The contract was awarded to Future Water MJJV after a detailed tender process. The project also includes a new £41 million tunnelled pipeline, which will be installed by Ward & Burke Construction Limited.
Bob Taylor, Chief Executive Officer at Portsmouth Water, expressed his delight at reaching this major milestone for the Havant Thicket Reservoir project. He praised the proposals put forward by Future Water MJJV and Ward & Burke during the tender process, highlighting their experienced teams and successful track records in delivering major infrastructure.
The Havant Thicket Reservoir will secure critical water supplies for the South East of England, an area already under serious water stress. The reservoir will also protect environmentally sensitive chalk streams and create a new green leisure facility to benefit local communities and wildlife.
Once completed in 2029, the reservoir will hold approximately 8.7 billion litres of water and be able to supply up to 21 million litres of water each day. A new two-mile-long pipeline will also be built to fill the reservoir in the winter with surplus water pumped from nearby Bedhampton Springs.
The reservoir was granted formal planning permission in October 2021, with a further planning application for the new pipeline expected to be submitted in Summer 2023. The project will be financed through a combination of £150 million of equity funding, provided by investors in the company’s owner Ancala Partners, as well as borrowed money. Ultimately, the costs of the Havant Thicket Reservoir will be covered by Southern Water, through its drinking water customer bills.
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