Hampshire News
Water quality meeting has a flood of interest
11:00am Saturday 28th January 2012
VILLAGERS turned out in their numbers to see proposals to improve the water supply in Overton.
Luke Hughes, asset engineer at Southern Water, told the parish council meeting last Wednesday that the nitrate levels at Overton’s supply works, in Waltham Road, would be above the legal limit in just a few years’ time.
For the past two years different solutions have been looked at and the company has proposed building an iron exchange plant to remove the nitrates.
Mr Hughes said: “We have been monitoring the nitrate levels in Overton for the last 15 years and they are increasing. The crux of that is that at some point for 2015 to 2020 we predict they will go above the legal level for nitrates, although they are not dangerous.”
Alongside contractor Mott MacDonald, plans have been drawn up for an iron exchange at the site in Waltham Road.
Mr Hughes told villagers: “As the site is so small, we wanted to make sure we wouldn’t impact on the village.
“We think the impact on the Overton community would be better water quality.”
If the proposals receive planning permission, work should begin later this year and will take three to four months.
Henry Le Brecht, Mott MacDonald contractor, said that the new exchange would be the same height as the existing building and that extra trees would be planted to screen the view for residents.
However, Councillor Brian Langer said: “I would hope that you would make more effort to relate to the height of the cottages rather than your own building as the cottages are within the conservation area and anything that affects their setting is to be carefully considered.
“You don’t want to overwhelm the setting of the cottages with something that isn’t going to be exactly St Paul’s Cathedral.”
Residents were also concerned that the widening of the entrance to the site, which would enable an additional delivery van to visit the site once every three months, would mean less parking along Waltham Road.
Mr Le Brecht promised to take all residents’ views into consideration when finalising the plans.