Hurleston Reservoir on the Llangollen Canal

0:05 We're making our way up the Hurleston flight of lochs at the very start of the Llangochlin Canal and to the right hand side of the lochs as you come up, there's a huge embankment and behind that embankment is a reservoir because the Llangochlin is used to transport water from North Wales into Cheshire. And that's what we'll be exploring on this edition of The Water Ropes.

0:48 There are four locks at Herleston that raise the canal just over 30 feet and then just above the top lock is a Weir and the water from the canal goes over the Weir and down a wide stepped channel into the reservoir itself.

1:11 Reservoir covers about 21 acres and it's a haven for wildlife. They're agreed on the water today as well as ducks and Swans and there are fishing points all around and the local fishing group says that eel have been known to be caught here. And there's actually a footpath that runs all the way round the reservoir so you can do a complete circuit. The first side gives you a view down the locks and then when you get to the end you're looking NE and the views are fantastic. Off to the right you can see the tower blocks and the warehouses of Crewe, and then a little bit off to the left you can see the huge white dish of the telescopes at Jodrell Bank, which is about 15 miles away as the crow flies.

1:54 And beyond that, you can see the hills in the eastern part of Cheshire and up to the Peak District beyond.

2:10 To find out more about how and why the Llangollan Canal is used to move water, I spoke to Rob Moore, the head of water services for Cheshire for United Utilities, and started by asking him how much water comes down the canal each day. We have an abstraction licence from the River Dee that puts water into the Llangollan Canal and that enables us to abstract up to 50 million litres of water a day. And that abstraction licence is continually reviews and governed by natural resources whales who are responsible for managing all the water in in the area that we're abstracting from.

2:46 So whilst we're allowed to take up to 50 millilitres of water a day, our normal flows at at Hurliston in terms of how much water we take out of the canal is between 30 and 40 millilitres a day, or or 12 to 16 Olympic swimming pools, the equivalent of. So can you actually vary the amount that you bring down and and how do you do that? Yeah. So we work really closely with the canals and rivers Truss. So ultimately they're the ones who control the the flow down the canal through a number of different sleuth valves that sits along the canal.

3:17 And they also in the reservoir, if you will, sits at the end of this system and then we take our water out of to be treated. So, so all of the flows are kind of controlled and governed by the canal and rivers Truss, but obviously we have a really close working relationship with them to make sure that we're putting water in in the right places when we need it. And the. Langocklan Canal is nearly 50 miles long, so why do you bring the water such a long way? Are there Are there no closer sources of water to here?

3:47 Yeah, it's a really good question. So ultimately we, we look at where, where the water resources are and obviously over from the River Dee, it's a, it's a really reliable source of water. So the, our treatment works at Hurlaston supplies around about 160,000 people with, with clean drinking water every day. So to be able to get a reliable water source that's able to, to cater for that many people that, that's ultimately where, where it comes from. So from from the River Dee into the Llangollen Canal, out at Hurlaston and then into the taps for thousands of customers.

4:23 So between entering the reservoir and leaving people's taps, there must be quite a lot of processes that the water goes through. Absolutely, yes. So it's the three stage treatment works. Hurliston coagulation is the first stage where we settle out some of the dissolids that are naturally occurring within the in raw water. We then philtre it to clean it and purify it and then disinfect it to make sure that it that it's safe for for the customers that will ultimately be drinking it. I mean, I'm I'm wonder.

4:51 Whether the people of. Crewe. And Nantwich. Realise that that boats have been floating on the water that they're now drinking. Potentially yes. And and as you say, you know, we, we take our water from all sorts of different sources over the regions, be that boreholes, impounded reservoirs that have kind of upland peatland and everything, and also rivers and canals as well. So the way that we've designed our treatment works is such that it treats that water to a really high standard, as I'm sure you'd expect, and then ultimately makes it safer for people to drink.

5:22 And we go through a rigorous process of testing that water day in, day out to make sure that it meets all the normal high quality parameters that we treat to and that ultimately makes sure that it's safe for people to drink and consume. So the partnership that you have with the Canal and River Trust because not only is it the canal that brings the water down, but they actually own and manage the reservoir as. Well. Don't they? Is that is that quite unusual or is that something that that goes on quite a lot?

5:49 Yeah, that's pretty unique. I mean we, we work in partnership with with loads of different stakeholders and, and, and partners across the Northwest in terms of managing our catchment. And the way that we see this is essentially it's an extension of our catchment. So, so that's all about how we collect our raw water, store it, and then make sure that it's available in, in sufficient supply to then be able to treat and, and service the customers that this are fed off of that network. So, so it's not unusual in the sense that we're working in partnership with others to manage our catchment land, but we do work very closely with them in terms of managing the flows and controlling the flows to make sure that that, you know, there's enough water for people to drink, but also there's enough water in the canal for, for boaters like itself to be able to enjoy recreationally as well.

6:31 And of course this. Summer has been well, and the spring and summer have been. Really dry and it's been. Causing lots of water shortages on the. Canal network. Have you been having to face problems because of the the dry weather as well? Yeah. So it's a really good question. So, so England has experienced its driest March, April and May this year since the 1890s, which kind of puts it in perspective as to, to just how dry this summer has been. And we've had the warmest kind of and sunniest spring on record with June being the warmest month for England.

7:02 And now we're recently we've had the the third heat wave of the year. So we've been working really hard to manage the water around the whole of the Northwest. 98% of our network is integrated. And what that means is that we're able to move water around and bring it to areas that are are most, most in need. And what we're trying to do is make sure that we're responsible in how we do this. So, so we don't want to over abstract, we don't want to take more water than we need. And we're part of our efforts to do that are also to help encourage and educate customers to be responsible in what they're using as well.

7:39 That's Rob Moore from United Utilities. Well, a few weeks ago when I spoke to Doctor Adam Comerford, CR TS National Hydrology Manager, about the water shortages this summer, that episode is still available to listen to. We also spoke about the Lancoquilan and whether the use of canals as water transport could be used more widely. We are doing a lot of work with the water industry, particularly at the moment. There's a lot of pressure on on the water sector to make sure it's resilient. The public water supply is getting better and better in the face of things like climate change and population growth and demand for water.

8:15 So we're helping to be part of that solution. And one particular example we've been very closely involved with is a what's called the Grand Union Canal water transfer. So that is proposed to take about 115,000,000 litres of water per day from a water treatment works to treat it again to the even higher standard to put it in the canal and then transfer it about 80 or so kilometres, 80 to 90 kilometres down through from the Midlands down towards London and the southeast where it will then get abstracted again out of the canal, treated again and put into public water supply.

8:48 So the benefits there are obviously for public water supply and the water companies involved, they, they improve their resilience at a price that is more affordable than some of the other options that would be available to a water company. But also we get the investment into our infrastructure. We we get the upgrades of our canal system, We get improved pumping stations, we get canal sections relined, we get embankments strengthened and we get more computer monitoring and sort of control of of the water flows, which should ultimately help help.

9:19 Our boaters. And customers ensure that particular canal really is sort of super reliable in the future. That's Doctor Adam Comerford, CR TS National Hydrology Manager Well, the flow on the Lancaster Canal does have some impact on boating because all the water has to come round the locks. The by washes can be very, very fierce, making it quite difficult to get into some of the locks from below. You need to sort of compensate by steering into the flow of the by wash a little, and then it pushes your bow over as you go into the lock.

9:50 It also means it takes a bit longer to go through bridges when you're going upstream because of course the canal narrows bridge holes and it means the water flows faster and further up the canal where there are tunnels. It takes far, far longer to get through the tunnel going upstream than it does when you're coming back down. And that's all for this edition of The Water Rd from Hurlaston, right at the start of the Lancockland Canal. There'll be more episodes from Lancockland as we continue our journey up this waterway.

10:32 The podcast is produced and presented by me at A Porter. If you're enjoying what you're hearing, please do remember to give us a nice review because it really does help other people find us. And if you haven't already clicked that Follow or subscribe button, please do so because it will alert you when new episodes are published. Don't forget that all previous episodes are also always available to listen to. Thank you for listening to the Water Rd.