Stour River Basin Catchment

We have developed the first Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP) for the Stour River Basin Catchment.

We have 21 wastewater systems in this catchment, with 455 pumping stations and 5,325 km of sewers. We cover 16% of the geographical area (mainly the urban areas and villages including Dover, Canterbury, Ashford, Thanet, Whitstable, Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate) with 96% of the homes in the catchment connected to our wastewater systems.

Our DWMP sets out our priorities for the Stour River Basin Catchment. These include:

• Reducing the number of spills from the 74 storm overflows which together currently spill around 800 times per annum
• Separating or attenuating excess rainwater in the sewer networks to reduce the risks of flooding and frequency of storm overflow discharges, especially in Kennington and Westbere
• Investigating the potential impact of wastewater discharges on the Sarre Penn, River Wantsum and Great Stour and the measures needed to achieve Good Ecological Status
• Reducing nutrient discharges from the WTWs across the river basin to prevent deterioration of the Stodmarsh internationally designated Habitats site
• Developing a nutrient budget by investigating the sources impacting the Stodmarsh
• Planning for potential significant development at Chilmington Green, Whitfield, Birchington, Westwood, Westgate-on-Sea, Canterbury, Aylesham, Whitstable, Folkestone and Otterpool Park Garden
• Improving the resilience of our networks and treatment works to prevent pollution incidents, particularly in Dover, Folkestone, Whitstable, Swaleclliffe, Chartham and Preston
• Reducing the risk of sewer blockages by increasing sewer jetting and targeting customer campaigns to reduce the amount of FOG (fats, oils and grease) and unflushables in the sewer network around Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Deal and Walmer
• Reducing the risk to groundwater by reducing leakage from our sewers in the Dover, Walmer, Ramsgate, Hawkinge and Capel-le-Ferne areas.

All the stages we followed in developing the DWMP for the Stour are set out in the subsections below. Please explore these pages to find out more. You can find detailed investment needs in the tables on the Stour Options Development and Appraisal page.