Year
2020-2032Duration
12 yearsCost
£1.8bnLocation
East of EnglandProject achievements
Solved the problem
Helps ensure that fresh, clean water can flow across the Anglian Water region
Environment benefitted
Achieved savings of 210,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
Used engineering skill
Used digital twins to optimise the existing network and build less where possible
Keeping taps flowing in the east of England through resilient infrastructure
The Strategic Pipeline Alliance (SPA) is creating hundreds of kilometres of new, interconnecting pipelines in the Anglian Water region to help combat the impact of climate change.
Having identified the areas that would be the most vulnerable to drought, the SPA project was launched to ensure that clean water can continue to flow there.
It also reduces the need to extract more groundwater, allowing ecosystems to recover in local rivers and chalk streams.
The project is being delivered by five partner companies: Anglian Water, Costain, Jacobs, Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB), and Farrans.
SPA's efforts saw it win the Best Project Award for sustainability at the 2025 ICE East of England Merit Awards.
How is the SPA being delivered?
The strategic pipeline is made up of:
- large diameter steel and polyethylene pipes
- multiple pre-cast concrete storage reservoirs (ranging in size from 1,500m3 to 25,000m3 (equivalent to about half an Olympic swimming pool to 10 full ones!)
- booster/pumping stations in optimised locations to keep the water flowing
The first phase of SPA, interconnector one (IC1), began in April 2020, with 320km of pipeline planned for construction from Elsham to Ipswich.
As of 2025, 250km has been completed.
This also includes two new large capacity reservoirs and nine booster/pumping stations.
The design of the second phase of SPA, interconnector two (IC2), began in April 2025 and is likely to begin construction in Spring 2027.
This will be an additional 260km in North Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Colchester.
Did you know …
-
Between 2020-2025, the team managed to cut carbon emissions by 210,000 tonnes. That's saving what 21,000 people in the UK would produce annually.
-
In support of its decarbonisation aims, the project team planted 2,000 trees in Elsham.
-
The team has also supported the planting of a new community orchard in Glinton, in partnership with the local parish council and the National Lottery Fund.
Committed to cutting carbon
Due to Anglian Water’s commitment to decarbonisation, the SPA project had challenging targets to meet, which are on track to be achieved as of October 2025.
Between 2020-2025, SPA needed to achieve a 65% carbon reduction, rising to 70% between 2025-2030.
SPA exceeded the first goal, with a 66.7% reduction across all IC1 schemes. This translates to approximately 210,000tCO2e of savings!
Of these, around 165,000tCO2e were saved through efficient design work, such as re-routing pipelines, using different materials, and reducing pipe diameters.
A further 10,000tCO2e is estimated to be from the construction phase of the schemes.
V-buckets (specially designed excavators) were used to minimise the amount of material that was dug out.
Significant work was done to crush and recycle excavated materials as pipe bedding – reducing the need for imported virgin aggregates (such as sand, gravel, etc).
Other savings are associated with procurement of lower carbon materials, non-infrastructure design and delivery, and trialling of different fuels and installation techniques.
Using innovation to save resources
Digital twins - virtual replicas of physical elements - underpin everything SPA does, including carbon reduction.
Models helped identify how the existing network could be better used to avoid the need to lay new pipes and optimise the existing and proposed storage.
They also helped to justify that the project only required two treated water reservoirs instead of three.
In order to build less, the project team looked to optimise the existing network as much as possible.
They tested importing water from nearby companies, 24hr- vs 21hr-a-day pumping and setting triggers to pre-emptively transfer water where it'd be needed.
These opportunities offered total savings worth more than £5m.
Difference the project team has made
SPA project teams have also carried out several volunteer activities focused on improving the environment.
They planted 2,000 trees in Elsham to enhance the local area.
And on the Etton to Bexwell section of the pipeline, they supported the planting of a new community orchard in partnership with Glinton Parish Council and The National Lottery Fund.
The care of the trees will be handled by the parish council and the children of Peakirk-Cum-Glinton CofE Primary School.
The children created signs that have been hung on each tree to help identify the fruit each one produces.
SPA teams have also communicated the value of sustainable infrastructure by delivering presentations in local schools and hosting college visits at the sites.
They have also supported 11 schools across the pipeline route, donating over 2,000 books.
People who made it happen
- Anglian Water
- Costain
- Jacobs
- Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB)
- Farrans
