Independent Water Networks is responsible for providing safe and reliable drinking water to customers. We take care of the water network while your developer handles the construction of your home and the overall site (footpaths, verges, roads). Currently we serve just over 45,000 customers, and our base continues to grow.

We sample the water weekly and will continue to monitor temperatures closely. If necessary, we will investigate any issues that arise. Additionally, we collect bacteriological samples weekly and promptly investigate any positive results.

During prolonged periods of hot weather, you may see our site representatives on site more often – this is to ensure that your water supply remains at a high standard.

We will be undertaking regular flushing of the network – this means running the water through the network. This is nothing to be concerned about and is required to ensure safety and quality of the water supply.

We are working closely with key stakeholders to ensure we continue to deliver the required standards.

We expect the overall site work to continue until Autumn. However, please note that unforeseen factors beyond our control may affect our progress as we work on the network.

Due to the complexity of deploying the replacement network, we have faced challenges with ongoing developer site work. In addition, we have increased the frequency of sampling, which may influence the timeline and potentially extend the delivery programme duration.

The safety of our customers and our teams is paramount and therefore we consider this cautious approach safer for everyone.

Water Quality compliance sampling is a regulatory requirement to ensure that the drinking water we supply meets the Water Quality Regulations 2016 and all amendments.

We have chosen to carry out additional sampling, and this did come with the consequence that the timeline would be extended.

If the option to bring your connection date forward becomes available, our team will be in touch with you. In the meantime, we review the plans daily, and the current proposal remains unless you are contacted. We can only connect your property when the required section of the permanent network is installed in your street.

While IWNL is not responsible for the roadway leading into the site, you should expect to see this work being undertaken by your house developer soon. We will of course do all we can do to help the housebuilder reach a position whereby the entrance can be completed as soon as possible.

While IWNL is not wholly responsible for the construction of footpaths on site, we do work closely with the housebuilder to ensure these are constructed and tarmac-ed as soon as it is safe to do so.

We will contact you soon to confirm plans that work around your schedule. We understand that home life can be busy, so we will book a time convenient to you.

Different stages of work are undertaken to bring the excavated area back to its original state. It is common industry practice to temporarily backfill the area until the permanent reinstatement is complete.

Newly laid turf must be watered well. It is crucial to keep the soil damp and avoid letting it dry out until the lawn is fully established. Watering should be done at the start or end of the day, avoiding direct sunlight, which can scorch the turf.

When the turf has been laid by us It then becomes yours to own. Please be aware that, without proper care, it may develop brown patches and eventually die. While IWNL cannot provide further turf replacements, we can provide advice on how to keep your turf and lawn healthy.

We understand that the construction work can cause disruption, and we’re doing our best to minimise the impact. As a way of recognising the ongoing construction, we have decided to provide free drinking water until the permanent connection is finished.

We have agreed to pay Northumbrian Water for sewage services for our drinking water customers. You will not be are not charged for any sewerage services during this period.

We are dedicated to completing the construction as planned, and we’re happy to inform you that residents still have access to clean and safe water through our temporary network.

The recent prolonged and continuing period of hot weather has led to an increase in demand for water, particularly at peak times (6am-9am & 4pm-7pm).  High demand can lead to low water pressure at peak demand periods.

The new water main has been fully installed, and all residential properties have been successfully transferred over to the permanent supply. We are continuing to work on further improvements to the surrounding site.

Thank you for your patience whilst we continue to install our new permanent water network.

We are really pleased to share with you, that by the end of next week (18th August), we will have transferred the remaining 8 residential plots to the new permanent water main. This means, all 182 residential and occupied plots will be completely transferred and connected to the new permanent main. The remaining 8 residential plots will be transferred via the moling method. Next week we will also be backfilling the remaining gardens on Woodrush Gardens.

Whilst we will have completed our residential connections, you will continue to see us on site, as we will still need to connect 4 unoccupied plots.

This week (7th – 11th August), we have been tidying up the site and removing the majority of the overland supply and backfilling Aspen Gardens and Woodrush Gardens. The next stage of turf reinstatements was completed this week too.

We’re pleased to confirm that this week, we have successfully transferred 10 plots to the new permanent network, bringing the total number of plots on the new water main to be 170, equalling 91% of the project complete. There are only a further 16 plots to be connected, which will be completed in the next couple weeks.

Next week (w/c 7th August) we will be moling services on Woodrush Gardens, whilst undertaking backfilling work on Aspen Gardens and Woodrush Gardens. We will also be tidying up the site in general and removing most of the remaining temporary overland supply.

We’re happy to share that only 29 addresses are left to be connected to the permanent water main. We are 84% complete and on schedule to connect all plots by the end of September.

This week we have transferred an additional 9 services over to the permanent water main. In addition, we have backfilled sections of Blackthorn Meadows following successful sampling of the water. We have installed an additional 90mm of mains on Aspen Gardens and Woodrush Gardens and prepared 7 driveways on Woodrush Gardens, ready to be moled.

Next week (week commencing 31st July) we will complete an additional 8 internal transfers to the permanent water main. We’ll also be backfilling sections of Aspen Gardens and Woodrush Gardens.

Thank you for your patience while we continue to install our new permanent water network.

We’re happy to share that only 38 addresses are left to be connected to the permanent water main. We are 81% complete and on schedule to connect all plots by the end of September.

This week we have been working on Blackthorn Meadows, installing a section of the water main. We have also taken water samples from mains laid on Aspen Gardens and Blackthorn Meadows.

In addition, we have started to install more pipework on Aspen Gardens and Woodrush Gardens with the aim to complete this installation by the end of this week (21st July). We have also prepared driveways on Aspen Gardens, ready for the next plots to be transferred to the permanent main. In addition, we have booked the next round of internal service transfer appointments for next week.

Next week (week commencing 24th July) we are planning to transfer 10 addresses to the permanent main.  This will be done via a method called ‘moling’.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the event on 24th July at the Hart Village Hall, where senior members of IWNL will be delivering a presentation at 6pm, and representatives of your housebuilders will also be present.

Thank you for your patience while we continue to install our new permanent water network. We’re happy to share that now 143 addresses have been successfully connected. This means we are now 81% complete and are on schedule to connect all plots by the end of September.

This week we have been preparing driveways on Blackthorn Meadows, ready for the next section to be installed. This section of water main will be installed next week (w/c 17th July).

We are looking forward to seeing you at the event on 24th July at the Hart Village Hall, where senior members of IWNL will be delivering a presentation at 6pm, and representatives of your housebuilders will also be present.

Understandably, we are receiving lots of questions regarding the process and we welcome all contact from our customers. Below are some answers to your commonly asked questions which may help you as we progress towards completion.

We appreciate your patience throughout the installation of our new permanent network. I am pleased to inform you that we are currently on schedule, and by the end of September, all plots will be connected to the new water main.

I am happy to share that 74% of the water mains have already been installed, and we have successfully connected 131 individual services to the new water main.

Following the valuable customer feedback we received from our event held on April 17th, we would like to invite you to another event on July 24th. IWNL are liaising with your housebuilders who, in addition to us, will be in attendance and available to answer questions between 5:30pm and 7:30pm. At 6:00pm, a senior member of IWNL will be delivering a presentation to provide you with an update on the water network installation.

This event will be held at the Hart Village Hall. We look forward to meeting you again, at the following address: Hart Village Hall, Front Street, Hartlepool, TS27 3AW.

As planned, we have so far successfully transferred over 126 customers, and can confirm over 70% of the new water main has been successfully installed.

We plan on undertaking more connections in the week commencing 3rd July and you should expect to see us working next in the vicinity of Aspen Gardens. Our team will do everything they can to minimise the disruption while they undertake this essential work.

We’re pleased to confirm that this week (w/c 19th June), our team have successfully connected 17 properties to the new water main, with a plan to connect a further 3 by the end of the week.

IWNL continue to conduct comprehensive and frequent water quality sampling on the new main before transferring properties over. Your health and safety is our top priority.

Next week, IWNL aim to transfer 15 properties over to the new water main. This work involves a trenchless method known as ‘moling’ in which to install pipework to the property boundaries. We will also continue our reinstatement work and will install a further section of the water main on Aspen Gardens.

We are really pleased to confirm that now 65% of the water mains have been installed on site, with over 100 individual services connected onto the new water main.

This week, 3 properties in Aspen Gardens and 1 property on Rotary Way were connected.

Next week we plan on undertaking more connections next week and you should expect to see us working in the vicinity of Aspen Gardens. Our team will do everything they can to minimise the disruption while they undertake this essential work.

IWNL will be in touch to arrange these appointments.

We are really pleased to confirm that now 50% of the water mains have been installed on site, with over 80 individual services connected onto the new water main.

Last week, as planned all customers notified on Streets 7 and 8 were transferred successfully onto the new permanent main, with a new section of 110mm main installed on Street 6.1 and 63mm main on Street 8.

In addition, work was undertaken on Street 14 to position the new water main, so this could feed future developments on the property.

Street 7 was also backfilled, with large sections of the temporary bypass removed. This means it is easier to move around the areas that have now been replaced.

This week, work will continue, with driveways on Street 4.2 being prepared for future service transfers, along with those remaining residents on Streets 6.1 and 8. IWNL will be in touch to arrange these appointments.

We would like to thank you all for your patience so far whilst we have been installing the new permanent network at Upper Warren. We are happy to share that we have successfully transferred a further 8 customers this week from Streets 7 & 8 which equates to 35% of plots to the new permanent network. Work is continuing over the coming weekend and we will be able to provide more information regarding next weeks plan on Monday 5th June.

We would like to thank you all for your patience so far whilst we have been installing the new permanent network at Upper Warren. We are happy to share that the programme of works is on schedule, with 48% of the water mains replacement completed, along with successfully transferring 31% of plots to the new permanent network. Where there are small elements of reinstatement and backfill to close out, we aim to complete these areas as soon as possible.

Progress made from week commencing 22nd May

Our contractor engineers have installed approximately 93m of 63mm barrier pipe within Street 7 and part of Street 8. Thorough water sampling has been taken on this section of the mains on 22/05/23 to ensure the water is safe to use. We are pleased to say that residents who are scheduled to be transferred on those streets will have an appointment booked in the next couple of weeks for internal work. All plots have been prepped for internal service transfer work to commence on the w/c 29/05/23.

We have made further progress on Streets 14 and 3 and work has been backfilled wherever possible, to reduce congestion around the development, with large parts of the temporary bypass having been removed in the process. In addition to this, all planned transfers were successfully completed on Street 3 this week.

Works planned for week commencing 29th May

Next week, service transfers will take place on Streets 7 & 8, for all residents who have arranged an appointment – Plots 150 – 158.

The next section of 110mm water main will be installed on Street 4.2, followed by preparation work within driveways, to ensure the next scheduled residents can have appointments arranged to complete their service transfers – all residents whose driveways we require access to will be notified by letter either today or tomorrow.

Finally, the overland bypass has been re-lagged on the Bellway Homes region of the development. Similar work will be undertaken on the Miller Homes portion of site, to ensure all exposed areas of the bypass are covered.

Once again, we thank you for your patience and support during this work, and we do appreciate your patience with this. We are working as quickly and safely as we can, to get all homes connected to the permanent connection.

Currently, 42% of the new permanent water main has been installed on site, with 43 individual water supplies successfully transferred onto this new permanent network. This has ensured the water network replacement project is continuing to move towards completion.

This last week, as planned, service transfer work began on street 14, with all 11 planned transfers being completed. Reinstatement work on these properties will be completed shortly, with all excavations returned to their original state.

On Street 3, all 10 individual services were moled up to the property boundary, with internal appointments being scheduled to complete these individual transfers – internal transfer works are scheduled to take place from the week commencing 22/05/2023.

Finally, the installation of the next set of 63mm water main has begun on Streets 7 & 8 ( located on Aspen Gardens), with all pertinent plots notified of the need to gain temporary access to driveways, in order to begin prepping the next set of service transfers.

Next week, work will continue within Streets 7 & 8, whereby the next section of permanent 63mm water main will be installed, along with all planned customers having their driveways prepped in anticipation of their permanent transfer taking place in the couple of weeks after this.

Alongside this, all customers with arranged appointments on Street 3, will be transferred onto the new water main. Furthermore, all reinstatement work will be completed shortly after these transfers.

Currently, we have successfully transferred 20 customers onto the new permanent water supply. Additionally, 1/3 of the new permanent water main has been installed, ensuring the network replacement is progressing on schedule.

As planned, work has begun on Street 3 (Blackthorn Meadows) to install the next section of water main, in addition to preparation works in individual driveways. All customers planned to be transferred as part of the next sequence of works have been notified by letter to expect temporary driveway access, and a call from the IWNL Contact Centre, to arrange an appointment for w/c 15/05/2023.

From next week onwards, service transfers will be taking place on Street 14, with 11 properties planned to be transferred onto the new permanent main. These service transfers will take place between 16/05/23 – 18/05/23.

Furthermore, services will be installed up to the household boundary on Street 3 (Blackthorn Meadows) for those customers notified by letter. Alongside this, a ‘depress’ sample will be taken off this new section of main, and sent off for testing. In the meantime, customer appointments will be arranged to coordinate the internal transfer of each individual water service. As such, please expect a call next week from the IWNL Customer Contact Centre.

In addition to this, the next section of 63mm permanent water main will be laid on Street 7, with driveway access required in plots 150 – 153. These plots will be prepped, to begin the installation of the new service pipe up to the property boundary in w/c 22/05/2023.

Finally, a few small pieces of reinstatement work are also scheduled to take place on Rotary Way, and in certain gardens where turf needs replacing. This will be coordinated as soon as possible, with all customer property returned to its original state.

Work has finished on Rotary Way, with all planned customers successfully transferred over to the new permanent main. Some small pieces of reinstatement work are still required, but this will be picked up in the immediate future.

As planned, work will now begin on Woodrush Gardens, with driveway access required, for those customers who were notified last week. Currently, we have received our first pass sample on this main, and to ensure all results are doubly validated, a second ‘depress’ sample will be taken on all new mains, before services are transferred.

Therefore, customer appointments will be arranged next week (w/c 09/05/2023), whereby residents on the first section of Woodrush Gardens will be transferred over to the new main from w/c 15/05/2023 (plots 227 – 236).

Just to note, when your individual water services are ready to be transferred, temporary access will be required within resident homes, whereby an IWNL operative will transfer your current temporary water connection over to the new permanent water supply. This access will be organised in the form of an appointment, which will be coordinated through IWNL’s Customer Contact Centre. If these appointments can be organised effectively, it will enable swifter progress to be achieved, thus enabling a faster trajectory towards project completion. Therefore, please can all residents be expectant of a call, once they have received a driveway access letter.

As always, we thank you for your continued cooperation throughout this process and will keep updating you with how the mains replacement project is progressing.

Currently, work is progressing on schedule, with works on Rotary Way coming to a conclusion by the end of this week. Completion of this phase will enable sections of the temporary bypass to be taken down and allow most open excavations currently on Rotary Way to be backfilled and reinstated.

Furthermore, IWNL are happy to announce that the first customer service transfers took place on Thursday 20^th April. Following on from this, IWNL expect to have all customers fed from this water main, connected to their new permanent water service by close of play this week.

Regarding the next stage of the project, work will begin in street 14 from w/c 24/04/2023, in accordance with the current programme.

Going forward, temporary access will be required within resident homes, whereby an IWNL operative will transfer your current temporary water connection, over to the new permanent water supply. This access will be organised in the form of an appointment, which will be coordinated through IWNL’s Customer Contact Centre. If these appointments can be organised effectively, it will enable swifter progress to be achieved, thus enabling a faster trajectory towards project completion. Therefore, please can all residents be expectant of a call, once they have received a driveway access letter.

As part of the work to install a new permanent water main and replace the temporary above ground network currently in use, the IWNL appointed contractor (McAndrews Utilities) will require access to your driveway and front garden during the week commencing 09/04/2023 – this is to install and connect a new water supply pipe up to and into your household.

When access is necessary, this will be communicated on site, and will require cars to be temporarily removed from your drive, to enable operatives to install the new water service. These works will only be conducted between the following working hours– 8am – 6pm. Access to your kitchens will also be required, however, our Customer Service Team will be in touch to talk you through what this will involve and agree a specific date for this, prior to starting work.

We thank you for your continued cooperation and patience.

From the week commencing 20th March, IWNL contractors began installing the new permanent water network. This work is expected to last till late Autumn, however, any alterations to this project length, will be communicated to residents immediately. Working hours for operatives will be from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Throughout the project life cycle, our main priority is to install this network safely, and with minimal disruption to all residents. To ensure this is the case, we will be reinstating constantly, to prevent any large open excavations and connecting customers on a rolling basis, with the temporary supply being removed alongside this. The programme will involve prioritising occupied areas of the development, before completing any unoccupied areas, to ensure customers are back on a permanent supply as quick as possible.

As part of this work, IWNL contractors will need to gain access to the property’s kitchen sink, in order to connect the permanent service onto the stop tap. Therefore, an IWNL representative will be in touch to arrange an appointment, to ensure this work is completed when most convenient for residents. However, as of now, permanent dates for this work are unknown, but dates will be arranged as soon as practicable, and will be coordinated well in advance of the scheduled works.

Following on from our update on 22^nd February we are able to share with you some further updates regarding our ongoing work on your water network.

We have now concluded our tender evaluation for the replacement of the underground network and can confirm that teams will be mobilised to site on week commencing 13^th March to start to setup the various work activities for the full replacement of the underground network.  This initial setup phase will allow us to start digging and replacing pipes on week commencing 20^th March.

In the coming weeks we will be updating this website to provide you with more details around what you can expect from us along with details of the work and timescales to complete. We recognise that there may be some interruption to customers during the course of this programme and we will do our utmost to minimise these interruptions where possible.

Many thanks for your ongoing understanding.

Following our previous update on 7th February, please see below further updates regarding the ongoing work on your water network.

We are still continuing to investigate the cause of the contamination of the old water supply. We are just waiting on the final samples, which will conclude our analysis.

Whilst this investigation continues, we have been working closely with the various local authorities to work through the next steps – with our primary goal to keep providing our customers with a safe and reliable supply of water.

In the coming days you will see our staff and contractors visiting site. They will begin to measure up, to remove and replace the old below ground water network – this is the first stage of our replacement programme before we look to mobilise a construction team to continue with the replacement programme.

In the next few weeks we will be updating this website to provide you with more details around what you can expect from us along with details of the work and timescales to complete.

We recognise that there may be some interruption to customers during the course of this programme and we will do our utmost to minimise these interruptions where possible.

Many thanks for your ongoing understanding.

Following on from our update on 25^th January we are able to share with you some further updates regarding our ongoing work on your water network. We are progressing with 2 key work activities:

1. Investigation into the root cause of the contamination of your old network
2. Design and planning of replacing the old network with a new permanent underground network.

More detail on some of the tasks undertaken recently, and a plan for this week can be seen below:

­30/01/23:

• Specialist contractor commenced a CCTV survey of the network using specialist camera equipment entry via wash outs.
• Further soil sampling by specialist contractor.
• Stage 1 analysis of tender returns from contractors – this is for the replacement works.

06/02/23:

• Continued CCTV survey of the remaining network.
• Analysis of CCTV findings.
• Cleansing of the old network using a new innovative technique called Ice Pigging
• Stage 2 analysis of tender returns from contractors – this is for the replacement works.

For more information on Ice Pigging please click on the button below.

Ice Pigging

We recently notified you that we were going to be replacing your temporary overland supply with a new permanent underground network. This process has now started, and we are able to share the following key activities that we have undertaken and planned for the next few weeks:

16/01/23:

• Re-design network and issue tender pack to contractors.23/01/23

23/01/23:

• Further soil sampling by specialist contractor.
• Receive results of previous batch of soil samples.
• Cut out 6 No. Sections of pipe from contaminated network for investigation.
• Continued sampling from fire hydrants
• Tender returns for replacement works closes 12:00pm, 26^th January

­30/01/23:

• Specialist contractor to conduct CCTV of whole network using specialist camera equipment entry via wash outs.
• Expected results for exploratory work on contaminated network.

06/02/23:

• Provisional further investigation of contaminated network if required.

13/02/23:

• Provisional start of network replacement programme.
• As soon as we have more details regarding the work involved in replacing the network, we will be in touch.

Please find below an update on our ongoing work on your water network.

IWNL’s top priority is the health and safety of our customers, and providing safe and reliable water. IWNL are about to undertake works on site to replace the temporary overland supply which we installed in December 2022. We will be replacing this with a new permanent underground network.

Whilst we are preparing and planning for this work we will continue our investigations into the cause of the contamination and customers will remain on the temporary supply.

As soon as we have more details regarding the work involved in replacing the network, we will be in touch.

Please find below an update on our ongoing work on your water network.

Over the last few weeks, IWNL have been:

• Undertaking weekly flushing and sampling of the existing below ground network, to check for the presence of any contaminants.
• Continuing to sample and test the temporary above ground water network.
• Employing a ground investigation consultant to recover soil samples at various locations across the development, using specialist equipment and instruments, to help identify and pinpoint potential contamination in the ground.

We hope to conclude our investigations this week into the contamination of your water supply. Once these have concluded we will be able to provide you with an update on the next steps early next week.

In the meantime. it is really important that you do not operate your internal stop tap.

We would like to thank you all for bearing with us during this time.

On 18th November, IWNL issued your housing development with a ‘Do not use’ notice, meaning customers were not able to use their water for anything other than flushing toilets. Since this time, IWNL have been carrying out extensive sampling and testing on the water, to determine the cause of the contamination.

On 25th November, after consultation and agreement with the UK Health Security Agency, IWNL amended the notice to be ‘Do not drink’, which meant customers were able to bathe and shower, wash clothes and dishes and flush toilets.

Whilst this notice was amended, IWNL were continuing to work on site, collecting water samples and in parallel, laying an above ground network to provide customers with clean safe water, via temporary pipework. This is being fed into customers’ homes via the outside tap and is an industry accepted solution to keep customers on supply.

What we are doing now

IWNL are still treating this incident as a priority and actively working on site and behind the scenes to identify the cause of the contamination to the network.

Over the next few weeks, IWNL will be:

• Undertaking weekly flushing and sampling of the existing below ground network, to check for the presence of any contaminants.
• Continuing to sample and test the temporary above ground water network.
• Employing a ground investigation consultant to recover soil samples at various locations across the development, using specialist equipment and instruments, to help identify and pinpoint potential contamination in the ground.

All of the above investigatory work will enable IWNL better understand the root cause and source of the problem, and define the next steps on site.

We are likely to receive and analyse all sample results in January 2023, when we will be able to provide you with more detail as to what happens next on site.

With weather conditions improving over the last few days we are not expecting any further issues with frozen pipes on our temporary network. We will continue to monitor the local weather forecasts, but for now there shouldn’t be any reason to leave any taps partially open overnight.

It is really important that you do not operate your internal stop tap.

Our investigations are still ongoing on the old underground network and we hope to be able to provide a more detailed update in the next few days.

We appreciate your cooperation, understanding and patience with this matter.

We would like to thank you all for bearing with us during this time.

With cold weather forecast and temperatures expected to drop below freezing, we are advising that customers leave their kitchen sink tap partially open overnight. This is to have a continuous flow of water through the temporary network and prevent water freezing. Your temporary supply is unmetered and therefore this extra usage will be at no costs to you.

It is really important that you do not operate your internal stop tap. 

Our investigations are still ongoing on the old underground network so that we can fully identify what caused the contamination in the water supply. You will still see our technicians on site whilst this is ongoing, and this could take a few more weeks to complete.

We appreciate your cooperation, understanding and patience with this matter.

We would like to thank you all for bearing with us during this time.

IWNL are pleased to report that all customers on site are now on the temporary supply. We are glad this stage of our work has been completed and we can provide customers with a clean and safe temporary supply of water to use and drink.

It is really important that you do not operate your internal stop tap. 

We would like to thank you all for bearing with us during this time. All customers have been contacted individually to inform them of this news.

Our work doesn’t stop there; we are going to accelerate our investigations on the old underground network so that we can fully identify what caused the contamination in the water supply. You will still see our technicians on site whilst this is ongoing, and this could take a few more weeks to complete.

We appreciate your cooperation, understanding and patience with this matter.