Juas redevelopment "will improve quality of drinking water" for people in the north

Monday 08 April 2019

A decommissioned water treatment works has been brought back online following a £1.8million project which will produce long term savings.

Following significant investment and redevelopment by Guernsey Water, Juas Water Treatment Works is now online, supplying water that is safe and good to drink, to people in the northern zone of Guernsey Water’s drinking water network.

In July 2017, Guernsey Water announced that it was bringing the facility back into operation as part of its new water treatment strategy, and that it would replace the treatment works at Longue Hougue Reservoir.

Guernsey Water’s General Manager Steve Langlois said the overall strategy is estimated to bring a saving of £10million over the next 25 years.

“The savings are thanks to the greater operational efficiency and ease of maintenance of traditional gravity sand filters in comparison to membrane filtration, currently in operation at Longue Hougue," he said. 

Juas will be one of three active works on the island following the decommissioning of Longue Hougue. Together with Kings Mills and St Saviour’s WTW the organisation will be able to meet peak consumption demand, also allowing for planned or emergency shutdowns.

Pictured: The clarifier at Juas 

On average, islanders consume 12½ million litres of water a day. Juas is designed to supply  up to 10 million litres a day at maximum output.

The work at Juas has taken 20 months to complete and during this time all sections of the site have been fully refurbished and brought up to meet the latest standards, including the installation of a UV disinfection system.

Thanks to these changes, Juas WTW is expected to improve water quality for islanders in the northern zone.

“Although the project has taken a little longer than we originally expected we are pleased to report that it has come below the £1.8million budgeted,” said Mr Langlois.

The treatment works at Longue Hougue will now be decommissioned over the next six months, although the reservoir (the largest on the island) will continue to be a valuable raw water storage facility.

Pictured top: Juas Water Treatment Works