A new £10 million pumping station to help protect Portsmouth from flooding came into operation in 2010.

The underground station in Bransbury Park has six storm engines and acts as a back-up to the existing Eastney Pumping Station, removing 9,000 litres of water a second from the city during heavy rain.

The project won bronze in the Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards for high standards in cleanliness, health and safety, environmental care and consideration to neighbours. It was also highly commended at a civil engineering awards ceremony.

Planning also began for a £20 million flood protection scheme to separate rain from wastewater in Portsmouth by building two seperate systems to prevent pipes overloading during storms.

We completed a scheme in St Mary Bourne to help reduce the risk of flooding to homes and gardens when the sewers become overloaded with rain. Several new sewers and pumping stations were built around the village.

We started work on a multi-million pound environmental upgrade scheme at Ludgershall Wastewater Treatment Works, on the Hampshire/Wiltshire boundary, to ensure recycled wastewater meets higher standards introduced by the Environment Agency.

Filters filled with more than 60 tonnes of sand will help to protect the environment in Whitchurch, near Andover, in a £2.7 million scheme which began to clean fine particles from wastewater at the treatment works.

Meanwhile, a larger sewer laid in Emsworth will ensure the area is better protected against flooding and environmental damage during storms. We also replaced nearly 10km of water mains with stronger, plastic pipes in Southampton and Eastleigh to help prevent bursts, leaks and interruptions to supply.