During 2010-11, we completed schemes to reduce the risk of internal and external flooding to more than 105 properties.

Our new underground pumping station at Bransbury Park in Portsmouth came into operation to help prevent flooding in the city during wet weather. With six storm engines, it acts as a back-up to the existing Eastney Pumping Station to divert 9,000 litres of water a second away from the city.

We surveyed sewers and developed plans in Portsmouth for a £20 million scheme to separate rain from wastewater and provide flood protection for Southsea. This will involve building new surface water sewers, pumping stations and outlet pipes to ensure rain is directed out to sea rather than into the wastewater system.

Innovative smoke tests were used to investigate causes of flooding on a housing estate at Elmer Sands in West Sussex. Smoke was blown through public sewer manholes to show areas where it escaped and where rain could enter the sewers, causing them to flood.

We carried out a £1.5 million scheme to create storage ponds to hold water during heavy rain at Hoo St Werburgh in Kent. The project was carried out to deal with flows generated by a new housing development.

A £4.7 million scheme was completed to reduce the risk of sewer flooding at Brambridge in Hampshire. The scheme included an underground storage tank capable of holding more than one million litres of water.