A SOUTHAMPTON company has been awarded a contract worth £20m to maintain and improve the areas water infrastructure.

Portsmouth water has awarded the four-year contract to water sector specialist, Trant Engineering which will see the Southampton based company maintain and improve assets above and below the ground.

The investment programme is for the remainder of Portsmouth Water’s seventh asset management period up until 2025, with an option for a five year extension which would cover the AMP8 regulatory period to 2030.

Scope of work includes water treatment works, pumping stations, service reservoirs, pressure-reducing values, water treatment processes and equipment, boreholes, reservoirs, pumping stations and monitoring equipment and systems.

Trant Engineering employs 750 people and has worked on bespoke projects for Portsmouth Water for more than 15 years, including the design, installation and commissioning of ultraviolet disinfection technology.

James Henderson, Director – Process & Water, Trant Engineering, said: “Our cost-reimbursement business model, aligned with collaborative working with Portsmouth Water, means we can efficiently and effectively deliver a programme of maintenance and new works.

"The framework agreement builds upon a long and trusted relationship with Portsmouth Water spanning three decades.”

Portsmouth Water supplies clean drinking water from boreholes, springs and a river to 320,000 properties in Hampshire and West Sussex.

Bob Taylor, Portsmouth Water’s Chief Executive, and Gerry Somers, Trant Engineering’s UK Managing Director, signed the contract at Portsmouth Water’s head office in Havant.

He said: “Portsmouth Water has a laser focus on delivering industry-leading performance - operationally and in customer service - in a dynamic era of water resilience, sustainability, technology and regulatory accountability.

“Trant Engineering has consistently proved itself to be a leading contractor to the water industry and its collaborative ‘one team’ approach, innovation and can-do attitude has been well received.”

Civil engineering and building works by Trant Engineering are also included within the non-infrastructure investment programme.