WELSH Water’s multi-million pound investment in the Tivyside area is well on course.

The company is spending £21m to upgrade its pipelines and systems to ensure reliable supplies to customers in the region. A large chunk of that investment is around the Llechryd treatment works, where it is spending £5m to replace a key 7km trunk main, safeguarding the water supply to more than 20,000 homes.

That work began in July last year and includes putting two 600mm pipes under the River Teifi, three metres below the river bed. Teams of engineers have dug down nine metres on either side of the river to find suitable ground conditions for laying the pipes.

And it has not been all plain sailing, with the Llechryd side of the river being composed mainly of hard rock and proving a tough nut to crack, while the Cilgerran side was made up of clay and more straightforward.

Nevertheless, the works are still on schedule and the new main should be in use by the end of September.

New, £1.1m environmentally friendly fish screens have also gone in and have been approved by Natural Resource Wales as part of the scheme, which will go a long way to protecting aquatic life. A lot of work also went in to preserving other wildlife alongside the new pipeline, including badgers, voles, otters and bats.

Miles of existing pipes have also been either replaced or cleaned using a process called ice pigging, where ice is pushed through the pipes under pressure to remove build-ups of sediment and dirt.

Work has been carried out in Hermon, Eglwyswrw and Pontsian to upgrade the system.

And Welsh Water’s investment does not end there, with the Llechryd treatment works itself due to be upgraded, with new UV installations and pumping station scheduled for completion by 2019.

The treatment works covers an area from Aberaeron in the north, to Llandysul in the south and Newport in the west but can stretch as far as Aberystwyth if needed.

Welsh Water decided it had to act after several problems in recent years, including a mains burst at Ponthrydyceirt in 2015 which left thousands of customers without water.

Welsh Water’s regional communications manager Alexandra Davies-Jones said: “This is one of the flagship schemes for Welsh Water.

“There have been problems in the past with supplies in the area and these works should ensure a first-class, reliable supply. We have targeted the entire area in one go as opposed to doing it piecemeal and tackling individual problems within the network as they occur.”