Isle of Wight is home to nearly 130,000 people and millions more visitors who all want to turn on their taps and get fresh, clean drinking water.
Southern Water supplies three-quarters of the drinking water the Island needs from rivers and underground rock sources where rainwater collects.
However, more water is needed so a quarter of the supply is pumped across from Hampshire through two large pipes under the seabed in the Solent.
The pipes run from Lepe, in Hampshire, and supply water taken from Testwood reservoir, near Southampton, which has been cleaned and disinfected.
They emerge in Gurnard, on the Isle of Wight, and the water is disinfected again before being pumped into water mains and finally to people’s taps.
However the pipes were put in nearly 25 years ago and now need replacing with new larger ones to help supply more water to the Isle of Wight for future generations.
