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We're making our way up the 
Hurleston flight of lochs at the

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very start of the Llangochlin 
Canal and to the right hand side

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of the lochs as you come up, 
there's a huge embankment and 

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behind that embankment is a 
reservoir because the 

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00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,280
Llangochlin is used to transport
water from North Wales into 

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00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,400
Cheshire. 
And that's what we'll be 

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00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,240
exploring on this edition of The
Water Ropes. 

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00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,320
There are four locks at 
Herleston that raise the canal 

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just over 30 feet and then just 
above the top lock is a Weir and

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the water from the canal goes 
over the Weir and down a wide 

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stepped channel into the 
reservoir itself. 

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Reservoir covers about 21 acres 
and it's a haven for wildlife. 

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They're agreed on the water 
today as well as ducks and Swans

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and there are fishing points all
around and the local fishing 

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group says that eel have been 
known to be caught here. 

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And there's actually a footpath 
that runs all the way round the 

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reservoir so you can do a 
complete circuit. 

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The first side gives you a view 
down the locks and then when you

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get to the end you're looking NE
and the views are fantastic. 

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Off to the right you can see the
tower blocks and the warehouses 

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00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,920
of Crewe, and then a little bit 
off to the left you can see the 

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huge white dish of the 
telescopes at Jodrell Bank, 

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which is about 15 miles away as 
the crow flies. 

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And beyond that, you can see the
hills in the eastern part of 

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Cheshire and up to the Peak 
District beyond. 

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To find out more about how and 
why the Llangollan Canal is used

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to move water, I spoke to Rob 
Moore, the head of water 

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services for Cheshire for United
Utilities, and started by asking

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him how much water comes down 
the canal each day. 

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We have an abstraction licence 
from the River Dee that puts 

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water into the Llangollan Canal 
and that enables us to abstract 

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up to 50 million litres of water
a day. 

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And that abstraction licence is 
continually reviews and governed

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by natural resources whales who 
are responsible for managing all

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the water in in the area that 
we're abstracting from. 

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So whilst we're allowed to take 
up to 50 millilitres of water a 

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day, our normal flows at at 
Hurliston in terms of how much 

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water we take out of the canal 
is between 30 and 40 millilitres

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a day, or or 12 to 16 Olympic 
swimming pools, the equivalent 

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00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,120
of. 
So can you actually vary the 

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amount that you bring down and 
and how do you do that? 

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00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:08,480
Yeah. 
So we work really closely with 

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the canals and rivers Truss. 
So ultimately they're the ones 

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who control the the flow down 
the canal through a number of 

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different sleuth valves that 
sits along the canal. 

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And they also in the reservoir, 
if you will, sits at the end of 

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this system and then we take our
water out of to be treated. 

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So, so all of the flows are kind
of controlled and governed by 

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the canal and rivers Truss, but 
obviously we have a really close

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working relationship with them 
to make sure that we're putting 

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water in in the right places 
when we need it. 

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And the. 
Langocklan Canal is nearly 50 

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miles long, so why do you bring 
the water such a long way? 

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Are there Are there no closer 
sources of water to here? 

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Yeah, it's a really good 
question. 

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So ultimately we, we look at 
where, where the water resources

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are and obviously over from the 
River Dee, it's a, it's a really

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reliable source of water. 
So the, our treatment works at 

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Hurlaston supplies around about 
160,000 people with, with clean 

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drinking water every day. 
So to be able to get a reliable 

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water source that's able to, to 
cater for that many people that,

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that's ultimately where, where 
it comes from. 

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So from from the River Dee into 
the Llangollen Canal, out at 

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Hurlaston and then into the taps
for thousands of customers. 

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00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,320
So between entering the 
reservoir and leaving people's 

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00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,320
taps, there must be quite a lot 
of processes that the water goes

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through. 
Absolutely, yes. 

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00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,480
So it's the three stage 
treatment works. 

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Hurliston coagulation is the 
first stage where we settle out 

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00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,400
some of the dissolids that are 
naturally occurring within the 

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in raw water. 
We then philtre it to clean it 

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00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,160
and purify it and then disinfect
it to make sure that it that 

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it's safe for for the customers 
that will ultimately be drinking

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00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:51,920
it. 
I mean, I'm I'm wonder. 

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00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:53,480
Whether the people of. 
Crewe. 

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And Nantwich. 
Realise that that boats have 

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been floating on the water that 
they're now drinking. 

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00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,120
Potentially yes. 
And and as you say, you know, 

79
00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,120
we, we take our water from all 
sorts of different sources over 

80
00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:09,160
the regions, be that boreholes, 
impounded reservoirs that have 

81
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,920
kind of upland peatland and 
everything, and also rivers and 

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00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,840
canals as well. 
So the way that we've designed 

83
00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,880
our treatment works is such that
it treats that water to a really

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00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,240
high standard, as I'm sure you'd
expect, and then ultimately 

85
00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:22,880
makes it safer for people to 
drink. 

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00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,720
And we go through a rigorous 
process of testing that water 

87
00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,960
day in, day out to make sure 
that it meets all the normal 

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00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,600
high quality parameters that we 
treat to and that ultimately 

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00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:35,520
makes sure that it's safe for 
people to drink and consume. 

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00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,800
So the partnership that you have
with the Canal and River Trust 

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00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,000
because not only is it the canal
that brings the water down, but 

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they actually own and manage the
reservoir as. 

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00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:44,920
Well. 
Don't they? 

94
00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,200
Is that is that quite unusual or
is that something that that goes

95
00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,920
on quite a lot? 
Yeah, that's pretty unique. 

96
00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,080
I mean we, we work in 
partnership with with loads of 

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00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,720
different stakeholders and, and,
and partners across the 

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00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:57,840
Northwest in terms of managing 
our catchment. 

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00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,800
And the way that we see this is 
essentially it's an extension of

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00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,000
our catchment. 
So, so that's all about how we 

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00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,360
collect our raw water, store it,
and then make sure that it's 

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00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,400
available in, in sufficient 
supply to then be able to treat 

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00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,080
and, and service the customers 
that this are fed off of that 

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00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,680
network. 
So, so it's not unusual in the 

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00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,200
sense that we're working in 
partnership with others to 

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00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,000
manage our catchment land, but 
we do work very closely with 

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00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,360
them in terms of managing the 
flows and controlling the flows 

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00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:24,800
to make sure that that, you 
know, there's enough water for 

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00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,520
people to drink, but also 
there's enough water in the 

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00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,520
canal for, for boaters like 
itself to be able to enjoy 

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00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,960
recreationally as well. 
And of course this. 

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Summer has been well, and the 
spring and summer have been. 

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Really dry and it's been. 
Causing lots of water shortages 

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00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:40,960
on the. 
Canal network. 

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00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,960
Have you been having to face 
problems because of the the dry 

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00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:45,880
weather as well? 
Yeah. 

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00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,240
So it's a really good question. 
So, so England has experienced 

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00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,440
its driest March, April and May 
this year since the 1890s, which

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00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,920
kind of puts it in perspective 
as to, to just how dry this 

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00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,320
summer has been. 
And we've had the warmest kind 

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00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,880
of and sunniest spring on record
with June being the warmest 

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00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,800
month for England. 
And now we're recently we've had

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00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:09,120
the the third heat wave of the 
year. 

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00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,200
So we've been working really 
hard to manage the water around 

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00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,680
the whole of the Northwest. 98% 
of our network is integrated. 

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00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,440
And what that means is that 
we're able to move water around 

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00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,560
and bring it to areas that are 
are most, most in need. 

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00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,480
And what we're trying to do is 
make sure that we're responsible

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00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,400
in how we do this. 
So, so we don't want to over 

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00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,520
abstract, we don't want to take 
more water than we need. 

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00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,280
And we're part of our efforts to
do that are also to help 

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encourage and educate customers 
to be responsible in what 

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00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,320
they're using as well. 
That's Rob Moore from United 

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00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,640
Utilities. 
Well, a few weeks ago when I 

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00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,800
spoke to Doctor Adam Comerford, 
CR TS National Hydrology 

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00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,160
Manager, about the water 
shortages this summer, that 

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00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,160
episode is still available to 
listen to. 

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00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,760
We also spoke about the 
Lancoquilan and whether the use 

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00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,680
of canals as water transport 
could be used more widely. 

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00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,240
We are doing a lot of work with 
the water industry, particularly

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00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,240
at the moment. 
There's a lot of pressure on on 

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00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,480
the water sector to make sure 
it's resilient. 

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00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,240
The public water supply is 
getting better and better in the

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00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,120
face of things like climate 
change and population growth and

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00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,440
demand for water. 
So we're helping to be part of 

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00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,720
that solution. 
And one particular example we've

147
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,800
been very closely involved with 
is a what's called the Grand 

148
00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,040
Union Canal water transfer. 
So that is proposed to take 

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00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:31,480
about 115,000,000 litres of 
water per day from a water 

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00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,280
treatment works to treat it 
again to the even higher 

151
00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,799
standard to put it in the canal 
and then transfer it about 80 or

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00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:41,600
so kilometres, 80 to 90 
kilometres down through from the

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00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,039
Midlands down towards London and
the southeast where it will then

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00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:47,120
get abstracted again out of the 
canal, treated again and put 

155
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,040
into public water supply. 
So the benefits there are 

156
00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,200
obviously for public water 
supply and the water companies 

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00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,360
involved, they, they improve 
their resilience at a price that

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00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:57,840
is more affordable than some of 
the other options that would be 

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00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,120
available to a water company. 
But also we get the investment 

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00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,480
into our infrastructure. 
We we get the upgrades of our 

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00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,680
canal system, We get improved 
pumping stations, we get canal 

162
00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:11,320
sections relined, we get 
embankments strengthened and we 

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00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:17,400
get more computer monitoring and
sort of control of of the water 

164
00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:19,320
flows, which should ultimately 
help help. 

165
00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,240
Our boaters. 
And customers ensure that 

166
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,920
particular canal really is sort 
of super reliable in the future.

167
00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,800
That's Doctor Adam Comerford, CR
TS National Hydrology Manager 

168
00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,880
Well, the flow on the Lancaster 
Canal does have some impact on 

169
00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,040
boating because all the water 
has to come round the locks. 

170
00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,880
The by washes can be very, very 
fierce, making it quite 

171
00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,000
difficult to get into some of 
the locks from below. 

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00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,400
You need to sort of compensate 
by steering into the flow of the

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00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,360
by wash a little, and then it 
pushes your bow over as you go 

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00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:55,080
into the lock. 
It also means it takes a bit 

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00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,000
longer to go through bridges 
when you're going upstream 

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00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,920
because of course the canal 
narrows bridge holes and it 

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00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,520
means the water flows faster and
further up the canal where there

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00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,480
are tunnels. 
It takes far, far longer to get 

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00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,160
through the tunnel going 
upstream than it does when 

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00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:22,440
you're coming back down. 
And that's all for this edition 

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00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,800
of The Water Rd from Hurlaston, 
right at the start of the 

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00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:28,880
Lancockland Canal. 
There'll be more episodes from 

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00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,200
Lancockland as we continue our 
journey up this waterway. 

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00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,320
The podcast is produced and 
presented by me at A Porter. 

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00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,760
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00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,320
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Don't forget that all previous 
episodes are also always 

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00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,520
available to listen to. 
Thank you for listening to the 

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00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:58,280
Water Rd.