The situation

Across the South West our sewerage system is showing its age and is in need of upgrading. This is especially true of the sewer running from the pumping station in Penryn. Following a number of bursts in the past few years, it's reached the end of it's working life and needs replacing.

Recent upgrades to the pumping station and this replacement of the main will add resilience to the network and reduce the risk of pollution.

The plan for Penryn

The replacement of the sewer will happen in stages, and we'll use a combination of techniques - open cut excavation, and lining.

There will be traffic lights on Commercial Road and Eastwood Road for a time to ensure the safety of the public and our teams, but all businesses will remain open and accessible during the works. We apologise for the delays this will cause, and advise that if you normally use this route for Falmouth, please use the bypass instead during this time.

Stage 1: Commercial Road to Falmouth Road

15 January – 28 March

Multi way traffic lights will be in place. We will be using open cut excavations, and lining in this area.

Stage 2: Eastwood Road at junction of Falmouth Road

4 March – 28 March

Traffic management will be in place around Eastwood Road. We'll be using open cut excavations in this area.

Update: March 2024

We will complete laying the new pipe by the end of March 2024. 

Unfortunately, because of the heavy rain experienced recently, we need to wait until the level of wastewater in our sewerage system returns to normal levels before connecting the new pipe. We're unsure when we'll be able to complete this work due to the fact it is weather dependent.

We will keep all residents and local businesses informed as this progresses.

Update: April 2024

The sewer systems are returning to normal and we're looking to return to site in early May. We will keep all residents and local businesses informed as updates follow.

Update: Late April 2024

Following our update earlier this month, we unfortunately cannot return to site in early May due to highway access. Instead, we will come back at the end of May to carry out work to sample the main and complete further investigations (expected to be 3 days work). The sample is then sent off to our manufacturers who will design a solution based on that sample. We're aiming to return at the end of June or early July to finish the work, dependent on Highways permission.  

Update: June 2024

Unfortunately, we were unable to carry out pipe samples over the bridge due to unexpectedly encountering some wiring in the drilling area. We plan to return in July to do this. We aim to carry out the final stage of the work in September 2024. This will involve re-lining the sewer over the bridge and making final connections to the pumping station.  

What you'll see

For the majority of this project, we'll be using open cut excavation - which means we'll dig a trench down to the pipe, cut the pipe out and replace that section. This type of work is noisy and produces dust. We'll be using pneumatic drills, diggers and other noisy equipment to complete the replacement.

In other sections, we'll be using lining, which is when a repair happens inside the pipe itself. Unfortunately, due to the fragility of the sewer, we are unable to use this technique for the full length of pipe.