Project scope
Plan: The Grand Union Canal Transfer project will transfer water from Severn Trent’s supply area to areas of water deficit in Affinity Water’s supply area, via a combination of treatment plants, pipelines and use of the Canal & River Trust’s historic canal network. Recycled water will be treated in a new Advanced Water Treatment Plant before being transferred east via a new pipeline to the north-east of Birmingham and discharged into the Coventry Canal near Atherstone. Thereafter, the existing Coventry, Oxford and Grand Union canals, in addition to their statutory navigation role, will convey the treated recycled water to an abstraction point on the canal network between Milton Keynes and the Chilterns, where water will be stored in a new reservoir and further treated to drinking water quality prior to its entry via a new pipeline into Affinity Water’s distribution system to the west of Luton. The project is linear in nature and extends to approximately 160km.
Reported status and procurement
- Reported development
This project is at the pre-application stage. The application is expected to be submitted July 2027.
- Procurement availability
- Unknown / not established
A source report alone does not establish current progress or an open buying window.
Project summary
The planned scheme would transfer recycled water from Severn Trent’s supply area to areas of water deficit in Affinity Water’s supply area, using new treatment and pipeline infrastructure alongside existing canals, with storage and further treatment before entry to Affinity Water’s network. The described route is approximately 160 km, from Minworth near Birmingham via Atherstone and the Coventry, Oxford and Grand Union canals to a reservoir near Luton. The project page reports pre-application status and an expected application submission in July 2027. The source was observed on 1 October 2026; these statements do not establish subsequent progress [u0026; source observation date: 1 October 2026].
Evidence limits and unknowns
The supplied paragraphs do not establish a tender timetable, budget, appointed EPC or contractor, capacity, or specific supplier packages.
Current progress after the source observation on 1 October 2026 is not established by this record; the reported July 2027 submission date is an expectation [u0026; source observation date: 1 October 2026].
Only the supplied project-page paragraphs were reviewed, not the whole page or linked documents. Email-containing and link-only material was excluded, and graphical content was not reviewed [source coverage and limitations; u0001–u0027].
