SRA Annual Report 2020-21: North Drain Pumping Station

A second phase of repairs and improvements to North Drain Pumping Station was led by the Environment Agency and part-funded by the SRA. Works included replacing two penstocks used to help manage the inlet to the pumping station, straightening weedscreen bars, de-silting inlet bays, fitting three stop-log boards for controlling flows of water, and fixing stone gabions. The Environment Agency then installed new electric canister pumps, ‘fish-friendly’ and with a lower carbon dioxide (CO2) output than the station’s old pumps, which were near the end of their life.

North Drain Pumping Station sits close to the confluence of North Drain and the River Brue about halfway between Westham and Burtle. This area tends to have too much water in winter – and too little in summer – so the pumping station needs to operate as effectively as possible all year round. Pumping water from the North Drain into the Brue, as and when required, helps to reduce the risks of flooding for 9,700 acres of land.

North Drain Pumping Station seen high up from a drone in its strategically important position between North Drain and the River Brue. — North Drain Pumping Station seen from the air during improvement works in 2020.

Jeff Fear at top of ladder at North Drain Pumping Station before descending into inlet bay. — SRA Board member Jeff Fear about to descend into an inlet bay at North Drain Pumping Station. Mr Fear represents the Axe Brue Internal Drainage Board on the SRA Board.

Socially-distanced visitors to North Drain Pumping Station listen to John Rowlands outlining the reasons for works at the station. — John Rowlands, then of the Environment Agency, addressing SRA Chair Cllr David Hall, project manager Mike Lake, Somerset High Sheriff 2020 Mary-Clare Rodwell, and Jeff Fear inside North Drain Pumping Station.

A view from below of the new metal roof at North Drain Pumping Station. — The new roof at North Drain Pumping Station.

A video made for the 2020 Somerset Community Resilience event features aerial shots of the second phase of works at North Drain Pumping Station and an interview with the Environment Agency’s project manager Mike Lake, from about 3 minutes 18 seconds in: see below –

A first phase of SRA-funded works took place in 2018, which included the replacement of the station’s 50-year-old leaking and collapsing concrete roof with a lightweight modern roof.

Using Growth Deal funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, the SRA has helped the Environment Agency to introduce better ways of working and more flexible water management at North Drain Pumping Station.