An illustrated description of the
works at Langford, Maldon

As written in 1948

The Southend Waterworks Company was founded as a private undertaking in 1865, the original works for the supply of the little town consisting of a well and pumping station in Milton Road and a reservoir in Cambridge Road, Southend. In 1871 the works were taken over by the Southend Waterworks Company Limited and in 1879 the Company was incorporated as a Statutory Undertaking.

Progressive developments resulted in extensions of the area of supply which by 1924 had attained its present total of 160 square miles bounded on the north by the River Crouch, on the south by the River Thames and extending westward as far as the outskirts of Shenfield. In addition bulk supplies are provided to neighbouring districts on the northern fringe of the statutory area so that the inhabitants of some 200 square miles of Essex are now dependant upon the Company for their water.

Increases in demand were met by sinking additional wells and boreholes so that "ultimately thirty-six such sources were spaced over the area of supply. They were sunk through the London Clay to draw upon the water contained in the sands of the Lower London Tertiary Deposits. Many of the borings were made deeper than the Tertiaries and penetrate a considerable distance into the chalk. The yields generally were poor having regard to the capital expenditure involved and the prolonged and increasing draught upon the strata over the whole area resulted in gradual reductions from the initial yields.

The increasing difficulty of obtaining sufficient water in this area, from underground local sources resulted in consideration being given to a project for abstracting water from some of the Essex rivers.

In 1921 a joint scheme with the South Essex Waterworks Company to take water from the River Stour did not obtain the approval of Parliament, therefore the River Chelmer with its tributary the Ter and the River Blackwater were selected by the Southend Company as being capable of meeting the anticipated water demands for many years ahead.

A Bill was lodged in Parliament in the Session of 1924 and received the Royal Assent in August of that year. The construction of the Langford Works, which are described in detail hereafter, was sufficiently advanced by August 1927 for water derived from the River Chelmer to be pumped into supply. From that date until 1945 ninety-six per cent of the water supplied was pumped from Langford.

Most of the wells and boreholes have been maintained as reserve sources. They were of considerable potential value during the war and have provided useful additional supplies during the periods of high peak demand experienced each summer. Since the requirements of the area are nearing the capacity of the present river works advantage has been taken of the electrical power now available to modernise eight of the stations by the installation of automatically operated submersible borehole pumps and the conversion of others is in progress.

Distribution works in the area of supply include nine service reservoirs, five towers and five re-pumping or booster stations raising water from lower to higher zones of pressure. Five hundred and ninety miles of trunk and service mains varying from 30" in diameter downwards convey water to the consumers.