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Drinking water abstraction
The Tyne Catchment is home to around 800,000 people. Each person uses around 148 litres of drinking quality water per day (taken from Northumbrian Water's Environmental Report 2001), meaning that in theory people in the Tyne Catchment could use around 147,200,000 litres (147.2 mega litres) per day (MLD), though it is estimated by the Environment Agency that only 67% of the total volume of water consented for abstraction is actually removed from the river. The majority of this water used for drinking comes from the Tyne at Barrasford and Horsley and the Rede via Catcleugh Reservoir, and is treated at Northumbrian Water's Treatment works at Gunnerton, Horsley and Whittle Dene, with other, smaller works taking water from the River Rede and groundwater.
In the Tyne water capable of being taken from the river and groundwater reserves at 60 locations (excluding reservoirs) and that an additional significant amount is authorised to be taken as part of the Kielder Transfer scheme (Tyne Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy Report - Environment Agency 2005).
The Kielder Transfer scheme involves water being released from the reservoir at the top of the North Tyne, abstracted from the River Tyne and Riding Mill, from where it can be used to deliver additional water to the Rivers Derwent, Wear and Tees. The scheme was originally constructed to meet projected demand for raw water from industry on Teesside. However, this demand has not materialised and the water is now used (at much lower volumes than the original design capacity) to support river flows and drinking water demand in the Derwent, Wear and occasionally Tees Valleys.
