October 12, 2021 4.05 pm This story is over 29 months old

New powerful flood pumps to help tackle severe weather in Lincolnshire

The county council bought the pumps for £50,000
By Local Democracy Reporter

Lincolnshire County Council has bought two new trailer-mounted flood pumps to support firefighters in responding to incidents.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue already have two pumps which are used when roads and properties are flooded, often during spates of heavy rain in the county.

The two new pumps have been purpose built to deal with flood water and debris. They can pump water out twice as fast as a fire appliance, and are capable of pumping 216,000 litres of water every hour.

A £50,000 investment from Lincolnshire County Council allowed for the pumps to be bought, and they contain a 500 litre fuel tank, meaning the pumps can run for up to three days before needing to be re-fuelled.

The new trailer-towed pumps are capable of shifting 60 litres of water per second! | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council

Only two firefighters are needed to operate the towed pumps at any one time, meaning more fire appliances and staff can be freed up for use at other emergencies.

The total of four pumps will be distributed across Lincolnshire in Gainsborough, Wragby, Alford and Holbeach to offer a countywide response to surface water and flooding.

Cllr Tom Dyer, executive support councillor for environment at LCC, said: “The new flood pumps have been bought by the county council as the lead local flood authority to support the emergency services more effectively when they respond to flooding.

“As well as being better prepared for when flooding occurs, we also have a full programme of flood schemes across Lincolnshire over the coming years, to help prevent flooding from occurring in the first place, with an extra £2.2 million to address local drainage and flooding problems.”