Anglian Water has set out plans for more than £12 million of improvements to river water quality across its region.
The work at six locations includes removing phosphorous at wastewater treatment sites to meet tightening environmental regulations as well as upgrades to boost capacity to process more sewage.
The company made commitments under its Get River Positive programme, which launched last year with Severn Trent, to reduce discharges from overflows and improve water quality.
The spending at six locations includes removing phosphorous at wastewater treatment sites to meet tightening environmental regulations as well as upgrades to boost capacity to process more sewage.
It has recently completed £2.6 million of improvements to Soham wastewater treatment site to ramp up the processing capacity by 11.8 litres each second to keep up with increased flows.
This was conceived to stop flooding and future proof the plant. Extra storm tanks have been added to hold back flows at times of heavy rainfall, which will reduce the reliance on storm overflows.
At Reepham, £1.8 million works included equipment to strengthen the current water recycling process.
The company has completed work to expand storm tank capacity that will allow the site to process 35 litres per second, up from 26 litres.
This was carried out to meet the needs of the growing local population as well as increased surface water drainage.
The company said it would spend over £2.1 million at Harlaxton; £3.4 million at Holme Fen; £1.9 million at Sudbury; and £1 million at Steeple Bumpstead to meet Environment Agency requirements for nutrient levels from effluent discharges.
The sites will have equipment added to remove algae growth to improve water quality returning to adjacent watercourses.
Regan Harris, spokesperson at Anglian, said: “As a result of climate change, we’re seeing more bouts of extreme weather, sudden downpours and rising sea levels, so it’s really important that our sites are prepared to process higher volumes of stormwater and protect the environment.
“That’s why we’ve committed through our Get River Positive programme that our water recycling processes will not harm rivers, with schemes like this one in Reepham.”
The six sites form part of Anglian’s Water industry national environment programme (WINEP), which it is investing £800 million into between 2020-25.