Anglian Water has unveiled a “hugely ambitious” programme to create 26 treatment wetlands across its region.
The sites will be designed to curb the impact of phosphates and nitrates and further improve biodiversity, with the first three planned to begin in early 2023.
The wetlands projects are part of Anglian’s Get River Positive campaign launched with Severn Trent in May to restore river habitats across the region. At the core of the campaign is a commitment to ensure storm overflows and wastewater treatment works do not harm rivers.
Over the coming decade Anglian will invest more than £50 million in the work, with the first three wetlands planned near Charsfield and Cotton in Suffolk and Stagsden in Bedfordshire.
Feasibility work is underway for the remaining 23 to identify suitable locations.
Robin Price, director of quality and the environment for Anglian described the work as “hugely ambitious” and at a scale not previously seen in the UK.
Based on a scheme the company began in 2019 at Ingoldisthorpe in Norfolk, the wetland plants will naturally clean used water as it passes through a series of interconnected ponds stocked with plants such as iris, sedges, rush, marsh marigold and watercress. This helps to remove ammonia and phosphate before it goes back into the nearby river.
The wetlands will be secondary to treatment at a water recycling centre but will remove the need for carbon-intensive infrastructure and chemical dosing that would otherwise be required.
Price said: “As our region grows, we need to find more natural ways to remove them from our waste water, rather than adding more chemicals in our treatment processes or building carbon hungry infrastructure, which is unsustainable, and would have an impact on customer bills too. The wetlands are therefore a great solution; they not only remove the unwanted chemicals naturally but they create a wildlife-rich environment too.”
The announcement came alongside the company’s financial results for 2021/22 in which it reported its largest ever single-year programme of capital investment of almost £578 million, up from £447 million the year before.
Chief executive Peter Simpson said during the 12 months to March 2022, Anglian also delivered its best ever performance on leakage reduction and provided £32 million of support for financially vulnerable customers. He said the company has delivered 1,184 environmental schemes so far in AMP7.
Speaking on the cost-of-living crisis, Simpson said Anglian has helped 325,000 households this year and a further £65 million of financial assistance has been ring-fenced for 2022/23 as part of the total £232 million of affordability support available in 2020-25.
The company faced supply chains issues and challenges stemming from prolonged flooding in its region during 2021 that Simpson said “held back some elements of operational performance” in 2021.
Anglian missed its target on pollution incidents, flooding and mains bursts which lead to an overall net penalty on outcome delivery incentives (ODIs) of £8 million. It remained on track or ahead of targets on its environmental programme delivery, on leakage and mains repairs. Despite missing those ODIs, the company remains in a net positive position to date during AMP7 and anticipates returning to net reward in 2022/23.
As part of the capex spend, Anglian invested £109 million in abstraction reduction to protect chalk streams and rivers; £68.1 million for climate resilience schemes and £63.1 million to address population growth.
“The schemes we are delivering, including the most ambitious smart metering programme in the industry, the creation of a cutting-edge smart water network, and a multitude of abstraction reduction programmes, have enabled us to make sector-leading reductions in the amount of water we take from the environment, protecting precious chalk streams and rivers,” Simpson said.
“The dedication of all my colleagues, day after day, week after week, through this difficult year, has been a stand-out positive. We were particularly thrilled to be awarded Utility of the Year 2021 by Utility Week, our sector’s highest accolade – a welcome and timely reminder that this is a purpose-driven company with a reputation for excellence,” Simpson said.
Entries for the 2022 Utility Week Awards are now open.