United Utilities has embarked upon a £77 million project to increase the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant at Burnley by 27%.
The work will include adding new treatment processes to reduce phosphorous and other nutrients from effluent before it leaves the plant after processing.
Novel treatments will use iron oxide particles to increase the amount of waste that can be processed and lower nutrients. The iron particles are then recovered using a magnetic drum to be reused in the process.
The upgrade forms part of United Utilities’ efforts to improve river water quality across its region. Effluent from the Burnley plant is discharged into the Calder, which is a tributary to the Ribble. Both waterways will benefit from additional storm water storage, which will reduce the need for storm overflows to operate during heavy rain.
Senior project manager Tony Elliott said the upgrade would address customer concerns sewage entering rivers.
“This project will tackle that problem – by storing more sewage in times of heavy rainfall, and by upgrading the treatment process itself so that the treated water released back into the River Calder around the clock is even cleaner,” he said.
“As well as increasing the capacity at the facility, we’re also introducing new processes which will speed up the treatment process,” Elliott added.
Over the past five years, United Utilities has invested more than £330 million in upgrades to infrastructure and nature-based schemes to benefit river health in Lancashire.
From 2025, the firm will embark on £13.7 billion investment programme, subject to regulatory approval. This includes £3.1 billion to tackle storm overflows, which is the largest programme of work of any English or Welsh water company. The Northwest has a higher proportion of combined sewer networks than much of the rest of the country owing to many systems being designed and built during industrialisation when combined networks were prevalent.
Its proposed totex spend is dominated by environmental programmes, specifically the water industry national investment programme (WINEP) with the company saying it will need to spend £5.7 billion to meet statutory requirements.