£10.6m project underway to reduce the amount of sewage entering Lancashire water

United Utilities is delivering the £10.6m programme to increase capacity at 29 rural wastewater treatment works across the region – six of these serve Lancashire.

It comes as it was revealed that sewage spills caused by United Utilities increased in duration. Data from the Rivers Trust showed that in 2022, the average spill duration in areas controlled by United Utilities (the North West) was 6.14 hours, but by 2023 this had increased to 6.73 hours - or just over 30 minutes longer. The £10.6 million project is introducing new treatment units that enable the small rural facilities to treat more wastewater during times of heavy rainfall. This is expected to reduce the number of times that storm overflows operate at the upgraded sites by more than 1,200 a year.

It is part of United Utilities commitment to reduce spills by at least 50 per cent by 2030. Work has already been completed at three sites of the sites which serve Lancashire and is already underway at the others.  Plans are also being developed to introduce the solution to more sites in Lancashire.

Rob Moore who heads up wastewater for United Utilities in Lancashire explained: “This fast-track project is one of a range of measures we are taking to reduce spills from the wastewater network. These new treatment units operate alongside the existing treatment methods, they are quick to produce and install and will play an important role in reducing the number of times that storm overflows operate in periods of heavy rainfall.

“By treating more, and doing it more quickly, we can ease pressure on these rural wastewater treatment sites and in turn reduce the risk of spills. People might be surprised that three of the sites are in North Yorkshire but they are still part of our network.”

The treatment units are being manufactured in the North West at Bury-based Water Engineering Services at the rate of one every week. Once made, they are delivered to site fully assembled and can be ready for action within a few weeks.

Rob Moore added: “This fast-track project enables us to install an effective solution in a matter of weeks compared to the 18-months plus it can take to deliver larger scale infrastructure. It is an important first step as we launch the biggest overhaul of the region’s sewer network in a century.  People are going to see much more of this over the next 25 years as we deliver a wide range of solutions.

“Across the region, we are making fundamental changes to the way our sewer system has been designed and change on this scale cannot happen overnight. We have a programme to re-plumb our drainage systems, building storage tanks to increase capacity and separating rainwater out of sewers – as well as using engineering solutions we’re also harnessing the power of nature by introducing measures such as reedbeds and natural filtration systems.”

Work has already been completed at Burton in Lonsdale, Grindleton and Hellifield. Work is also underway at Horton in Ribblesdale, Waddington and Weeton in Fylde.