We are proud to provide a sustainable, affordable, clean and safe water supply and to manage and treat the waste water returned to us in a way that protects the environment.
05/08/2008
Millions of pounds are to be spent to further upgrade one of the largest sewage treatment works on the eastern coast of England.
Northumbrian Water will invest £11 million on two schemes over the next 18 months to improve performance of, and reduce odour emissions from, Howdon sewage treatment works (stw) in North Tyneside.
Sewage treatment is an essential process and Howdon stw, which serves more than one million people on Tyneside, can treat up to 12,000 litres of wastewater per second.
The water company has already invested £10 million on odour control at Howdon stw since 1998 and will invest a further £4 million on the first scheme which is scheduled to be complete by this winter.
Work to review and model potential odour on the site, and in the surrounding area, has been carried out and enabled specialist consultants to design upgrades to the odour control systems which are predicted to make a significant improvement.
Wastewater enters the site through the inlet works and £7 million is to be spent in the second scheme to upgrade this part of the sewage treatment process.
As well as being in an odour controlled building, the new inlet process will be completely enclosed, further reducing potential odour.
Non-biodegradable materials, such as plastics, are separated at this stage, compacted, put into skips and taken to landfill. New, bigger skips are to be used which will result in fewer trips by road to landfill, in turn reducing carbon emissions.
During the course of the improvement work the grit removal process, also located in the inlet works will be refurbished, it will have close fitting covers installed to further minimise odour.
Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager, Tim Moores, said: “We recognise the need to continue to improve odour control at Howdon stw and that this is an important priority for local residents. We believe that this extensive improvement work demonstrates our on-going commitment to reducing the impact of Howdon stw on the surrounding area.“
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For further information contact Cara Hall on 0191 301 6720.