£21m investment to increase wastewater treatment

Thames Water is investing £21m in an upgrade to Cirencester Sewage Treatment Works (STW) as part of its infrastructure spending.

The UK’s water companies have faced sustained criticism for the levels of sewage entering rivers and waterways, while Thames Water is also swamped by high levels of indebtedness.

The investment at Cirencester is to almost double the capacity, in part by adding a natural filtration system that provides a final treatment of water prior to it being returned to the environment.

The site will be able to treat up to 484 litres of wastewater per second when work is completed next spring.

Increasing this capacity will “greatly reduce the risk of storm overflows during periods of heavy rainfall and return a better quality of effluent to the river”, Thames Water said.

Paul Parfrey, project manager at Thames Water, said: “As custodians of this important infrastructure we need to ensure our sites are resilient to the pressures of climate change and population growth so we can continue to provide reliable services to our customers.

“This upgrade to our network will help protect customers and the health of the rivers and waterways.”