A multi-million-pound investment to reduce nutrient impact and improve water quality in the north of Somerset is completed this autumn.
More than £15 million has been invested at the water recycling centre serving the town of Shepton Mallet, to ensure sewage treatment meets rigorous environmental standards.
Enhanced treatment capacity will also meet anticipated population growth over the next two decades.
The refurbishment is part of more than £400 million invested by Wessex Water to upgrade water recycling centres throughout the region by the end of next year.
Much of the work will focus on advanced methods to remove more pollutants like ammonia and phosphorus found in wastewater which can affect the health of rivers, in this case the River Sheppey.
Project manager Hannah Sweeney said, “Reducing the presence of these nutrients in the sewage arriving at our water recycling centres is one of the biggest challenges Wessex Water is stepping up to meet.
“They can be found in agricultural fertilisers, farm slurries, septic tank discharges as well as domestic wastewater and can cause large growths of algae in streams and rivers, which can damage plants and animals by depleting the amount of oxygen in the water – a process known as eutrophication.
“In improving the processes for removing them at our Shepton Mallet site, we’ll make sure our treatment continues to meet the high standards set by the Environment Agency and improve the condition of the River Sheppey.
“By the end of this year we’ll have upgraded existing equipment and installed new processes to ensure sewage from the local community continues to be safely treated.’’
The Shepton Mallet site also serves nearby villages, and several more treatment units have been added, including biological treatment, additional sludge storage, new controls and upgrading of infrastructure.
Chemical dosing systems, pump stations and monitoring equipment are also part of the refurbishment.
Wessex Water’s push to further protect Somerset’s waterways from the impact of nutrients has seen several projects already under way or planned.
More than £12 million of investment has been targeted towards protecting the Wellow Brook on the edge of the Mendips, with teams moving on to the water recycling centre in Radstock next February as part of a £7 million scheme, and another £2.5 million of enhancements allocated for rural projects in 2025.
Further south nearly £3 million has been spent to reduce nutrient impact at water recycling centres near the villages of Nether Stowey and Stogursey, to the west of Bridgwater, while sites at Martock, Crewkerne, Merriott and Somerton have been enhanced as part of a £18 million investment.
Wessex Water is proposing more than £900 million towards stripping out nutrients from wastewater as part of a £3.5 billion investment package between 2025 and 2030 – more than double the current five-yearly spend.
That Business Plan is currently subject to scrutiny and discussion with the industry regulator Ofwat.
