Anglian Water’s @one Alliance has completed important upgrades to a water recycling centre (WRC) in Towcester to help protect the environment from flooding and support regional expansion.
Located in a rapidly growing region, Towcester’s WRC supports the community by treating wastewater before being safely returned to the environment.
However, extreme weather events with heavy rainfall mean the system can be quickly overwhelmed with excess water.
The project – worth over £12 million – includes upgrades such as a new activated sludge plant (ASP) compromising of two anoxic tanks and eight aerobic tanks, an ASP pumping station, two final settlement tanks (FST), return/surplus activated sludge pump station, sludge thickener plant and new storm tank.
The WRC now has an additional 271m3 of storage, allowing the WRC to hold over one million litres of rainwater which can be safely stored during heavy rainfall.
This allows more time for full treatment before the water is released back into the environment.
To cope with the additional load, the site has also been upgraded with a new 12m motor control centre (MCC) and low-voltage switchboard designed to allow sufficient power supply to the newly installed systems, alongside a new ferric dosing system, tertiary filter and an additional dosing point which allows the site to remove additional levels of phosphorus down to below 0.3mg/l.
Samantha Bignall, Customer Experience Manager, explained the importance of the new infrastructure: “Climate change is bringing more extreme weather, including sudden downpours and intense rainfall, so it’s essential we are prepared to manage excess storm water effectively.
“This project in Towcester will help protect local homes and businesses, as well as the surrounding environment and biodiversity.”
Earlier this year, Anglian Water announced the start of their next five-year business plan which will see £11 billion of investment across the region. The water company will be doubling their investment to £4 billion for nature recovery.
