A £35 million upgrade at a sewage treatment site serving more than 100,000 customers is now complete.
The two-year project at the water recycling centre in the village of Saltford was designed and delivered by Wessex Water’s sister company YTL Construction UK.
A spokesperson said it will meet the extra demands of a growing population and protect the environment in and around the River Avon.
The scheme takes Wessex Water’s overall recent investment in Saltford services to £45 million, following the completion of a £9 million access road and river bridge in 2024, which diverts site traffic away the village’s narrow lanes.
A further £1 million storm storage enhancement off the A4 in Saltford was also completed last year, while nearby Keynsham Water Recycling Centre has undergone a £17 million refurbishment.
Wessex Water chief executive Ruth Jefferson, who welcomed visitors to a launch event to view the upgrades, said: “Saltford is one of the key sites in the north of our region and this site expansion helps us meet the needs of our growing local communities.
“As a result of this two-year project, we will be able to increase our capacity to treat incoming sewage by around 40 per cent – more than 800 litres per second – and our thanks go to the YTL Construction UK team for completing it on time.
“But we’ve also been determined to recognise and reduce the impact of our operations on the community of Saltford itself, reducing the environmental impact of our operations and enhancing areas around our site.
“The new £9 million access road and bridge between our centre and A431 that was completed two years ago is helping to ease traffic travelling through narrow lanes in the village, and the adjacent footway crossing on the bridge is providing a new pedestrian link between Bitton and Saltford.”
The century-old site is now also home to a new lagoon viewing area ideal for educational visits, while an ‘Ecological Wetland Scrape’ next to the bridge provides a habitat for amphibians, invertebrates, mammals and wetland birds.
YTL Construction built all the major structures and pumping station and installed pipework and infrastructure for the water recycling centre expansion – one of their biggest completed projects for Wessex Water.
Chief executive John Thompson said: “It’s the culmination of many years of hard work by our team – that numbered up 80 at its peak – and has been a huge undertaking, with more than 300,000 tonnes of earth shifted to prepare the ground initially and around 11,000 tonnes of concrete poured across the expansion area.
“Our philosophy is about building better, smarter and right – and we’ve brought that to bear with this project.
“Around 5,000 trees and shrubs were planted and ground reinstated around the bridge and more than 3,000 trees, 250 metres of new hedgerow and 1.5 hectares of species-rich grassland will be planted or created from this autumn and the following spring.
“We’ve also played our part towards helping reduce the previous impact on the village of Saltford, contributing £20,000 – around a fifth of the project cost – towards a B&NES scheme to resurface and repair the High Street in the village.
“And of course we were proud of our work on the bridge, the first to be built over the River Avon for 40 years, which has been won accolades from the Institution of Civil Engineers and Green Apple Environment Awards.’’
Councillor Dine Romero, Vice Chair of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “This expansion is very impressive. The council has recently joined a region-wide pledge to help the River Avon thrive, so it was great to learn how the additional capacity can also play a role in reducing storm overflow discharges.
“I was also pleased to hear how well Wessex Water continues to work with local partners and councils.”
The Saltford centre will also play an increasingly prominent role in Wessex Water’s programme to remove more nutrients from wastewater within the Bristol Avon catchment, helping prevent algae from endangering wildlife within rivers and streams.
