Northumbrian Water is investing in upgrades to sites in North Yorkshire, to help protect the local environment.
The latest project, a £2.5m upgrade to Aldbrough Sewage Treatment Works, is at Aldbrough St John, near Richmond, and is one of the water company’s southernmost operational assets. This is set to begin at the end of February, increasing the capacity of the site and helping to protect the local environment, including Aldbrough Beck.
The work will be carried out by the water company’s partner, Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) and is expected to take approximately nine months to complete. While the STW is situated away from the village itself, much of the construction is planned to take place off-site, prior to delivery to and installation at the works, minimising disruption.
David Greensmith, Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager on the Aldbrough STW upgrades said: “The environment is really important to us. This investment will help protect the local area by increasing our capacity to retain and treat larger amounts of waste from customers’ properties, including when heavy rainfall adds to the volumes in our network.”
This follows work to install a new storm tank at the company’s Melsonby Sewage Treatment Works (STW), which was carried out in 2023. The project, delivered with partners Esh-Stantec, will help to protect the environment from pollution caused by storms and will also support local population growth.
The local sewers are part of a “combined” network, which means they take rainwater as well as sewage from nearby homes and businesses.
During times of very heavy rainfall, this can mean the pipes overfill and can discharge to the environment. The new storm tank will allow this excess water to be retained in the network, ready to be treated at the STW when flows within the pipes subside.
The £540,000 three-month project has seen the creation of the 51m³ tank, which will also increase capacity within the network in line with local population growth.