Member Article

£15m project begins to regenerate North East’s largest sewage treatment works

Work has begun on a £15m investment project to improve the quality of the sewage treatment works (STW) at Howdon in Wallsend, the North East’s largest sewage treatment works.

Investment into the site has now surpassed the £60m mark in the last ten years, as Northumbrian Water is continuing to improve the region’s sewer netowrk.

BAM Nuttall Limited, a partner of Northumbrian Water, is carrying out the project set to continue through to 2018.

Howdon STW is the largest sewage treatment works on the eastern coast of England, between Edinburgh and the River Thames and can treat up to 12,000 litres of wastewater a second.

The project involves upgrading the site’s primary sewage treatment tanks, including the installation of new tank covers. It will improve the performance and reliability of the site, which serves more than a million homes across Tyneside.

Ronnie Doran, Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager, said: “Howdon sewage treatment works serves more than a million people, so it is important that we constantly look at ways to make the site more reliable, efficient and resilient, to make sure we’re providing great service to our customers.

“Whilst the work is self-contained, the public may see cranes or other machinery in action, so we are working to keep the community fully informed.”