More than £10m is being invested in work to protect the River Browney in County Durham through upgrades at Browney Sewage Treatment Works (STW).
Over the next two years, Northumbrian Water and its partners will carry out work at the site that will see the installation and renewal of tanks, controls and pipework at the STW, which sits next to the River Browney, between Meadowfield and Sunderland Bridge.
The investment will see capacity at the site increased, and treatment processes enhanced, reducing the risk of spills to the environment and further improving the quality of the cleaned water that is returned to nature following treatment. It will also ensure the future resilience of the services delivered on site.
The first phase of work is being carried out by the water company’s partner, Galliford Try, with later elements being delivered by Esh-Stantec.
Due to the location of the STW, the impact to customers will be minimal. During the work, the project team will keep in contact with the site’s small number of close neighbours.
Luke Willis-Lavery, Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager for the Browney STW works, said: “Across the coming five years, we will be delivering £1.7 billion of investment to protect the environment. Much of that money is targeted at projects such as this at Browney Sewage Treatment Works, improving processes and increasing capacity, to deal with challenges such as climate change and population growth.
“This work also represents the latest phase in significant investment to protect and improve water quality in the River Browney, with upgrades having been completed at a number of STWs across its catchment.”
Work is expected to be complete in Winter 2027.