Southern Water is getting ready to start construction work at its Halland Wastewater Treatment Works in East Sussex – as part of ongoing efforts to drive down storm overflow activity across the region.

Photo: Halland Wastewater Treatment Works

The upgrades to improve Halland Wastewater Treatment Works in East Sussex are part of the water company’s ongoing efforts to drive down storm overflow activity across the region.

The works at the site - located near East Hoathly – will increase its capacity and mean the site can treat more flows, especially during and after stormy weather, enabling greater volumes to be treated.

This in turn will reduce the need to use storm overflows, which are activated when the network becomes overloaded with additional surface and groundwater, to avoid flooding homes and communities.

The project includes building a new storm tank (dimensions 4.37m by 4.23m)which will store 36,000 litres of storm water. The work carried out by construction partner Ward and Burke, will start in late July and is expected to end next summer.

Director of Wastewater Operations at Southern Water, John Penicud, said:

“Storm tanks are one of a variety of important engineering solutions in our commitment to cut storm overflows. They provide extra storage capacity on site which fills during storm conditions, before later being released for treatment. This helps us keep these flows on site, rather than it being released into the environment.

“We’re delighted to get this scheme underway, as we continue to invest in our network for the benefit of our communities and our environment.”

Southern Water is spending £3 billion between 2020 and 2025 on improving its environmental performance, and last year launched its £1.5 billion Clean Rivers and Seas Plan to reduce storm overflows.