Northumbrian Water is investing £26.9 millionin enhancements to three of its sites to protect the River Wear, with more than £40 million of environmental work to follow nearby.

The work at Willington, Low Wadsworth and Bishop Auckland sewage treatment works (STWs) will deliver enhancements to treatment processes that will make the water released back into the river even cleaner.

The water company’s partner, Costain, is delivering the work and has established site compounds at the Willington and Low Wadsworth sites this month, ready to start the main work in early 2026.

More than £6.7 million is being invested at Willington STW, alongside £5.5 million at Low Wadsworth STW. Work on these sites is expected to take around 12 months to complete.

The £14.7 million investment at Bishop Auckland STW is set to begin in Spring 2026 and take around 18 months to complete.

All three sites will receive enhancements to remove phosphorus from the final treated water that is returned to the environment.

Further local environmental investment is to follow nearby, with Northumbrian Water in the planning stages of projects to reduce storm overflow spills in all three areas. This represents a further £44.1m of work, as part of the water company’s £1.7 billion planned investment to protect the environment in the region between 2025 and 2030.

Dean Thompson, Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager across the three sites, said:

“Over the next five years, we are investing more than ever before to ensure that our sites, networks and services continue to deliver the best for our customers, and protect the environment. Within our overall £3.6bn programme, that includes £1.7bn in work that will protect and improve the environment, with projects such as those are our treatment works in Willington, Low Wadsworth and Bishop Auckland.

“This £26.9m workload across the three sites will deliver real protection and improvements for water quality in the River Wear, but it’s just the start, with further investment to come in reducing spills from storm overflows in the area.

“The sewage treatment works upgrades will involve activity taking place within our sites and we don’t anticipate any impact on customers living in the local area. However, we will be getting in touch with people to keep them informed as our storm overflow plans take shape, so customers can understand what to expect from those projects.”