Northumbrian Water is getting ready to start work on the first stage of a new £5.5 million investment to protect and improve water quality in the River Browney at Witton Gilbert in County Durham.
The water company is carrying out a £3 million upgrade at its Witton Gilbert Sewage Treatment Works (STW), enhancing processes to remove phosphorous from the final treated water that is returned to the environment.
A further £2.5 million investment is being planned to reduce the number of spills from a storm overflow in the village, with that work expected to begin in early 2027.
Work at Witton Gilbert STW, which is set to begin in June, and be complete by early 2027, is being delivered by the water company’s partner, Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB).
Alex Shervington, Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager, said:
“The upgrades at the STW build upon £12.7 million of earlier investment to improve treatment at six facilities along the River Browney, including at Witton Gilbert, which completed in early 2025.
“Across these two new pieces of work, we will be investing a further £5.5 million in the local environment, helping to tackle one of the biggest priorities that we and our customers have – protecting and improving our region’s rivers.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
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