Southern Water’s ‘Cleaner Seas for Sussex’ scheme, in which Costain and its 4Delivery partners MWH and Veolia Water were the principal contractors, has won Project of the Year at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards South East.
The £300 million scheme, which ensures that the 95 million litres of wastewater produced each day by people in the Brighton and Hove catchment is treated to EU standards, also won the Infrastructure Project category.
The Project of the Year award is presented to the scheme judged on an outstanding example of best practice by professionals working in both the built and natural environments. The judges said they were impressed with “the scale, complexity and ingenuity” of the scheme and its “impressive list of innovations and achievements”.
These include the construction of 11km of new sewer tunnel, two pumping stations and a wastewater treatment works at Peacehaven covered by a green roof measuring almost 18,000 m2 that blends in with the South Downs.
“This latest prize brings to 20 the number of nationally recognised awards won by the scheme,” said Graham Sugrue, Costain’s Project Director. “Our aim on this project was to deliver an efficient, aesthetically pleasing and state of the art wastewater system for Brighton and the surrounding area. Through a committed and innovative team I am pleased to have achieved this and I am proud that the industry has recognised this again.”
Other awards won by the project include the Major Civil Engineering Project of the Year at last year’s British Construction Industry Awards, where it beat other entries including The London 2012 Olympic Park Project.
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.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.