WATERWAYS on the Wiltshire/Dorset border are set to benefit from an £8 million investment.
Sewage treatment sites at Shaftesbury in north Dorset and Mere, across the border in south Wiltshire, are being upgraded to ensure wastewater that arrives there continues to be properly dealt with before being safely released back to the environment.
New equipment to help to reduce the impact of potentially harmful chemicals found in sewage from homes and businesses will be installed after the investment, by Wessex Water.
With £5 million being invested into a year-long scheme at the water recycling centre just south of Shaftesbury – the work will focus on tackling the issues caused by chemicals like phosphorus, ammonia and nitrogen, concentrations of which are often found within sewage arriving at water recycling centres.
Farm slurries, agricultural fertilisers and septic tanks are a regular source of these nutrients, which are also found in many household products, and can cause large growths of algae in waterways such as streams and rivers.
The site at Mere is also getting an upgrade
This algae damages plants and animals in those areas by depleting the amount of oxygen in the water – a process known as eutrophication.
The Shaftesbury enhancement will continue until December of this year.
Project manager, Jim Wheeler, said: “By completing this work we will be able to ensure we help to protect the environment around Shaftesbury by stripping chemicals out of the wastewater that arrives.
“We’ll be carrying out this work within our existing water recycling centre and upgrading many of the treatment processes at the site to ensure we’re continuing to meet the highest environmental standards.”
Meanwhile, more than £3 million is being invested towards reducing these chemicals from entering a tributary of the River Stour – Shreen Water – near the Mere site.
Quick reminder this isn’t an investment by Wessex Water but by you and me. They don’t invest just pay massive dividends rack up huge debt and pay ridiculous exec packages