A new project in West Berkshire will see the addition of a reed bed to clean waste water. The Wickham sewage works will see a new septic tank installed, alongside a new percolating filter and the reed bed, which should go some way to improve water quality leaving the plant.
The plant currently serves around 240 people who live in the village of Wickham and the £888,000 project hopes to not only improve the treatment of the effluent but also improve the local environment. The sewage works discharges its treated effluent to the River Lambourn, which is a tributary of the River Kennet.
Work has already started on the project, which is expected to be completed in early February 2013:
The Thames Water project manager Richard Lewis is quoted as saying:
“The aim of this scheme is to improve the natural environment that Wickham sewage works discharges to by fitting a sustainable treatment system that uses natural processes to clean people’s wastewater.”
Thames Water is committed to improving the region’s fresh water and waste water systems and is spending £4.9bn between 2010 and 2015 to do just that.