A Thames Water upgrade of the Crawley sewage treatment works is just about complete says the London drainage firm. The works at Radford Road, adjacent to Gatwick, should be finished in the next month or so.
The £28m investment in the sewage works began in Feb 2010 and has been designed to protect rivers around the area by improving the water discharged into them.
The Crawley site has had specialist equipment installed to reduce the amount of nitrate released into the water.
A spokesperson for Thames Water said:
“This is one of the biggest investment programmes we’ve carried out in this five-year period, and it will offer huge benefits to the people living near these sites.
“Not only have we improved the quality of the leftover sewage sludge leaving these treatment works, we have made sure there is less solid waste having to be transported away, which means fewer lorries on the roads.”
The water discharged from the sewage treatment site at Crawley enters the River Mole before making its way to the River Thames.
The spokesperson continued:
“All of this work is also good news for the local rivers, as the discharge from the sites is now of an even better standard so we can be sure that we are looking after our local environment too both now and in the future.
“We have also taken steps to reduce potential odour.”
The site’s sewage treatment capacity has also been increased allowing for population growth.