Multi-million pound project to upgrade Mere water recycling centre
Wessex Water is carrying out work to 'protect the ecology of waterways'
Wessex Water's announced a multi-million pound project for Wiltshire which will improve water quality.
A water recycling centre in Mere will be upgraded, to ensure wastewater is properly dealt with, before being released back into rivers.
It's all part of an £8 million investment to 'protect the ecology of waterways' around the Wiltshire/Dorset border.
New equipment to help to reduce the impact of potentially harmful chemicals found in sewage from homes and businesses will be installed.
Phosphorus, ammonia and nitrogen concentrations 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.
This algae damages plants and animals in those areas by depleting the amount of oxygen in the water – a process known as eutrophication.
The project, along with another in Shaftesbury, will help to reduce these chemicals from entering a tributary of the River Stour – Shreen Water – near the Mere water recycling centre.
Mere project manager Jason Gammon said:
“As our population increases, the challenge to prevent nutrients from causing damage to our waterways increases and we can help meet that challenge by upgrading the treatment processes at our water recycling centres.
“Removing chemicals from wastewater can help to protect nearby rivers and streams and Wessex Water is investing hundreds of millions of pounds to do just that throughout rural environments across the region.’’