Work to protect rivers completed

Anglian Water says it’s completed £2.3m worth of work on its water recycling facility in Holbeach which could lead to less pollution in the area.

The company released over 1,000 hours of sewage into South Holland’s waterways in 2022.
But it’s hoped the work carried out to comply with Environment Agency regulations will have a positive impact and make storm surges less likely.
The water company invested more than £700,000 to install a new storm tank at Holbeach in 2021, allowing the site to hold 732,000 litres of storm water.
This year, in a scheme worth more than £350,000, Anglian Water engineers have further extended the tank to provide additional resilience in extreme weather.
A spokesman for the company said: “The newly expanded storm tank at Holbeach can now hold an additional 340,000 litres of water during heavy rainfall, until it can be fully treated and safely returned to the environment.
“This builds resilience to extreme weather caused by climate change and protects the environment by helping to reduce the use of storm overflows, providing additional protection for rivers, many of which in the East of England are unique chalk stream habitats.
“Engineers have also installed new equipment which will remove phosphorous from waste water, improving river water quality nearby. Phosphorous is widely used in soaps and cleaning products but can be harmful to wildlife when it reaches rivers and other watercourses.
“The investment at Holbeach WRC, which is worth more than £2.3million, includes new equipment to strengthen the current water recycling process and remove even more phosphorous from waste water. This equipment will help remove harmful algae growth and improve water quality in local watercourses.”
Regan Harris, spokesperson for Anglian Water, said: “We know how important rivers and the wider environment are to our customers and local communities. We’re really pleased that this scheme will help to protect nearby rivers and increase our resilience to climate change, by helping us make sure the wastewater is treated to an even higher standard than usual before it’s returned to the natural environment.
“As a result of climate change, we’re seeing more bouts of extreme weather, sudden downpours and rising sea levels, so it’s really important that our sites are prepared to process higher volumes of stormwater and protect the environment.
“That’s why we’ve committed through our Get River Positive programme that our water recycling processes will not harm rivers, with schemes like this one in Holbeach.”