Work on £1.9m upgrades at East Sussex wastewater treatment works set to start

Construction is almost underway on improving Halland Wastewater Treatment Works in East Sussex – as part of ongoing efforts to drive down storm overflow activity across the region.

The works at the site - located near East Hoathly – will increase its capacity and mean the site can treat more flows, especially during and after stormy weather, enabling greater volumes to be treated.

This in turn will reduce the need to use storm overflows, which are activated when the network becomes overloaded with additional surface and groundwater, to avoid flooding homes and communities.

One part of the project is building a new storm tank (dimensions 4.37m by 4.23m)which  will store 36,000 litres of storm water. The work carried out by construction partner Ward and Burke, will start in late July and is expected to end next summer.

Director of Wastewater Operations at Southern Water, John Penicud, said:

“Storm tanks are one of a variety of important engineering solutions in our commitment to cut storm overflows. They provide extra storage capacity on site which fills during storm conditions, before later being released for treatment. This helps us keep these flows on site, rather than it being released into the environment.

“We’re delighted to get this scheme underway, as we continue to invest in our network for the benefit of our communities and our environment.”

Southern Water is spending £3bn between 2020 and 2025 on improving its environmental performance, and last year launched its  £1.5bn Clean Rivers and Seas Plan to reduce storm overflows.