Northumbrian rolls out £10m treatment upgrade

Northumbrian Water has invested £10 million to improve water quality and resilience at a Durham treatment plant.

Ultraviolet treatment will be installed to improve the quality of water the site produces as well as upgrades to the power system to ensure resilience of supply.

The treatment works, in Mosswood, serves more than 800,000 people in the northeast and was upgraded without the need for significant civils upgrades.

Northumbrian partnered with Mott MacDonald and Bentley to install the system of 12 ultraviolet units, which were trialled earlier in the year to support long-term water quality improvements at the site.

Following the successful pilot, Northumbrian plans to add the technology to a second plant at Lumley.

To bolster resilience at Mosswood, chemical storage tanks have been added to the plant. Work will continue to build a lagoon for storing partially treated water that can be held as a reserve supply.

“Delivering clean, clear and great tasting tap water for our customers is vital,” project manager Lowri Robbins said. “This collection of works represents a significant investment in Mosswood water treatment works, that will deliver for our customers, now and into the future, as well as for the environment.”

Up to 2025, the company has pledged to invest £128 million to deliver its water resilience plan, which includes 18 enhanced resilience schemes to improve security of supply and reduce the risk of interruptions to supply.

Work at Mosswood was designed to manage increasing cryptosporidium risk from raw water sources and protect against asset failure risks.

The on-site upgrades provide a more secure source of supply to more than 170,000 properties where no alternative currently exists.