Northumbrian Water hosts new wastewater research facility

Newcastle University will today (1 July) open a major new research facility at Northumbrian Water’s sewage treatment plant near Gateshead, to find more affordable and less carbon-intensive ways to treat wastewater.

The new Biological Engineering: Wastewater Innovation at Scale (BE:WISE) research facility is a European first in large-scale wastewater treatment research using bacteria.

Northumbrian Water is providing the space where BE:WISE is located, along with key infrastructure support.

Sewage treatment plants contain a varied assortment of trillions of bacteria that break down and treat wastewater.

However, the costs and uncertainty involved in scaling up lab research to application in a real-world setting has meant that there has been little change in the main technologies used to manage the wastewater treatment process.

Operating as a mini sewage treatment works, the site will allow experiments to be run using 10,000 times more microbes than can be used in the laboratory, allowing researchers to better understand how complex biological interactions work at different scales.

It will allow them to test and replicate different elements of the wastewater treatment process, and develop new ways to treat wastewater.

Russell Davenport, from Newcastle University’s School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences – who will lead the work carried out at the new facility – said: “The water industry faces unprecedented global challenges such as population growth and climate change while having to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations. But wastewater treatment uses pretty much the same energy-intensive technology now as was being used decades ago.

“If the water industry is to move to a low-energy, low-carbon alternative that meets ever-increasing environmental standards, in an affordable way, it has to innovate. BE:WISE will help bring about exciting new collaborations to develop new approaches and solutions to these challenges.”

Northumbrian Water chief executive Heidi Mottram said: “It is fantastic that academia and industry have come together to improve sustainable wastewater treatment, which is a vital part of our everyday lives and plays an essential role in protecting our precious environment.

“We are very proud that this facility is based on one of our sites. Our customers are at the heart of all we do and we are very excited about the results of this research, which can only improve the service we provide to them.”