Sewage Works Upgrades
Last reviewed: 22.1.2013 - 12.26pm
Beckton Sewage Treatment Works
We are carrying out a £190m upgrade at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works in east London, to help clean up the River Thames.
Beckton - Europe's largest sewage works - will be able to deal with 60 per cent more sewage during storms.
Beckton, located in the London Borough of Newham, is one of Europe’s largest sewage treatment works, and currently serves 3.5 million people.
The improvements will enable the site to treat 60 per cent more sewage than it does now and allow for a ten per cent population increase until 2021 so it can:
- fully treat increased flows during heavy rainfall, which currently discharge into the River Thames when the site becomes overloaded to prevent streets and homes from flooding
- treat additional storm flows from the Lee Tunnel, a new four-mile sewer which will capture storm sewage that currently overflows into the River Lee when the sewerage system gets overwhelmed during heavy rainfall
- accommodate additional flows from the proposed Thames Tideway Tunnel.
As well as helping to protect the River Thames, other benefits resulting from this scheme include:
- the installation of a 1.5MW wind turbine that will help generate eight per cent of the energy needed to power the site
- enhancing the landscape within the sewage works site and improving the Barking Creekside habitat to encourage wildlife, including creating a new nature trail
- opening footpaths around the site and river and creating new paths along the northern edge of the site by the River Roding and River Thames.
In addition, we will be investing a further £67m as part of a separate project to cover the smelliest parts of the site, including all 16 primary settlement tanks – an area the size of ten football pitches – to significantly reduce odour emissions by 50 per cent.
The upgrade is due for completion in 2014.
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