Ascot Sewage Treatment Works increases its capacity by 30% with £11 million upgrade

• Thames Water has completed an £11 million upgrade at Ascot Sewage Treatment Works (STW) which has increased the sites capacity by 30%. 

• This is part of Thames Water’s plan to upgrade 250 of its wastewater sites to help manage demand due to population growth and climate change.   

• Peter Swallow MP for Bracknell recently visited Ascot STW to learn about the upgrades and the process of treating waste.  

Thames Water have announced they recently completed an £11 million upgrade at Ascot STW. Having started work at the end of 2022, the water company completed the upgrade earlier this year which has expanded its flow capacity from 180 litres per second to 220 litres per second, increasing it by 30%. This will greatly reduce the risk of storm overflows during spells of heavy rainfall and longer periods of groundwater retention, which can cause the sewer systems to be overwhelmed.      

This comes as part of Thames Water’s plan to upgrade 250 of its wastewater sites to help manage increased demand due to population growth and climate change. 

Mark McCoy, Performance Manager at Thames Water said: “As custodians of important infrastructure, we need to ensure our sites are resilient to the pressures of climate change and population growth so we can continue to provide reliable services to our customers. Our upgrades at Ascot sewage treatment works, come as part of our commitment to help protect customers and the health of the rivers and waterways.  

“We believe all discharges are unacceptable and we are committed to seeing healthy and thriving waterways, however we can’t do it alone. While we play an important role in this, we aren’t the sole custodians of river health. We need everyone working together to help our waterways thrive.” 

Peter Swallow, MP for Bracknell, learned of Thames Water’s commitment to updating its infrastructure and playing its part to improve river health, following a visit on Friday 6 December. The UK’s largest water company invited the MP to the recently upgraded site, to showcase the improvements they have made and demonstrate the process of treating wastewater every day. 

Peter Swallow MP for Bracknell said: “It was interesting to learn about the waste treatment process and the upgrades that have taken place at Ascot sewage treatment works. I know how much local people care about flooding and river pollution and it is great to see investment has been made locally. However, more needs to be done which I made clear to Thames Water on my recent visit to the site and I will be working actively with partners to achieve this.”   

Thames Water have stated other sites in Berkshire are also undergoing upgrades to increase capacity such as Bracknell, Reading and Windsor. You can see a list of sites being upgraded here.