Plans setting out details of a £9 million project to boost the water quality in Rostherne Mere are being put on show by United Utilities
The water company needs to complete a new 5km pipeline from Mere Plant pumping station to Bowdon Wastewater Treatment Works, as part of an environmental improvement scheme. This will benefit the water quality in Rostherne Mere, a wetland of international importance and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The project, which has been agreed with the Environment Agency, is aimed at stopping the current storm overflows from the wastewater pumping station at Mere Platts entering the Mere.This will help improve the water quality in the Mere for the benefit of birds and other wildlife.
United Utilities is holding a public exhibition event at Egerton Hall, Rostherne on Wednesday, August 3 where the plans will be show and the project team will be present,
Project Manager Jonathan Clarke said:
"We take our environmental responsibility very seriously and we have designed a sustainable solution to help improve the water quality in Rostherne Mere. We are working with Natural England to ensure we use appropriate working methods and our engineers have worked for over two years planning the project."
"Following consultation, we made several redesigns of the scheme and the selected pipeline route will follow the line of an existing pipe, which will minimise the impact on the environment and our customers."
The water company has presented the plans to Rostherne Parish Council and is aiming is to have the project complete in time to benefit wintering birds nesting in the Mere from 2018 onwards.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
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