Wessex Water is progressing work on its £35 million expansion of the Saltford Water Recycling Plant which will support economic and residential growth in Bath, alongside delivering improved water quality in the River Avon.

The two-year expansion which is currently underway will boost the capacity of Wessex Water’s Mead Lane site to treat sewage from the city of Bath and the surrounding area.

Apart from two large storm tanks and four filter beds installed in the early 2000s, the current site has largely remained unaltered in the years since.

Since the turn of 2024, the water company’s team has been constructing all major structures and pumping stations and installing pipework and associated infrastructure for the expansion.

As the expansion site has taken shape the on-site team – numbering up to 50 at its peak – has also helped to pour a total of 4,000 cubic metres (m3) of concrete across the expansion area so far.

A further 600m3 will have been poured by the time this element of the work was finished in January 2025.

Pipeline work to link new structures to each other and the wider site also got under way in late 2024, with 700mm diameter pipework installation taking place.

Wessex Water has now begun water testing some of these structures, including the Activated Sludge Process (ASP), which is where air is blown into settled sewage to help break it down.

In total, five million litres of reused treated effluent have been used as part of testing, while more than 12 million litres are required for testing across all of the site’s new structures.

The mechanical and electrical services are due to take centre stage in early 2025, with metal access walkways and glass coated steel panels for the primary settlement tanks – a key initial stage of the sewage treatment process – put in place.

The ongoing programme is as follows:

• To September 2025: Civil construction of main structures at expansion, including piling, then phased handover of structures for mechanical and electrical installation.
• January – December 2025: Mechanical and electrical installation.
• August – October 2025: Final landscaping and seeding.
• January – May 2026: Site to be cleared, commissioning, reliability and performance testing.

The Saltford centre also forms part of Wessex Water’s nutrient removal programme within the Bristol Avon Catchment.

One of 66 water recycling centres within that catchment, Saltford currently contributes between seven and 12 per cent of the total catchment removal of nutrients entering local watercourses, preventing blue green algae and endangering aquatic life.

By boosting the capacity of the water recycling centre, Wessex Water will be able to treat more than 800 litres of wastewater per second – around a 40 per cent increase on current flows – to help meet increasing demands.

Based to the west of the existing water recycling centre site, the new treatment processes include new flow measurement and screening equipment, grit and phosphorous removal facilities, primary and final settlement tanks and an activated sludge plant.

These will be built with associated pumping stations and electrical supply and control infrastructure.

The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

Aerial view of Ecological Wetland Scrape and lagoons at Saltford

The utility worked closely with Bath & North East Somerset Council on developing measures to mitigate the landscape and visual impact of this scheme as a requirement of planning permission being granted. The planning application determined that the scheme will provide a biodiversity net gain of more than 10 per cent.

Water Minister Emma Hardy yesterday visited the £35 million expansion of the Saltford Water Recycling Plant Visiting the site, the Water Minister highlighted the project as a prime example of how £104 billion in private sector investment—the largest since privatisation—is driving forward major water infrastructure nationwide, including sewage pipes, treatment works, and nine reservoirs.

Emma Hardy said:

“This new expansion and major investment will create jobs, unlock new homes and ensure Bath thrives for generations to come through the government’s Plan for Change.

“We’ve been clear that we must go further and faster to fix our water infrastructure, which is why £104 billion of private-sector investment is being spent on upgrading the water sector.

“This funding will develop infrastructure nationwide, unlocking 1.5 million new homes, 150 major projects, and powering industries like gigafactories and data centres.”

The Water Minister and Environment Secretary are also travelling to other water sites such as Windermere, the River Wye, the Havant Thicket Reservoir and others to set out how a wave of new water infrastructure will underpin the building of new homes, create jobs and turbocharge local economies.