It’s official - the most innovative water supply scheme in the world is operating at United Utilities’ Lostock water treatment works in Bolton.
The firm's £17 million new rapid gravity filtration plant has won the top Water Management and Supply Award from the Institute of Chemical Engineers – beating off stiff competition from Nigeria, India, Egypt and Singapore.
This is the second major award for the plant which has already been named North West Large Project of the Year by the Institute of Civil Engineering.
The project was built in record time and played a vital role in keeping water supplies on tap for homes and businesses across Greater Manchester. It allowed the Lostock treatment plant near Bolton to take up the strain when the Haweswater Aqueduct was shut down and inspected last October.
The judges were impressed by the partnership between United Utilities and its main contractor, KMI+, which reduced the expected construction time from 30 months to just ten, meeting a tight deadline and saving costs for customers.
Danny Brennan, United Utilities senior project manager, said:
“The whole ethos of the Lostock project team was ‘No such word as Can’t’. Our success was a crucial milestone in the preparations behind the scenes of the Haweswater Aqueduct shutdown, helping ensure we kept the taps flowing for 2 million people in the North West."
“The new filtration system meant we could ramp up the flows from Manchester’s alternative Lake District feed, the Thirlmere Aqueduct, and our customers wouldn’t notice a thing."
The nomination follows on from United Utilities' success with the Davyhulme sludge recycling centre in the Energy category last year.
Ray Moulds, Sales Director at Flood Control International, takes a look at how automated sliding floodgates are supporting secondary containment at water and sewerage company sites.
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.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.