The North West’s water company is investing £50 million in a bid to improve the River Eden.
United Utilities are using the investment to boost water quality and upgrade their wastewater treatment works in Carlisle to reduce the number of times storm overflows operate during periods of heavy rainfall.
The project will increase capacity and enhance the performance at the works to treat greater volumes of storm sewage. New tertiary and storm water treatment processes, and a new storm water storage tank have already been built as part of the scheme.
The new storm tank will hold three and a half million litres, more than an Olympic swimming pool.
Alongside improving the health of the river, new technology has also been installed that will improve the quality of the final effluent and storm water that is returned to the environment from the treatment works.
Pippa Smith, from United Utilities, said: “It’s fantastic to see that work on this really important project is nearly complete. These improvements will make a real difference to the water quality on this stretch of the River Eden as well as helping to protect the shellfish in the Solway Firth – providing a better environment for everyone to enjoy.”
The project is part of United Utilities’ wider commitment to improving 184km of waterways and coastal waters across the region over the next two years.
Pippa added “Here at United Utilities we are committed to working alongside communities to create improved river health for all. In fact, our Better Rivers; Better North West campaign has seen us commit to reducing the number of spills from storm overflows by at least a third, between 2020 and 2025.”
