Thames Water has announced the installation of a new storm tank as part of a £6 million upgrade taking place at Bentley STW, to help increase its overall capacity.
The construction of the new and first storm tank at Bentley STW will allow the site to now hold an additional 252 cubic metres of wastewater, which is equivalent to 2 hours of storage at the maximum flow rate. This will help reduce the need for storm discharges during heavy rainfall and comes as part of Thames Water’s commitment to investing in its infrastructure.
Work began at the site in November 2022 and was expected to be completed in March 2025, however the company has installed the 18 by 6-meter storm tank before the rainfall season, six months ahead of schedule in September 2024. This will help manage the effects of population growth and climate change and to meet the government targets on reducing storm overflows by 2030.
As part of the £6 million upgrade, the site is also undergoing a phosphorus reduction scheme, which will improve the quality of effluent released into the river following treatment. This is expected to be completed in 2025.
Kevin Brown, Senior Project Manager at Thames Water said:
“We are pleased to have completed installing a new storm tank at our Bentley Sewage Treatment Works six months ahead of schedule. This upgrade to our network will help the health of the rivers and waterways. Further work is still taking place at our Bentley site. As part of the £6 million upgrade, the phosphorus reduction scheme is expected to be completed in 2025 and will improve the quality of treated effluent.
“As custodians of this 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. 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.”
The upgrade of Bentley STW comes as part of Thames Water’s plans to improve 250 of its wastewater sites including ones nearby such as Newmans Lane and Crondall STW (completed earlier this year).
