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Major £250 million upgrade makes sewage works fit for the future

  • Major £250 million upgrade makes sewage works fit for the future

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Thames Water
Every day, we serve 15 million customers across London and the Thames Valley.

Work is now complete on an award-winning £250 million sewage treatment works upgrade designed to boost river quality, reduce odour and cater for predicted population growth.  

Due to the creative, sustainable and innovative thinking behind the project at Thames Water’s Deephams sewage works, Enfield, it was awarded the prestigious ‘Greatest Contribution to London’ award at the ICE London Civil Engineering Awards this summer.

The upgrade to the works, which serves one million people, has also increased renewable energy generation on site from a new combined heat and power plant and reduced the carbon footprint of the works by a third.

Martin Hoff, Thames Water’s head of major projects, said: “We’re all incredibly proud of the upgrade to Deephams. While many of the customers it serves may not have noticed anything while the work was taking place, it is going to make a big difference now and for the future.

“As a result of our investment, the site is now more sustainable and ready for the future challenges of population growth and climate change”

Each day, Deephams deals with more than 200,000 tonnes of waste water, although this can rise to above one million tonnes during periods of heavy rain. During the three-year project there was no impact on service to Thames Water’s customers or treated effluent to the environment.

The changes have seen the quality of treated water returned to the River Lea, a tributary of the Thames, significantly improved while there is also a 99 per cent reduction in odour emissions, achieved by covering key parts of the works.

Councillor Nesil Caliskan, leader of Enfield Council, said: “Thames Water’s investment in this incredibly important plant not only supports Enfield’s residents and businesses, but will continue to support the ongoing growth and future demand we expect to see in the borough. In addition, the significant modernisation to the infrastructure will, in short, improve the environment and quality of life for those living in the immediate catchment area.

“I would also like to applaud the close cooperation of Thames Water and the Enfield Council (Development Management Team) throughout the planning of this key infrastructure improvement project.

“It’s my desire that all Enfield residents have decent, well-connected places to live in and this investment of £250m by Thames Water will make a marked contribution to this aim.”

An exceptional level of collaboration contributed towards delivering this complex technical project. It was delivered by Thames Water’s collaborative relationship with the AMK Joint Venture comprising of AECOM, J Murphy and Sons and Kier Infrastructure, on time and to budget.

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