Old Whittington Waste Water Treatment Works
We would like to update you on our essential improvements at Old Whittington Waste Water Treatment Works.
Old Whittington waste water treatment works was built in1930 and now serves a population of over 96,000 people in and around the Chesterfield area. We are currently investing in excess of £20million to improve the treatment process at the site.
Sludge Digester Refurbishment Scheme
In December 2010, our contract partner, ETM, began an essential refurbishment of the sludge digesters at Old Whittington. Sludge is the semisolid material produced from the treatment of sewage. Sludge digesters are a key part of the sludge treatment process, designed to turn sewage sludge into a product that is acceptable for recycling back to land.
Methane biogas is generated as a by-product of the sludge digestion process and this is used by Yorkshire Water to self-generate renewable energy. Regionally, this generates the equivalent of 7% of Yorkshire Water's electricity consumption. Once the project at Old Whittington is complete, we will generate about 40% of the site's electricity demand in this way.
The digesters at Old Whittington are very old and we did not know how badly they had aged until the scheme began. The digesters at Old Whittington are beyond economical refurbishment and so we will now replace them with new ones.
Freshwater Fish Directive Scheme
We'll soon begin a large project to refurbish and rebuild a number of key assets and equipment at Old Whittington. A new sewage screening system, new tanks and electrical equipment will be built at the site. We'll also be refurbishing our primary and final sludge settlement tanks. Our contract partner, Black & Veatch, will carry out this project on our behalf, which is necessary to ensure that the treatment works complies with the European Union Freshwater Fish Directive.
The EU Freshwater Fish Directive (FFD), introduced in 2006, is designed to protect and improve the quality of rivers and lakes to encourage healthy fish populations.
These standards were introduced to protect coarse fish and salmonid species (salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes and graylings) which has meant significant investment in some of our biggest sewage treatment works across the region.
The FFD scheme will significantly improve the quality of the water we discharge into the River Rother, promoting a healthier river environment and encouraging fish back into the river.
Preliminary operations started in August and construction work on the scheme started in late October 2011. We hope to complete all elements of both pieces of work by autumn 2013. While works will be confined to the site, you may notice an increase in noise and traffic during construction. Please be assured we will try to keep our activities as low key as possible.
