Agile approach leads to dramatic impact
Overview
Cargo, a village near the River Eden on the Solway Plain in Cumbria, has a small wastewater treatment works that services 254 homes. The location is relatively remote, and the works has no mains power so is reliant on a gravity-based system.
Challenge
The size, scale and location of the site brings multiple challenges, most of all the local storm overflow spills with even modest use, discharging into a local water course.
Solution
With funding made available from Ofwat in April 2023, we moved quickly to create an interim solution. In just 14 weeks, we installed a new tank to provide temporary storage for spills and an additional storm tank to add a further 75m3 capacity.
Outcome
Spills have reduced from 343 a year to 1 since August 2023, dramatically improving performance at the treatment works and an equally dramatic reduction in the impact on the environment.
These improvements form part of our commitment to creating better rivers, investing £914 million to reduce spills from 158 storm overflows in Cumbria, part of our proposed £13.7 billon investment to make a stronger, greener, healthier North West.