Wanlip Sewage Treatment Works
Leicestershire
We’re investing in Leicestershire's future
We’re beginning extensive work to improve and create new wastewater treatment facilities in Wanlip, Leicestershire which will enhance the performance of our Sewage Treatment Works.
The original works were built in the 1960s and further developed in the 1990s and it’s time for an upgrade. Wanlip treats 135 million litres of sewage every day which is set to rise to 162 million litres per day which comes from Leicester and surrounding areas. Our work will ensure we have the capacity to treat this, and that the quality of the treated water discharged into the River Soar meets with Environment Agency standards and will continue to do so in the future. This is a huge project, investing more than £300 million and is expected to be completed in Summer 2028.
Project objectives:
Increase capacity to enable more flow to be treated
Improve performance to remove more phosphorous and reduce phosphorous levels in the River Soar*
Improve performance to remove more ammonia from the treated water that’s returned to the river
Provide more storm storage capacity on site to reduce the number of spills to the river
*Did you know that phosphorous comes from the washing detergents used for clothes?
There are lots of different elements to this project including demolishing some old buildings, building new ones and refurbing some of the existing facilities.
Although the main construction begins in early 2025 there’ll be a lot of preparation on site which has begun with draining the existing lagoons.
We’re building the temporary compound area on the adjacent field off the A46. This will be a large facility to accommodate contractor parking, materials, temporary offices etc. Once the project is complete it will be returned to its current state.
Our normal on-site working hours will be 7.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday.
We’re keeping a close eye on all aspects of ecology in the area and are working with Leicester and Rutland Wildlife Trust on neighbouring land. Severn Trent has a Biodiversity Net Gain target of 15% which exceeds the industry standard.
Interesting facts:
As part of the site preparation, we’re working with the University of Leicester and County Archaeologists to check what the area holds. Through trial trenches, artefacts have been uncovered, which will feed into our planning to ensure we preserve the land's heritage as we build a sustainable future.
Finds have included a Roman ‘Black-Burnished’ jar (3rd/4th century AD). Shown as found and once reconstructed and a hand axe or flint core of the Middle Palaeolithic period (~40k yrs BC).