A £35 MILLION project to enhance Saltford Water Recycling Centre has been officially unveiled.
Customers and invited guests toured the facility off Mead Lane to mark the completion of the two-year expansion.
The scheme, which was designed and delivered for Wessex Water by sister company YTL Construction UK, will meet the extra demands expected from a growing population.
It takes Wessex Water’s overall recent investment to improve its services in and around Saltford to £45 million, following the completion of a new £9 million access road and bridge across the river to the site from the A431 in 2024.
A further £1 million enhancement of storm storage off the A4 in Saltford was also completed last year, while nearby Keynsham Water Recycling Centre has also been the subject of a recent £17 million refurbishment.
Wessex Water chief executive Ruth Jefferson, who welcomed visitors to view the upgrades on August 4, said: “Saltford is one of the key sites in the north of our region and this site expansion helps us meet the needs of our growing local communities.
“As a result of this two-year project, we will be able to increase our capacity to treat incoming sewage by around 40 per cent – more than 800 litres per second – and our thanks go to the YTL Construction UK team for completing it on time.
“But we’ve also been determined to recognise and reduce the impact of our operations on the community of Saltford itself, reducing the environmental impact of our operations and enhancing areas around our site.
“The new £9 million access road and bridge between our centre and A431 that was completed two years ago is helping to ease traffic travelling through narrow lanes in the village, and the adjacent footway crossing on the bridge is providing a new pedestrian link between Bitton and Saltford.’”
The century-old site is also home to a new lagoon viewing area that is regularly showcased on educational visits, while an ‘ecological wetland scrape’ next to the bridge provides a habitat for amphibians, invertebrates, mammals and wetland birds.
YTL Construction chief executive John Thompson said that, as part of the project, about 5,000 trees and shrubs were planted and ground reinstated around the bridge and more than 3,000 trees, 250 metres of new hedgerow and 1.5 hectares of species-rich grassland would be planted or created from this autumn and the following spring.
He added: “We’ve also played our part towards helping reduce the previous impact on the village of Saltford, contributing £20,000 – around a fifth of the project cost – towards a B&NES scheme to resurface and repair the High Street in the village.
“And of course we were proud of our work on the bridge, the first to be built over the River Avon for 40 years, and which has been won accolades from the Institution of Civil Engineers and Green Apple Environment Awards.’’
Councillor Dine Romero, vice chair of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “This expansion is very impressive. The council has recently joined a region-wide pledge to help the River Avon thrive, so it was great to learn how the additional capacity can also play a role in reducing storm overflow discharges.”
The Saltford centre will also play an increasingly prominent role in Wessex Water’s programme to remove more nutrients from wastewater within the Bristol Avon catchment, helping prevent algae from endangering wildlife within rivers and streams.
Pictured below, Cllr Duncan Hounsell (Saltford ward), Wessex Water chief executive Ruth Jefferson, Cllr Dine Romero, vice-chair of B&NES Council, and Cllr Sarah Warren, B&NES cabinet member for sustainability.
