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Northumbrian Water

Northumbrian Water Limited operates in the north east of England, trading as Northumbrian Water, and in the south east of England, trading as Essex & Suffolk Water.

Covering a combined area of over 12,260 square kilometres, the company operates 29 impounding reservoirs, 57 water treatment works, 359 water pumping stations, 338 water service reservoirs and 25,624 km water mains. In the north-east. NWL provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people. Here the company operates 414 sewage treatment works, 731 sewage pumping stations and 33,000 km sewers.

Mosswood WTW (2024)

Design and construction of a new run to waste system and attenuation lagoon to protect water quality

West Hallington Reservoir (2024)

West Hallington Reservoir is a Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) asset situated 1km to the northeast of the village of Colwell in the Tynedale district of Northumberland. The reservoir was constructed between 1884 and 1890 for Newcastle & Gateshead Water Company for the purpose of municipal water supply. The reservoir was built adjacent to the earlier […]

Hanningfield WTW - Washwater System (2023)

Located 5 miles south of Chelmsford, Hanningfield Water Treatment Works (WTW) is the largest works operated by Essex & Suffolk Water (ESW). The WTW, which has a peak output of 220 MLD, draws water from the 26,000 ML Hanningfield Reservoir to supply a large part of south Essex. The washwater system is over 50 years […]

Layer to Langford Pipeline (2023)

Essex and Suffolk Water, part of Northumbrian Water Ltd, supplies drinking water to 794,000 properties. Maintaining a supply to those customers requires the distribution of up to 670 Ml/d of high-quality drinking water. In Essex, the two primary treatment works are Hanningfield WTW, a physio-chemical works near Chelmsford and Layer WTW, a biological works, near […]

Ovingham Raw Water Pumping Station (2023)

Northumbrian Water’s Ovingham Raw Water Pumping Station (RWPS) is an abstraction station located on the north bank of the River Tyne in South Northumberland between the towns of Wylam and Ovingham. The station provides raw water from the River Tyne to Horsley Water Treatment Works (WTW) and the Great Southern Reservoir at Whittle Dene WTW. […]

Tees & Central Strategic Pipeline: Phases 1 & 2 (2023)

With approximately 60km of new 800/900mm pipeline required to replace the existing potable water mains, some of which are over 150 years old, the Tees and Central Strategic Pipeline will directly improve water quality, network resilience and operability within the Tees Network. The pipeline will serve approximately 50,000 properties and link a number of strategic […]

Wooler WTW (2023)

Wooler Water Treatment Works (WTW) is fed by four boreholes and supplies up to 160m3/hour of potable water to Wooler and surrounding areas, including several tourist and semi-residential holiday parks serving over 5,000 people. Seasonal fluctuation in demand can increase turbidity and increase iron and manganese concentrations in the borehole water, particularly when flows are […]

Fontburn WTW (2022)

Northumbrian Water’s Fontburn Water Treatment Works is located on the outskirts of the Northumberland National Park and produces drinking water for around 50,000 homes in rural and semi-rural areas from Longhorsley and Morpeth, down through Bedlington and as far as North Shields on the River Tyne. The plant produces approximately 20 million litres of water […]

Hanningfield WTW - Washwater System (2022)

Hanningfield Water Treatment Works (WTW) is the largest water treatment facility operated in the Essex & Suffolk Water supply area. It has been expanded over numerous phases and is currently in need of improvements to its washwater treatment plant in response to changing influent water quality. Hanningfield WTW draws water from Hanningfield Reservoir which is, […]

Johnson Street Storm Overflow Screening Project (2022)

The Johnson Street Storm Overflow (SO) Screening Project in Gateshead was designed to protect the River Tyne from aesthetic pollution improving river quality for the benefit of customers, wildlife and the environment. The SO at Johnson Street was previously a significant unscreened discharge to the River Tyne. The project scope was to screen all spill […]

Layer WTW (2022)

Northumbrian Water’s Layer Water Treatment Works is located on site at Abberton Reservoir, just outside Colchester in Essex. It is the primal source of water treatment for the reservoir and produces clean drinking water for most of the north Essex region of Essex & Suffolk Water’s operating area, with a designed output of 145 Mld. […]

Mosswood & Lumley WTWs (2022)

Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) have recently upgraded their clean water treatment processes at Mosswood and Lumley Water Treatment Works (WTWs). This was to increase quality and resilience of customers’ water supplies by adding ultraviolet (UV) irradiation as an extra barrier of protection. The main innovation of these projects was that they provided a vastly more […]

Riding Mill Raw Water Pumping Station (2022)

When constructed in 1979, as part of the Kielder Transfer Scheme, Riding Mill Pumping Station was the largest pumping station in Britain. Abstracting flows from the River Tyne, it enables Northumbrian Water (NWG) to transfer water from Kielder Reservoir to the Derwent, Wear and Tees rivers, whilst supporting the operation of Mosswood WTW. The site […]

Rothbury STW (2022)

Rothbury Sewage Treatment Works is an unmanned Northumbrian Water site located 13 miles north-west of Morpeth, Northumberland. It is on the western valley slope of the River Coquet, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. The area is a popular year-round holiday destination with several caravan sites within the catchment. The original works dates from […]

Barkers Haugh STW (2021)

Barkers Haugh STW receives wastewater from a population of approximately 36,000 people. Due to a ratcheting of the Environment Agency consent in response to population growth (+4000) and a tighter total iron consent of 4mg/l an upgrade of the works was required. A total of £8m was invested to improve the quality of the effluent […]

Belaugh & Waveney Raw Water Intakes (2021)

Eel populations have seen a sharp decline since the 1980s and whilst the exact reasons are unknown, legislation in the form of the ‘Eels (England and Wales) Regulations 2009’ was brought in to provide eels with extra protections. Within the regulations there is a requirement to prevent eels becoming trapped within raw water abstraction systems. […]

Mosswood WTW (2021)

Northumbrian Water (NWL) provides water supply and sewerage services to a population of 2.7 million in the north east and 1.8 million in the south east of England, delivering 1,100 MLD of drinking water. Potable water treatment works vary from small groundwater sources to large surface water treatment facilities such as Mosswood Water Treatment Works […]

Sunderland Groundwater Stations (2021)

The Sunderland Groundwater Stations (GWS) have historically provided a reliable and cost-effective source of good quality water to the Wearside distribution area. They were mostly built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and consist of one or more shafts, of up to 150m in depth, into the magnesian limestone aquifer. Each station has […]

Wolsingham STW (2021)

Wolsingham Sewage Treatment Works (STW) required upgrading in order to manage increased demand due to population growth in the catchment. The works, adjacent to the River Wear between Crook and Stanhope in northwest Durham, included a combination of new STW components and the upgrade of existing facilities. Northumbrian Water sanctioned the £5.77m project and Tilbury […]

Billericay, Danbury & Hollingsworth Road Water Towers (2020)

The low-pressure standard (formerly called DG2) is defined by Ofwat as a pressure of less than 10 metres at a flow of 9 litres per minute when measured on the customer side of the water company stop tap. Any properties in breach of this threshold are recorded on the low pressure register and the number […]

Bran Sands Gas to Grid Project (2020)

Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) have two sludge treatments centres, at Bran Sands STW on Teesside and at Howdon STW on Tyneside, which together process 100% of the sewage sludge arising from within its operating region, using an advanced anaerobic digestion (AAD) process. The resultant renewable biogas is converted into biomethane for export to grid. The […]

Howdon STYW - CHP (2020)

The advanced anaerobic digestion (AAD) plant at Howdon STW includes 3 (No.) MWM gas engines that were commissioned in September 2013. The engines originally used biogas from the digestion process as fuel to produce steam for the thermal hydrolysis plant and generate electricity. The electricity generated by the engines when running on renewable biogas is […]

Langford WTW (2020)

Langford Water Treatment Works (WTW) is owned and operated by Essex and Suffolk Water (ESW), part of the Northumbrian Water Group (NWG). The treatment works, located near the town of Maldon, treats water abstracted from the nearby River Chelmer and River Blackwater. The river water quality changes greatly with rainfall, at times of excessive turbidity […]

Murton WTW (2020)

Murton WTW is fed by six boreholes and supplies up to 350m3/hour of potable water to Berwick-upon-Tweed and surrounding areas, serving over 7,500 properties. The boreholes which feed the Berwick Water Supply Zone can contain turbidity, particularly when flows are high, interrupted or varied. The existing treatment process was unable to remove the turbidity, causing […]

Phillipson Street CSO Scheme (2020)

The Phillipson Street CSO Scheme is located in Wallsend, a suburban area to the east of Newcastle city centre with an industrial past. In the catchment upstream of the existing CSO, a total of 3,869 people are served by a fully combined sewer network. The existing CSO has undergone several upgrades over at least the […]

Stratford St Mary Pumping Station (2020)

Refurbishment project to strengthen resilience of raw water supply to Essex strategic reservoirs

Syleham WTW (2020)

Essex and Suffolk Water’s Syleham Water Treatment Works is located in the north-east part of Hartismere in Suffolk. The works supplies water to the north side of Eye and to Fressingfield Water Tower, which in turn supplies approximately 4,000 properties (10,000 customers) throughout a number of villages. It was originally constructed in 1940 and raw […]

Alum Waters Sewer Flooding Alleviation Scheme (2019)

As part of the AMP6 Capital Programme, Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) are investing over £1bn in water and wastewater services to provide unrivalled customer service. As part of this programme. Esh-Stantec, a joint venture between Esh Construction and Stantec UK, was commissioned by NWG to investigate the sewer network and to develop a notional solution […]

Brantham Pumping Station (2019)

Brantham Raw Water Intake is owned and operated by Essex and Suffolk Water (ESW), part of the Northumbrian Water Group (NWG). The raw water intake, located on the banks of the River Stour north of Colchester, abstracts water from the River Stour where it is transferred under gravity to Brantham Pumping Station. The raw water […]

Cotherstone Pipe Bridge & Mains Refurbishment (2019)

Balder Pipe Bridge spans the River Balder in Cotherstone Village near Barnard Castle, County Durham. The bridge abutments occupy private land on either side of the bridge with a public footpath running past the south abutment. The bridge was original designed to carry a single 24” cast iron raw water main which supplies Lartington Water […]

Flass Vale (Durham) Sewerage Scheme (2019)

Flass Vale is an area of woodland to the northwest of Durham City Centre that extends north-west to Durham Johnston School and the A167. Flass Burn flows generally north-west to south-east through the Vale. The Burn is an open ditch in the northwest and is culverted in the southeast including through a former bus depot […]

Killingworth & Longbenton Water Management Ph 3 (2019)

Since 2010 the Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) for the Tyneside Drainage Catchment have developed and implemented an area-based prioritisation process to identify and investigate those drainage areas at greatest risk of performance failure. The Killingworth, Longbenton and Forest Hall area was one of those areas identified, something supported by the published 2010 Strategic Flood Risk […]

Pegswood STW (2019)

Pegswood Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is a Northumbrian Water (NW) site located 16 miles north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 2 miles north-east of Morpeth, Northumberland. The treatment process comprised inlet screens, flow control and storm separation to storm tanks, two Dortmund pyramidal settlement tanks, four biological percolating filters, with a circular humus tank discharging final effluent […]

Renny’s Lane Foul Sewer Rising Main Replacement (2019)

Renny’s Lane Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) is located in arable farmland to the south of the Belmont and Carville residential estate, north east of the City of Durham. The pumping station has two parallel rising mains which transfer combined flows into the gravity sewerage network which ultimately drains to Belmont Sewage Treatment Works (STW). The […]

River Yare Pipeline Crossing & Tunnel Decommissioning (2019)

As part of a continued effort to improve service to customers and ensure resilience and security of supply, the team at Northumbrian Water Limited together with Stantec UK carried out an investigative study of the issues related to the River Yare Strategic Crossing and identified a cost effective solution that achieved these objectives. The Great […]

Seaham STW - Inlet Works Upgrade (2019)

Seaham Sewage Treatment Works (STW) receives and treats raw sewage from Seaham and the surrounding area. Constructed in phases between 1996 and 2001, the works serve a population of over 23,000 people. The works were originally built to ensure compliance with the Bathing Water Directive, as the site discharges directly into the North Sea via […]

East Tanfield STW (2018)

East Tanfield Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is a Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) site located 11 miles north-west of the City of Durham and 9 miles south-west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It consists of two distinct sites: a ‘lower’ site comprising a terminal pumping station (TPS) with emergency storage tanks adjacent to the Houghwell Burn watercourse; and an […]

Killingworth & Longbenton Water Management (2018)

Since 2010, the Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) for the Tyneside drainage catchment have developed and implemented an area-based prioritisation process to identify and investigate those drainage areas at greatest risk of performance failure. The Killingworth, Longbenton and Forest Hall area was one of those areas identified, something supported by the published 2010 Strategic Flood Risk […]

Lumley Raw Water Pumping Station (2018)

The installation of new eel and fish friendly screens at Northumbrian Water Group’s (NWG) Lumley Raw Water Pumping Station (RWPS) was the culmination of collaborative working between multiple stakeholders, to transform the screening methodology in an environmentally sensitive location. The final solution provides an option that presents immediate environmental benefits to aquatic life, with low […]

Manganese North (2018)

Between 2007 and 2014 two of Northumbrian Water’s (NWG) water supply zones, served by Whittle Dene WTW and Warkworth WTW, both in Northumberland, consistently received the highest number of water quality contacts for discoloured water. In previous AMP periods, NWG undertook a programme of strategic mains cleaning and unidirectional flushing to improve customer acceptability performance. […]

Trinity Broads Mud Pumping Project (2018)

The Norfolk Broads is a low-lying landscape of interconnected lakes (broads) and streams and large parts are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and contain a number of protected species of flora and fauna. One area of the Norfolk Broads; the Trinity Broads, provides raw water to Ormesby Water Treatment Works (WTW) operated by […]

Whittle Dene WTW (2018)

Whittle Dene Water Treatment Works is Northumbrian Water’s fourth largest treatment works with a deployable output of 118Ml/d, supplying 228,000 properties. Located in Northumberland, 13 miles west of Newcastle, it is a strategically important works to Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Northumberland and Tyne Valley regions. Raw water at the site comes from adjacent reservoirs […]

Heybridge Sea Gate & Lock Gate Replacement (2017)

At the start of construction for the Hanningfield Raw Water Reservoir, an Act of Parliament The Hanningfield Water Order 1950 was passed with agreements put in place for the maintenance of the lock between the navigation company (Essex Waterways) and Northumbrian Water Group (NWG), parent company of Essex and Suffolk Water. NWG abstracts water from […]

Horsley WTW (2017)

Northumbrian Water’s Horsley WTW serves around 800,000 people in the Newcastle and Tyneside area. The original works was constructed in 1977 and last extended in 2003. It draws its supply from the nearby River Tyne at Ovingham and the Whittle Dene complex of reservoirs fed from Kielder Water. The existing works has a capacity of […]

Northumbrian Water Wastewater Minor Works Programme (2017)

Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) has been delivering the Wastewater Minor Works sub-programme for the Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) since 2006 with the number of schemes delivered annually increasing year-on-year. The team must deliver schemes for less than £150,000, and are targeted at maintaining wastewater compliance. The projects are batched where practicable, and estimated efficiencies in […]

Tiptree & Langham Pumping Station Refurbishments (2017)

Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) provides water services to 1.5 million customers across a large part of Essex and east London, where it operates as Essex and Suffolk Water. As a vital part of Northumbrian Water’s treated water network, demand up to 55Ml/d is pumped from the Langham WTW on the Essex/Suffolk borders and forward boosted […]

Whitburn Spill Reduction (2017)

Northumbrian Water is required to provide investment to reduce spills at Whitburn and St Peter’s, Sunderland in order to comply with the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) by December 2017. Sunderland (north) is an urban catchment of predominantly residential properties and is home to Sunderland’s Blue Flag award winning beaches at […]

Fellgate Surface Water Management (2016)

Fellgate estate in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear has a history of flooding and suffered extensive property flooding in 2012, affecting 175 properties. Flooding originated from sewers, highway drainage, runoff from land, small water courses and ditches during heavy rainfall. Northumbrian Water and the local authority South Tyneside Council share responsibility for surface water management and […]

Howdon STW - Biogas Upgrading Project (2016)

The Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) Howdon site, located on the banks of the River Tyne to the east of Newcastle is the largest sewage treatment works on the eastern coast of England. The plant is capable of treating in excess of 40,000 TDS/annum of indigenous and imported sludge using a Cambi Advanced Anaerobic Digestion (AAD) […]

Trunk Mains Cleaning Part 1 (2015)

AMP4 & AMP5 - summary and update

Wallsend Flooding (2015)

An individual property level construction scheme to reduce the risk of flooding and to provide wider benefits to the downstream sewerage system

Winlaton Mill FAS (2015)

Sewer upgrades with surface water separation reduces flood risk to residential properties

Barkers Haugh STW - Concept & Planning (2014)

New inlet works – concept, planning, design and procurement strategy

Barkers Haugh STW - Procurement & Construction (2014)

New inlet works - procurement and construction

Knitsley STW (2014)

Filter refurbishment and modification works to a medium sewage treatment works

Throckley WTW Abandonment Scheme (2014)

A sustainable scheme to turn a liability into an asset suitable for redevelopment

Abberton Pipeline Project (2013)

Installation of 32km of pipeline to support the Abberton Scheme

Abberton Scheme - Wormingford Pumping Station (2013)

New pumping station to extract 120Ml/d of raw water from the River Stour to supply the Abberton Reservoir

Acklam Road Screening Structure (2013)

A multi-disciplinary wastewater project using BIM in the delivery of project for Northumbrian Water

Hanningfield WTW - Sludge Treatment Reed Beds (2013)

Sludge Treatment Reed Beds - Breaking new ground, a world first for a water treatment works

Mosswood WTW - Hydropower Turbine (2013)

Northumbrian Water’s first retro-fit hydroelectric installation into an operational water treatment works

Nuns Moor Pilot Sustainability Study (2013)

An integrated approach to surface water management

Seaham SPS (2013)

Upgrade of storm screening facility

Trunk Mains Cleaning Part 2 (2013)

£33m AMP5 project to clean and refurbish 218km of trunk mains within Tyneside zone

Abberton Reservoir Enhancement (2012)

Increasing the capacity of Abberton Reservoir to meet the forecast population increase in Essex

Hanningfield WTW - Sludge Treatment Reed Beds (2012)

Sludge treatment reed beds – a world first for a water treatment works

Howdon & Bran Sands STWs - AD Plants (2012)

Using advanced AD to improve operational efficiency and environmental sustainability in Northumbrian Water

Selset Reservoir Hydropower Scheme (2012)

Harbouring an existing asset for new energy production in a restricted and remote location

Tyneside Sustainable Sewerage Pilot Study (2012)

Development of an integrated, partnership approach to the provision of sustainable sewerage

Hendon STW Sludge Dewatering (2011)

Delivering Northumbrian Water’s updated sludge strategy

Longbenton FAS (2011)

Protecting properties from flooding in North Tyneside

Trunk Mains Cleaning Part 1 (2011)

£30 million project to clean and refurbish 157km of trunk mains

Stressholme STW (2010)

STW upgraded to increase process capacity

Tyne South Bank CSOs (2010)

Screening overflows to the River Tyne

Whitley Bay Flood Alleviation Scheme (2010)

Extensive history of sewer flooding removed

Bran Sands RSTC Advanced Digestion (2009)

Advanced anaerobic digestion facility – from sludge drying to digestion

Acomb Crescent FAS (2008)

CSO & overflow pipework removes properties off flood register

Layer de la Haye WTW (2008)

Treatment works upgrade project for Essex & Suffolk Water

Warkworth WTW (2008)

Granular activated carbon adsorbers – pesticide removal scheme

Billingham STW - Final Effluent Transfer (2007)

Efficient environmental improvement for newts & humans

Bran Sands ETW & RSTC (2007)

Maintaining NWL’s ‘flagship’ sludge disposal site

Layer de la Haye WTW (2006)

£3.8m primary filter conversion for Essex & Suffolk Water

North Essex Water Abstraction Source (2006)

New borehole to supply 4.25Ml/d to drought stricken Essex

Darlington (Victoria Road) CSO (2005)

CSO & Skerne siphon improvements

Fenham (Moorside South) DG5 Flood Alleviation Scheme (2005)

£1.5m project to solve 7 internal DG5 flooding problems

Lamesley WwTW (2005)

First wetland to co-treat minewater and final effluent

Sewage Pumping Station Programme (2005)

Some £8.5m invested in 3 years – £30m budget for next 5 years

Syleham WTW (2005)

£1.8 million reservoir to safeguard supply

Kirklevington STW (2004)

Two RBCs replace 1960s plant to meet new consent

Lound WTW (2004)

£7.4m Trihalomethane project for Essex & Suffolk Water

Ormesby WTW (2004)

Upgrading plant to meet new compliance values

Skinningrove STW (2004)

Northumbrian Water’s new STW for sensitive NE coast area

Broken Scar WTW (2003)

£22m upgrade, including GAC process stage on live plant

Sunderland Groundwater Stations (2003)

Major refurbishment of late 19th & early 20th century stations

Wear Valley WTW (2003)

Engineering excellence in ‘area of outstanding natural beauty’

Langford Wastewater Recycling Scheme (2002)

New works recycles wastewater to augment river water

UV Disinfection Programme (2002)

£12m UV disinfection programme