Water plan in pipeline

Royton treatment plant

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A £114 million investment in Oldham’s sewage treatment plants will improve water quality and meet the challenges of a growing population.

United Utilities is planning the massive investment - the biggest wastewater treatment development in Oldham for 80 years.

The result will improve river water quality and will include closing down the treatment plant in Royton, building a new plant at the existing site in Chadderton, and linking the two sites with a new pipeline.

Project manager Geraud Ramond said: “Oldham’s waste water treatment plants have been helping to keep the town and its watercourses clean since the 1930s. New European rules mean we have to treat the waste water to a much higher standard, which both existing plants are too old and too small to meet.”

The development will take more than three years and will include decommissioning the treatment process at Royton and building new storage tanks to contain sewer flow during heavy rain.

A new pumping station and a 4.5km underground pipeline will be laid to transfer water to the Chadderton plant, which will be rebuilt using the latest equipment.

The new plant will also be able to handle a much higher volume of water. Work is expected to begin in early 2015.