North West water and wastewater group, United Utilities, has unveiled plans to improve water quality in Pennington Flash and help future proof Wigan’s sewer system as part of a £50m investment.
The company has submitted an environmental impact assessment screening request to Wigan Council for the initial phase of work.
United Utilities is investing £50m at six sites to create more than 33,000m3 of new storage – the equivalent of more than 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
This will help to reduce the number of times that six storm overflows spill, improving water quality in Borsdane Brook and Hey Brook.
The planned works will also reduce phosphorous inputs into those water courses and takes into account the future population growth in the Wigan area.
A landmark nature site, Pennington Flash is part of The Flashes of Wigan and Leigh – a group of eight sites that, together, form Greater Manchester’s first and only National Nature Reserve (NNR).
Work is expected to begin later this year, with all the improvements due to be delivered by 2030.
Andrew Cunliffe, wastewater business lead for Greater Manchester at United Utilities, said: “We’re embarking on the largest transformation of the region’s water and wastewater networks in a century.
“This scheme will play an important role in improving water quality at a much loved nature reserve whilst also supporting plans for Wigan’s expected growth.”
It comes as United Utilities embarks on the largest investment in water and wastewater infrastructure for a century.
The company will be spending more than £13bn over the next five years to protect and enhance more than 500km of rivers, lakes and bathing waters while safeguarding drinking water supplies for millions of customers, it said.
The Pennington Flash programme will be delivered through United Utilities’ new Enterprise delivery model, bringing together United Utilities and seven design and construction partners as one integrated team.
The group has been heavily criticised over the years for its sewage spills into rivers and seaways.
Last July regulator, Ofwat, announced that United Utilities, along with other companies, was being investigated over how they manage their wastewater assets.
In May last year it was revealed that around 10 million litres of raw sewage was illegally pumped into Lake Windermere, one of Cumbria’s biggest tourist attractions, after a fault that took United Utilities 10 hours to respond to.
The pollution happened on the night of February 28. United Utilities did not report the incident to the Environment Agency until 13 hours after it began.
The industry, as a whole, has also come under fire for dividend payments to investors and institutional shareholders, with critics arguing the emphasis should, instead, be on infrastructure improvements to what is still largely a Victorian sewage system.