Planned work

THE HORSLEY WATER TREATMENT WORKS UPGRADE IS A £46M PROJECT TO EXPAND AND PROTECT THE TREATMENT PROCESSES SUITABLE FOR THE ANTICIPATED WATER SUPPLY REQUIRED WELL INTO THE FUTURE.

The original works was commissioned in 1977 as part of the River Tyne Abstraction Scheme and it was designed to meet demand for treated water to the end of that century. Raw water is abstracted from the River Tyne at Ovingham and from the Great Southern Reservoir at the Whittle Dene Reservoirs complex. The design capacity of the original WTW was 115 million litres of water per day.

The original 1970’s works process stream is now coming to the end of its operational life a full review of the treatment processes and capacity of the works was carried out.

Following a network review looking forward to the year 2028, Northumbrian Water identified Horsley water treatment works as a key location for long term water supply to the Tyneside area.

An upgrade project was therefore commissioned to expand the treatment capacity suitable for the future.

Work on site began in March 2016, working in partnership with Interserve Construction Ltd on construction alongside Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) who joined the project July 2021.

The new works will comprise of:

• New clarification process
• 6 new rapid gravity filters
• UV disinfection
• New Birney Hill pumping station
• Improvements to the sludge treatment and handling process
• New chemical dosing systems.

This work will be carried out while maintaining supplies to our customers.