September's Our Town took advantage of the free Round the Bend tour at Chippenham's Water Recycling Facility (aka Sewage Treatment Works in old money) courtesy of Wessex Water. Carolyn Gilman reports...
"I have been round the bend!! Yes an open day at our local Wessex Water Works in Chippenham. Absolutely fascinating. Great tour to see the incoming sewage, the automatic screening taking out debris, remaining sewage then taken for processing elsewhere: tanks for settlement, sludge removal, bacteria growth and phosphorus removal, and to see the clean (cleaner water - Ed*) water that is then returned to river. There are storm tanks here too and less than 60 days p a. storm overflow to Avon and most of that was last February when we had enormous rainfall. Thank you Wessex Water for a great tour. They are one of the best water companies in the UK."
Some members are currently affected by the works along London Road and Long Close where Wessex Water are installing a large storage holding tank in an effort to reduce the number of sewage overflows into the River Avon at the outfall by the sailing club. This in turn will reduce one of the major pressures Chippenham's Water Recycling Facility faces during bad weather.
*On a more sober note...
...recent studies have shown there are dozens of modern chemicals not removed by the standard current sewage treatment process, such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals from road runoff etc etc. This is a major challenge water companies are facing even if the current issues re frequent sewage releases into our rivers are solved. Water isn't currently tested for these as standard and safe limits have yet to be established for many of them.
NB this isn't intended as a criticism of the water companies, it's simply stating the current situation. The issues facing modern day water treatment are extremely complex.
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