Road to close for 12 weeks for project to make river cleaner

Severn Trent is beginning work in Ludlow to move a stretch of the River Teme towards bathing quality in a multi-million pound river health project.

The company is undertaking a £78 million Green Recovery project to improve the water quality along more than 50km of the river in Shropshire and Warwickshire.

As part of the work, Temeside will be closed from next Monday, April 29, to July 19 to allow for the upsizing of the existing sewer and the installation of new manholes.

Severn Trent hopes by increasing the capacity of the works the system will meet the demand of the growing population in the town.

Data published by the Environment Agency last month revealed that storm overflows dumped sewage into rivers and seas across England for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023 - more than double the previous year.

In what is a UK first, the company is trailing the use of ozone disinfection as part of its waste treatment process at Ludlow Sewage Treatment Works – this technology works by cleaning wastewater before being returned to the river in its most natural state.

Other works due to take place at the site will include the installation of new storm tanks and two new final settlement tanks.

Upgrades will also be made to two pumping stations on private land so more wastewater can be pulled faster through Ludlow, reducing the number of spills from storm overflows, as well as upgrades to two major waste pipes on The Linney and Old Street.

Wilfred Denga, Severn Trent Bathing Rivers lead, said: “Our rivers are important to us – they’re where we get our wonderful water from, after all. They mean everything to local communities, as well as the wide range of wildlife that call them home. So the work we’re doing to improve water quality in Ludlow will make them better places to be for everyone – no matter how they use them.

“This pioneering project is just one part of our Get River Positive approach to take care of our wonderful rivers for future generations and helping to transform our local communities. Through Get River Positive, we have also committed that our storm overflow operations will not be the reason for unhealthy rivers by 2030, and this work will play a key role in achieving that.

“We hope the ozone technology we are going to trial will help shape the future of wastewater treatment across the industry, and the UK more broadly, as it may also eliminate pharmaceuticals and personal care products that can be found in wastewater.

“We’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding in advance of our work starting on Temeside.

"We have brought forward this planned closure as we know that Ludlow has a busy summer season of wonderful annual events, and we will be doing everything we can to complete this important work as quickly and as safely as possible.”