Wigan's sewer network gets £2.5m upgrade to reduce spills in heavy rainfall

United Utilities has announced it will spend £2.5m on an upgraded network with additional storage to reduce storm spills in the borough, which will improve 1km of Atherton Brook.

It is part of a series of improvements planned for the region’s wastewater systems to make them more resilient to heavy rainfall and improve 184km of rivers by 2025.

In total, the investment programme will reduce sewer spills into the environment by more than 10m tonnes a year – the equivalent of 4,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Jo Harrison, director of environmental planning and innovation at United Utilities, said: “Our purpose is very clear – we don’t just supply water, we also want to make the North West greener, healthier and stronger. We work very hard to maintain a high level of environmental performance and we’re pleased that for the second year running we have been awarded the top four-star rating by the Environment Agency.

“We know there is always more to do and playing our part to improve the health of the region’s rivers is very important to our customers. This is already well under way and by 2025 we will have invested £230m improving 184km of waterways and we will have developed our plans to progressively reduce the impact of storm overflows in the coming years.”

United Utilities’ investment commitments in the North West between 2020 and 2025 will inject £10.5 billion into the regional economy and support one in every 100 jobs across the North West.