CASE STUDIES
Cutting-edge strategy puts Burntwood sewage treatment works ahead of schedule
Expansion works at the Burntwood Sewage Treatment Works are expected to complete ahead of time, with two additional treatment stages constructed.
Severn Trent Water contracted RSK Group company MWH Treatment for the upgrade works; the MWH team suggested an early maturation process to keep the project on track so that it could deliver the necessary assets and overall site performance by the regulator date after it experienced delays elsewhere.
A new moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) and a tertiary solids removal (TSR) plant have been constructed, with additional primary settlement capacity and new sludge consolidation tanks currently under construction. The works are being carried out as part of the Water Framework Directive to improve the quality of water in UK rivers, lakes and groundwater. The finished works will significantly reduce the biochemical oxygen demand – a way of measuring how much aerobic bacteria is in the water – and dissolved ammonia and phosphorous in the final effluent.
MWH Treatment Project Manager Akram Barkawi said: “Constructing new process assets on a live plant was a particular challenge, but we’ve deployed a new and innovative method of starting the maturation of the moving bed biofilm reactor early. By making use of temporary
18 | March 2025 |
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pipework and pumps to directly connect the existing plant to the biofilm reactor and allowing it to mature while the additional assets were completed, we shortened the overall build time.”
He said that a moving bed biofilm reactor is a wastewater treatment process that uses an aeration tank with plastic carrier where a biofilm can grow. The biofilm removes ammonia from the effluent so that the
water being discharged to the watercourse is cleaner.
Akram added: “Usually, you would need upstream works such as the feed pumping station to be completed, as well as the downstream assets to pass flows onto them after it has been through the biofilm reactor. You also need complementary assets such as chemical dosing and drainage to be completed. Dosing is
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