A project to upgrade wastewater treatment facilities in rural parts of the county is making rapid progress.

United Utilities, the North West’s water provider, is delivering a fast-track £10.6 million project to increase capacity at 29 rural wastewater treatment works across its network, three of which are in Lancashire.

Work is already complete in Grindleton with further work planned in Waddington in East Lancashire, while work is ongoing in Weeton, Fylde.

The works mean the sites will be able to treat more wastewater at times of heavy rainfall, reducing the number of times storm overflows operate by an estimated 1,200 times a year.

United Utilities said it is committed to reducing sewage spills by 50 per cent by 2030, and more projects are planned in future across Lancashire.

Rob Moore, head of wastewater at United Utilities – Lancashire, said: “This fast-track project is one of a range of measures we are taking to reduce spills from the wastewater network.

“These new treatment units operate alongside the existing treatment methods, they are quick to produce and install and will play an important role in reducing the number of times that storm overflows operate in periods of heavy rainfall.

“By treating more, and doing it more quickly, we can ease pressure on these rural wastewater treatment sites and in turn reduce the risk of spills.”

Treatment units are built by Water Engineering Services in Bury before being delivered fully assembled and ready for action within a few weeks.

Mr Moor added: “This fast-track project enables us to install an effective solution in a matter of weeks compared to the 18 months-plus it can take to deliver larger scale infrastructure.

“It is an important first step as we launch the biggest overhaul of the region’s sewer network in a century.

“People are going to see much more of this over the next 25 years as we deliver a wide range of solutions.

“Across the region, we are making fundamental changes to the way our sewer system has been designed and change on this scale cannot happen overnight.

“We have a programme to re-plumb our drainage systems, building storage tanks to increase capacity and separating rainwater out of sewers – as well as using engineering solutions we’re also harnessing the power of nature by introducing measures such as reedbeds and natural filtration systems.”