MORE than £2.3million has been ploughed into improving the water quality in the Blackwater Estuary. 

Anglian Water is spending the money at its water recycling process plant in West Mersea. 

It comes weeks after it was revealed sewage overflowed into rivers and waterways in Colchester on more than 500 occasions last year with the data described as a "complete scandal". 

Anglian Water’s @one Alliance is set to begin work at its Water Recycling Centre (WRC) off Cross Lane from the second week of May.

The works will protect the site from flooding and reduce the risk of storm spills, where sewage flows into the water, in and around West Mersea.

Work is expected to be completed by the end of the year. 

This follows new Environment Agency regulations, with the work aimed at enhancing the water quality in nearby watercourses and increasing waste water treatment capacity.

The investment will go towards the water recycling process at West Mersea WRC with the installation of new equipment to strengthen the current water recycling process by allowing the site to process higher volumes of waste water.

Sarah Lovitt, customer co-ordinator for the project, said: “We know how important rivers and the wider environment are to our customers and local communities which is why we’re working to improve the Water Recyling Centre in West Mersea.

"The scheme will help protect nearby rivers and increase our resilience to climate change by ensuring the wastewater is treated to an even higher standard than usual before it’s returned to the environment.

“As a result of climate change, we’re seeing more bouts of extreme weather, sudden downpours and rising sea levels, so it’s really important that our sites are prepared to process higher volumes of stormwater.

"We’ve committed through our Get River Positive programme that our water recycling processes will not harm rivers, so we can continue to protect the environment with schemes like this one in West Mersea.”

Get River Positive was launched by Anglian Water and Severn Trent in 2022.

The programme features five pledges to transform river water quality across their regions and demonstrates a clear and actionable response to calls for a revival of rivers in England.

As the project will be confined to site, there will be minimal disruption to residents.

For more information about the project, visit anglianwaterproject.com/West-Mersea.