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1st Stockholm industry water award goes to Northumbrian Water Limited

August 02, 2000

Award Acknowledges UK Company’s Progressive
Water and Waste Initiatives, Co-operative Engagement

(STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN) The Stockholm Water Foundation, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and World Business Council for Sustainable Development announced today that the first Stockholm Industry Water Award has been awarded to Northumbrian Water Limited, a water and wastewater treatment provider for Northeastern England.

The nominating committee cited Northumbrian Water’s “forward looking initiative at achieving a regional solution to sewage treatment and disposal, in co-operation with local government and regulatory agencies, businesses and other non-governmental organizations.” Northumbrian Water successfully integrated state-of-the-art technology and regional industrial and legislative bodies into a new wastewater treatment strategy that enabled itself and neighbouring industrial companies to meet EU regulations, produced useful end products, brought a dramatic improvement to the quality of the River Tees and proved to be energy- and environmentally-effective.

The award, which will be presented to Northumbrian Water on August 16 during the annual World Water Week in Stockholm, recognizes innovative corporate development of water and wastewater process technologies as well as contributions to environmental improvement through improved performance in production processes.

Serving a population of 2.6 million that includes the cities of Newcastle, Sunderland and the Teesside conurbation, Northumbrian Water succeeded in finding innovative solutions to two major problems - what to do with huge volumes of sewage sludge when its disposal to sea was prohibited by the EU in December 1998, and how to provide a treatment facility that could deal with the area’s sewage and local industry’s waste. Northumbrian Water’s strategy, which combined an objective to work in partnership with the UK’s Environment Agency to improve water quality of the River Tees by removing discharges from the estuary, included the development of two modern, co-located facilities. These were the Regional Sludge Treatment Centre (RSTC) and the Tees Estuary Environment Scheme (TEES) – a major sewage and industrial effluent treatment works. Both facilities were constructed on a brown field site created by the capping of a chemical waste tip.

The TEES scheme has been hailed as the Tees River’s “biggest clean up since the Industrial Revolution” because it simultaneously provides improved treatment for a variety of waste streams, including industrial, and has helped rehabilitate the river. Already, ICI, Dupont, British Steel and Phillips Petroleum have agreed to send their industrial effluent to the scheme’s facility for treatment. When fully operational, the TEES scheme will be able to treat 300,000 cubic meters per day of effluent – the equivalent of a population of 3.5 million. The ending of direct discharges to the estuary has encouraged the return and passage of migratory fish.

Within Britain, and increasingly around the world, Northumbrian Water’s sludge and TEES strategies have been recognised as innovative. Both British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who launched the construction in 1996, and Cabinet Minister and local Member of Parliament Dr Mo Mowlam, who officially opened the first phase in 1998, recognised the importance of the plant in solving current problems and providing solutions for the future. Since their completion, politicians and water engineers from around the UK and the world that are faced with similar issues have visited the twin plants.

“Northumbrian’s realistic regional approach, which focused on an overall recycling of both waste and energy while working co-operatively with a number of interested groups, can serve as a model for similar industrial innovations in the water industry elsewhere,” said Committee Chairman Björn Rosén, representing the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Northumbrian Water Limited is a member of the global Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux group.

In addition to members representing the founders of the Stockholm Industry Water Award, the international nominating committee included representatives from the Norwegian Technical University, Severn Trent Plc and Uppsala University.

For more information about the Industry Water Award, contact Ulf Ehlin at SIWI, Sveav'¤gen 59, SE-113 59 Stockholm, Sweden, tel +46 8 522 139 70, fax +46 8 522 139 61, or e-mail: ulf.ehlin@siwi.org
For further technical details, contact Steve Coverdale, Investment Unit Manager at Northumbrian Water Limited, Abbey Road, Pity Me, Durham DH1 5FJ, UK, Tel: +44-191-301-6437, Fax: +44-191-301-6211, e-mail: steve.coverdale@nwl.co.uk

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), a scientific, technical and awareness-building organization, contributes to international efforts to combat the escalating global water crisis by facilitating research, raising understanding and stimulating action on world water issues. SIWI administers the Stockholm Water Prize, Stockholm Junior Water Prize, Stockholm Water Symposium and Stockholm Water Initiative.

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Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)