Kier Group Awarded £65 Million Wastewater Treatment Engineering Contract

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, UK-based Kier Group secured four wastewater treatment facility upgrade contracts awarded by Thames Water, with a total value of nearly £65 million, covering three wastewater treatment plants at Harpenden, Princes Risborough, and Weybridge. The projects fall under Thames Water's 2025–2030 AMP8 investment programme and encompass wastewater treatment capacity expansion, stormwater pumping system upgrades, power supply infrastructure upgrades, and subsequent treatment engineering design. Among them, the Harpenden project is the largest in investment scale, with a contract value of £53.7 million.

Harpenden Wastewater Treatment Plant is located in Hertfordshire, UK. Its upgrade works are included in Thames Water's Go to Green programme, with Kier Group undertaking the main construction tasks. The project plans to increase the existing wastewater treatment capacity by more than 50% to meet local additional treatment demand through 2036, while renewing key treatment facilities at the site so that treated effluent meets stricter discharge standards. The treated water from this plant is discharged into the River Lea catchment.

The Princes Risborough Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade contract in Buckinghamshire is valued at approximately £7 million and falls under Thames Water's wastewater asset assurance programme. The scope of works includes the renewal of stormwater pumping equipment, wastewater flow management facilities, electrical systems, and automatic control systems. During the upgrade, the existing wastewater treatment facilities will remain in operation, and construction arrangements need to be coordinated with the plant's existing treatment processes.

The Weybridge Wastewater Treatment Plant in Surrey was awarded two separate contracts. One contract, valued at approximately £1.7 million, is for upgrading the site's power supply infrastructure to provide electrical capacity for existing wastewater treatment equipment and subsequent expansion works; the other, a design services contract valued at approximately £2.6 million, will be jointly executed by Kier Group and engineering design firm Binnies, responsible for developing the next-phase wastewater treatment facility upgrade plan.

The subsequent design work at Weybridge falls under the UK Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) and involves wastewater treatment process improvements and effluent quality requirements. The related treatment facility discharges into the River Wey, and the next-phase design will be carried out around stricter environmental standards. The design contract awarded this time and the power supply upgrade construction contract will be executed separately, and the subsequent main treatment works are not yet included within the scope of the announced design contract.

The works at all three wastewater treatment plants are planned to be implemented while existing facilities continue to operate. Kier Group will organise construction according to the operational arrangements of each plant's treatment facilities to avoid interrupting daily wastewater treatment services. The related works are also included in Thames Water's AMP8 environmental investment tasks, involving the phosphorus reduction targets for wastewater discharge stipulated in the UK Environment Act 2021, namely an 80% reduction in phosphorus load discharged from wastewater treatment plants by 2038 compared with 2020.