Town's Victorian sewers to be fixed

26/08/2011 11:37:10

 

The creaking sewer network of Rochdale is to be upgraded in a two-year construction job to prevent sewage seeping into the water supply.

Local rivers will become cleaner thanks to better drainage and fish may be able to return for the first time since the Industrial Revolution.

United Utilities has the £50 million contract to fix the town's Victorian-era drainage, which will improve the rivers Roch, Beal, Spodden, Whittle and Stanney Brook.

To stop sewage seeping into watercourses, underground storage tanks will be built and overflow points will have sieves installed.

The company said the Rochdale sewage revamp is included in its five-year investment programme of £3.6 billion-worth of work.

David Hargreaves, United Utilities project manager, said: "This is a huge investment for Rochdale that will bring real quality-of-life improvements for everyone who lives here. By cleaning up the local watercourses we could soon welcome back fish."

Copyright Press Association 2011

 

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