A water company is to invest £1.25m in a new method to improve quality at one of its wastewater treatment plants.

Southern Water is to install new equipment to remove more phosphorous from its Bidborough Wastewater Treatment Works off Franks Hollow Road near Tunbridge Wells.

Work starts next Monday (September 2) and should be completed by March 2025.

The change will involve using a process known as ‘ferric dosing’ to reduce the amount of phosphorous leaving the site.

Project manager Chris Tinker said: “We’re pleased to see the start of this project at Bidborough and we are keen to continue investing in our treatment works across the region.

“These types of investment in upgrades will help improve our environmental performance and improve water quality.

“It’s vital that we continue to improve how we treat wastewater so that capacity increases and the quality of the final effluent leaving the site is as high as it can be.”

The various stages in the treatment of wastewater can be viewed here.

Southern Water treats around 13.3m litres of wastewater every day.