Cookie consent

We use cookies to track how you use our website to help improve your experience and show you personalised content. You can accept the use of all cookies or manage them individually. You can find out more about your options by clicking “manage cookies".

Strictly necessary/functionality cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.

Find out more about our cookies

Ashton and Dukinfield Wastewater Treatment Works

About us and how we operate

Over 566 treatment sites and a network of around 48,000 miles of sewer pipes help us to take away the used water from homes and businesses, so it can be treated and safely returned to the environment.

It’s a 24-hour operation and in some situations odour levels from wastewater treatment can fluctuate and we understand that local communities around our sites can sometimes experience disruption or odours. We try our best to prevent this from happening and we also make sure to investigate any issues and take the necessary steps to address problems when they arise.

We're aware that some of our neighbours near Ashton and Dukinfield Wastewater Treatment Works have contacted us and Tameside Council, to raise concerns around odour levels. We want to reassure you that any concerns are thoroughly investigated. 

Ashton Wastewater Treatment Works

Ashton Wastewater Treatment Works

In 2010 we carried out an extensive upgrade programme at Ashton WwTW to provide additional treatment capacity and make process improvements. The site can receive up to 73 million litres of wastewater from the surrounding local communities every day, which then goes through a three stage treatment process, before it’s clean enough to return to the River Tame.

Dukinfield Wastewater Treatment Works

Dukinfield Wastewater Treatment Works

Dukinfield WwTW is a larger site and can receive up to 125 million litres of wastewater every day. Like at Ashton, the wastewater received at Dukinfield undergoes multiple stages of treatment before being released into the River Tame.

Site news and updates

Essential maintenance work (19 - 22 June 2022)

We're carrying out some essential maintenance to a tank on our Dukinfield site, which may temporarily result in some localised odour. Our site team will be taking steps to proactively manage this and the work should be completed no later than Wednesday 22 June. 

Spring 2022

River Tame: Our ground maintenance team have carried out various activities to help clean up the River Tame and the river bank around our site boundaries. 

  • Using specialist equipment to clear over 100 metres of shrubs/vegetation
  • Worked with partners to carry out treatment to help control invasive weeds
  • Removed various items including abandoned shopping trolleys, tyres, road cones and litter.

Access is difficult in some areas, and is also dependent on weather conditions and river levels, but we'll be carrying out further work to allow the teams to gain safe access and carry out additional clearance work.

Ashton dunkfield riverbank.jpg
Ashton dunkfield riverbank 2.jpg

Treatment works site improvements:

We're continuing to do all we can to take measures at site including;

  • Reinstatement of independent on/off site surveys, which will continue through the summer
  • Installed permanent covers (replacing the temporary covers) to mitigate potential odour release at two key site locations
  • Introduced four carbon filters for tanks and have a further two filters on order
  • Purchased two odour management units.

Past updates

July 2021 -The recent prolonged period of warm and dry weather, along with a fault on a piece of processing equipment is affecting our ability to fully complete elements of waste treatment.  This may result in some temporary elevated odour.  We're planning the essential work to rectify the issue, but this may take a number of weeks to complete.

June 2021 - We're continuing to work with external specialists to carry out in-depth assessments and are increasing the frequency during the summer months.

April 2021 - Maintenance work was carried out at Dukinfield WwTW on one of our assets to ensure it's clean and working correctly. We'll provide updates of any further planned maintenance work.

  • We're working closely with Tameside Council to address any issues and are continually carrying out investigations at both sites to review and address odour complaints.  

    This involves;

    • Odour surveys by an independent expert
    • Inspections of the sewer network
    • Review of day-to-day operational activity
    • Installation of additional site equipment

    We're continuously monitoring and reviewing activity to ensure this does not cause inconvenience to the local community. 

    We're ware that some of our neighbours are continuing to report instances of intermittent odour , we'll continue to do all we can to reduce impact on the neighbouring community. 

  • We'll continue to undertake surveys and work at both sites and will continually assess our processes and site activity to minimise odours. This will include;

    • In-depth assessments carried out by external specialists
    • Reviewing and updating our odour management plans
    • The installation of odour monitoring equipment
    • Assess if  we're able to introduce a public site tour 

  • If you have any questions about our work at Ashton or Dukinfield Wastewater Treatment Works or would like to report an odour issue, please get in touch.  You can call us on 0345 672 3723 and our teams will ensure that this is logged, investigated and resolved as quickly as possible.