WATER quality in the river Loddon has improved thanks to ongoing work to reduce the amount of sewage going into it.

The Environment Agency and Thames Water have been working together to ensure there would be a step-change in the phosphate concentration in the River Loddon downstream of the sewage works in Chineham.

With a significant drop in the amount of phosphate in the river. The status of the river for phosphates, as reported under the EU Water Framework Directive, was now on the boundary between moderate and good.

Basingstoke’s MP Maria Miller recently visited the Sewage Treatment Works in Chineham, where she was informed that the improvements have a much wider implication for the water quality and ecology of the whole Loddon catchment.

Mrs Miller said: “The health of the river Loddon has been a huge concern to me for many years, and I have long campaigned for measures to improve the water quality, particularly around the time the Local Plan was being developed.

“So, it is great to hear about this fantastic improvement in water quality. It is particularly pleasing that the phosphate reduction trial carried out by Thames Water at the Basingstoke plant has made such an impact; this trial was originally due to be carried out elsewhere, but I lobbied Thames Water for it to come to Basingstoke.

“This means we have been able to reap the benefits of the new technology sooner than might otherwise have been the case.”

The improvement is the combined result of Thames Water’s work to enhance the performance of the Sewage Treatment Works, with ground-breaking new engineering at the plant, and the work of the Loddon Catchment Partnership.