Millions of pounds are being spent to improve water quality in Dorset.

Wessex Water is investing £5 million to improve the water quality in Shaftesbury this year.

The sewage treatment site in the north Dorset town is being upgraded to ensure that the wastewater that arrives there continues to be properly dealt with before being safely released back to the environment.

New equipment to help to reduce the impact of potentially harmful chemicals found in sewage from homes and businesses will be installed.

With £5 million being invested into a year-long scheme at the water recycling centre just south of Shaftesbury, the work will focus on tackling the issues caused by chemicals like phosphorus, ammonia and nitrogen, concentrations of which are often found within sewage arriving at water recycling centres.

Project manager, Jim Wheeler said: “By completing this work we will be able to ensure we help to protect the environment around Shaftesbury by stripping chemicals out of the wastewater that arrives.

“We’ll be carrying out this work within our existing water recycling centre and upgrading many of the treatment processes at the site to ensure we’re continuing to meet the highest environmental standards.’’

Farm slurries, agricultural fertilisers and septic tanks are a regular source of these nutrients, which are also found in many household products, and can cause large growths of algae in waterways such as streams and rivers.

This algae damages plants and animals in those areas by depleting the amount of oxygen in the water – a process known as eutrophication.

The Shaftesbury enhancement will continue until December.

A £3 million investment at the water recycling centre at Gillingham is also being undertaken and will boost the capacity to treat arriving sewer flows, reducing instances of untreated wastewater being discharged automatically.