Essex and Suffolk Water - Strategic pipelines, water storage and recycling

A proposed Advanced Water Recycling Plant with associated water pipeline and service reservoir infrastructure, located in North Suffolk

On 19 September 2025 the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published a Section 35 Direction making Essex and Suffolk Water’s Strategic Pipeline and recycling project a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).

This means that this project will be decided on by the Secretary of State at DEFRA, not the local County, District, Unitary Councils or Mayoral Authority.

In summary, as set out in the Section 35 Directions, the project consists of:

  • An Advanced Water Recycling Plant (AWRP) with a maximum daily deployable output of 11 Ml/d [million litres per day]. The site for the AWRP is likely to require approximately 9 hectares (ha). The AWRP will receive up to 16 Ml/d of treated wastewater from the existing Lowestoft Water Recycling Centre (WRC) which is owned and operated by Anglian Water Services.
  • Construction of a new pumping station and potential minor modifications to the existing works at the Lowestoft WRC, to divert treated wastewater to the AWRP.
  • Two proposed Service Reservoirs (SRs) for storage of drinking water, located at strategic locations for onward supply and storage. The two SRs are to be sized to provide 36 hours of storage. The central SR will have a capacity of approximately 17ML and the western SR will be approximately 13ML. It is likely the SRs will require a construction site size of approximately 4ha each.

The full Section 35 Direction, including a project description, can be found on the Government website.