Water companies are upgrading wastewater treatment plants to meet tighter phosphate limits

What is AMP8?

AMP8 stands for the 8th Asset Management Period, which runs from 2025 to 2030. It’s the five-year plan when UK water companies must invest in upgrades to meet government and environmental goals.

What part does phosphate play in the AMP8 upgrades?

The Environment Agency reports that 55% of river water bodies assessed in England have failed phosphorus standards for good ecological status[1]. When phosphate from sewage gets into rivers, it can cause algae to grow too fast, leading to fish deaths, loss of biodiversity, decreased water quality etc.

AMP8 aims to make UK rivers cleaner and healthier by removing more phosphate from watercourses. It plans to do this by:

1. Implementing new rules that limit how much phosphate is allowed in treated water. For example, The UK government and Environment Agency are enforcing much lower phosphate limits in treated water (often below 0.25 mg/L)[2].
2. Requiring water companies to upgrade treatment plants to meet the tighter phosphate limits mentioned above, lower total nitrogen thresholds and other rules implemented as part of AMP8.

Upgrading wastewater treatment plants for AMP8

AMP8’s phosphate rules are driving the biggest wave of wastewater treatment upgrades in years, reshaping how the network is designed, operated, and maintained - especially at small and rural plants.

Upgrades being made include:

• Sewage treatment works needing new systems such as added filters, tanks, media beds, wetlands or smarter dosing equipment.
• New technology to replace traditional methods (such as ferric dosing) including electrocoagulation, biological nutrient removal, reactive media etc.
• More nature-based solutions such as constructing wetlands near outfalls to naturally remove leftover phosphate before discharge reaches rivers.
• Adopting efficient systems that can be run with low energy and low maintenance to ease pressure on resources.

Challenges faced during AMP8 upgrade works

The water sector is being pushed toward smarter, cleaner, more future-proof treatment methods but it puts pressure on:

• Smaller sites with limited space, staffing and power to run high-tech systems.
• The scale of upgrades needed creates a huge demand for skilled workers, equipment and chemicals all at once.
• Water companies to carefully plan and prioritise construction schedules according with high-risk sites and manage phosphate and other water risks for the duration of upgrade works taking place.

Managing upgrade work at wastewater treatment plants

Temporary water treatment can play a key supporting role during phosphate removal upgrades, especially when long-term solutions are not ready yet or extra phosphate removal is needed quickly.

RVT Group can support your shorter-term needs during AMP8 upgrade work by:

Jar testing for water treatment: By collecting and testing localised samples of water, we can measure key factors such as current phosphate concentrations, pH levels, sludge generation and much more. This information helps us identify the best chemical type and dosage required for your project, so we can recommend a temporary solution optimised to conquer your challenge.

Chemical dosing systems for water treatment: Adding chemicals like ferric sulphate or ferric chloride into the wastewater will bind with phosphate, turning it into solids that can be removed before water is discharged into rivers. Our temporary, quick set up and automatic dosing systems helps ensure a project meets legal discharge standards whilst your new permanent solution is installed - cutting waste, saving money, and improving accuracy.

Removing suspended solids from water: Helps ensure that the newly formed solid phosphate is removed from the treated water. Without it, even the best chemical or natural treatments cannot achieve full compliance.

Whilst temporary works take place across the water sector, RVT Group are on hand to help. We do thorough testing in the early stages so you can rest assured that the solution supplied is right first time and meets compliance standards before your permanent upgrade goes live.

See our previous success stories in supplying temporary solutions for the water industry >

Speak to a member of the team about your AMP8 project and how we can help >

[1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmenvaud/74/report.html#footnote-453-backlink

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phosphorus-challenges-for-the-water-environment (page 7)