As part of his commitment to driving investment and protecting North West Norfolk’s coastal and river waters, James Wild MP visited Anglian Water's King's Lynn Water Recycling Centre, which serves around 80,000 local residents and businesses, to see how the company’s newly completed £5.3 million storm tank will benefit the local area.
Welcomed by Site Manager Sarah Spencer, and Regional Engagement Advisor, Emily Linsdell, James toured the facility, moving through the main stages of the recycling process, including intake, separation, aeration, anaerobic digestion, and thermal treatment. Staff explained how methane is captured and reused to power the facility and how the final product of the process called “cake”, is recycled and distributed to local farmland. This energy recovery loop helps improve the site’s operational efficiency and reduces its carbon footprint.
A central focus of the visit was the new storm tank, part of a £5.3 million investment by Anglian Water. With the capacity to hold more than 5.6 million litres of excess water - nearly two and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools - the tank temporarily stores water that might otherwise overwhelm the combined sewer system, providing welcome additional protection for thousands of King’s Lynn and surrounding area residents.
During the visit, James also explored in more detail how he can best support the facility and Anglian Water’s broader regional investment programme. He discussed with staff the £1 billion allocated to reducing storm overflow discharges, alongside planned upgrades to water quality monitoring, treatment capacity, and other infrastructure designed to ensure communities across the region are effectively served.
Reflecting on the visit, James Wild MP said:
"Visiting Anglian Water's King's Lynn facility offered a detailed insight into the scale and sophistication of its modern water management operations. The new storm tank provides essential protection for our community against increasingly unpredictable weather, and I was particularly interested to see how the site generates renewable energy and recycles waste into useful products for local agriculture.
Having campaign for action to tackle pollution I welcome Anglian Water's investment programme including £1 billion focused on storm overflow improvements, and will continue working to ensure that North West Norfolk benefits fully from these vital upgrades."
Anglian Water Regional Engagement Advisor, Emily Linsdell, said:
“We’re seeing more extreme weather events in our region – and we know this is only going to continue as our climate continues to change, so we need our network and water recycling centres to be prepared to meet this challenge. We also know that reducing spills and pollutions is the number one thing our customers care about, which is why we are tackling storm overflow spills with £1bn of funding being ploughed into tackling the issue from every angle – including this scheme at King’s Lynn WRC.”
The King's Lynn project is part of Anglian Water's largest-ever investment programme, designed to modernise infrastructure, enhance environmental protection, and strengthen resilience for communities across Eastern England.
