We will keep you up-to-date with how the work is progressing. We hope that these pages help to answer your questions. We plan to have live webchats as the project progresses when you can put your questions to our engineers.
Q&A:
Southern Water's Damon Elliott answers your questions about the scheme:
Q: How will the building of the plant affect the traffic on the A259 at Peacehaven? Is it possible for the lorries involved in the building of the plant to avoid the hours of 7:30am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 6:00pm?
During construction we will try to avoid rush hours for deliveries. When the plant is built the traffic moving to it is quite light and will not have a significant effect on the A259.
Q: Will this plant be using ultraviolet light for the treatment process?
No, this plant will not use UV treatment at this stage.
Space is being provided for it to be included if necessary in the future. The works we're building provides a high level of wastewater treatment now in two stages, including full biological treatment to the required standards.
Q: Can you guarantee the seas will be cleaner because of this facility?
You'll be pleased to hear that this facility is all about providing modern wastewater treatment for the area for the first time.
At the moment 95 million litres of waste water goes straight in the sea with minimal treatment. This project treats that water properly, so the sea should be cleaner in the future.
Q: Why not build on a brownfield site?
The site was chosen after a very long and detailed search which looked at 66 sites across the region.
After an exhaustive analysis over many years Peacehaven was identified as the best site.
Brownfield sites were looked at but Peacehaven was clearly the best option.
Q: Why does the plant need to be in a rural place? Can't it be sited somewhere closer to Brighton like Shoreham Harbour or near the amenity tip in Whitehawk? Have these options been investigated before the decision was made?
The answer to the previous question should help with explain how we've chosen Peacehaven.
But because the site is green we have gone to special lengths to make sure that it will fit in with the surroundings.
The buildings will have a large living grass roof which will undulate like the surrounding hills - in this way the works will blend in with what's around it.
Q: So many people were against these proposals. Why didn't you listen to their objections?
We did listen. We understand how sensitive this issue is for local residents. No one disputes that modern treatment facilities are needed but are concerned if they are near them.
We consulted widely, mounted exhibitions, listened to comments and took people's views into account as we prepared our plans.
Q: I heard this has to go ahead due to EU regulations that are designed to have consistent environmental standards across Europe, is this correct?
You're quite right! This is all about meeting the UK's legal requirements.
The project delivers the vital facilities needed to meet our laws.
The UK government is being prosecuted for late delivery of this project so it's vital we get on and build it.
Q: Why are you not implementing UV treatment?
It has been difficult to secure planning permission to provide the project which delivers what is required by law now. The wastewater will be treated to a high standard and is an enormous improvement over what we have now.
UV treatment is not required as yet; the case for this form of treatment here is not proven. UV is a very energy-hungry process and it would be wrong of us to install it unnecessarily. However, we have provided space in our plans for UV to be added in the future if it becomes a requirement.
