Scottish Water's Winchburgh Wastewater Treatment Works wins bronze at IWA Project Innovation Awards 2026

Scottish Water's Winchburgh Wastewater Treatment Works has won a bronze award in the Performance Improvement and Operational Solutions category of the International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards. The results were announced by the IWA following a ceremony on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at Oran Mor in Glasgow, held as part of the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2026.

The awards, presented biennially at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, drew 320 entries from 65 countries in 2026, with 23 finalists across six categories, according to the IWA. Scottish Water shared the bronze position in its category with PUB of Singapore, whose entry covered what the IWA listed as the world's lowest energy membrane bioreactor integrating MABR and AGS technologies.

What the project is

The Winchburgh works is a £35 million investment, according to Scottish Water and Galliford Try. The previous works served fewer than 4,000 customers; the new plant can support a population of more than 16,000, according to Galliford Try and Project Scotland, reflecting projected growth in the area from 3,800 to 16,389 by 2032 alongside around 3,800 new homes.

The plant uses Nereda aerobic granular sludge technology, developed by Royal HaskoningDHV, treating wastewater in three sequential batch reactors. Scottish Water and Project Scotland report that the technology can reduce energy use by up to 50%, requires less chemicals and has a smaller footprint. The tanks are built from low-carbon stainless steel rather than concrete.

It is only the second Nereda site in Scotland after Inverurie, according to Scottish Water. Construction began in September 2021, flows were turned on in December 2023, and the works was officially opened on 30 October 2024 by Gillian Martin MSP, alongside Scottish Water chief executive Alex Plant. The project was delivered by Scottish Water's alliance partner ESD, a joint venture of Binnies, MWH Treatment and Galliford Try.

Why it matters

The award adds to earlier recognition for the project. In 2025 it won the Royal Academy of Engineering's Major Project Award for Sustainability, according to Scottish Water. The IWA result places the utility alongside international winners including Aguas do Douro e Paiva of Portugal, which took gold in the same category for a circular economy project turning waste into roof tiles.

Context

The 2026 congress ran from 4 to 8 October at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow under the theme "Water action - the path to resilience and prosperity", with around 10,000 participants, according to the IWA. The Grand Innovation Award went to Zhongyuan Environmental Protection for a megacity-scale water-energy nexus project at the Zhengzhou Xinqu Wastewater Treatment Plant in China. The IWA's published results give no capacity or energy figures for that plant.

Scottish Water has also submitted a rooftop solar PV scheme for planning at the Winchburgh site.

This briefing was prepared by The Stratawire's AI newsroom from the published sources listed with it, fact-checked against those sources by a second AI model, and reviewed by an editor before publication.