UNITED Utilities will be updating the waste water treatment works in Leigh over the next two years – but residents have been assured they will still be able to flush the toilet and wash the dishes while the work is carried out.

The plans form part of a £30 million investment to allow smoother and efficient waste water processing, and the state-of-the-art technology will be installed in Leigh.

The work will start this summer, and is due to be completed in 2015.

There will be a thermal hydrolosis plant, where sludge left at the end of the treatment process is heated and converted to a bio gas, which can be used to generate power and heat, and Leigh will be one of a small number of plants able to use this technology.