The treatment process was rudimentary, with sludge being removed to ponds and then to drying beds, after which it was used as manure or transferred by rail to a tip at Kilnhurst.

The works had its own internal standard gauge railway for over 100 years, which used three steam and three diesel locomotives over the course of its existence, until its replacement by road vehicles in the 1990s.

During the 1926 general strike, the locomotives hauled trains over the main line, delivering wagons to Kilnhurst tip under a special dispensation.

Water quality was further improved by a new treatment process installed in 1992 to reduce ammonia levels, enabling fish stocks to be re-established in the lower River Don.

A power station was operational on the southern part of the site from 1921, supplying electricity to the steel works of the Lower Don Valley.

Although it closed in October 1980, two of its cooling towers which were designed by L. G. Mouchel and Partners in 1937, remained until 2008, as demolition was difficult because of their proximity to Tinsley Viaduct, which carries the M1 motorway across the Don valley.

Following extensive upgrading of the treatment works, to improve the quality of discharges to the river still further, the sludge beds became redundant, and have been turned into a nature reserve, providing habitat for migrating birds.

The River Don flows out of the city under Templeborough railway bridge past a benchmark set at 96 feet (29.27 m) above sea level.

In August 1884, William Bissett and Son won the contract for its construction, which was overseen by Thomas West, who acted as Clerk of Works.

An act of Parliament was obtained in 1900, which allowed Sheffield Corporation to buy an additional 105 acres (42 ha), on which contact beds would be built, so that the effluent could be better treated before discharge.

Discharges to the river were still of poor quality, and a secondary treatment process was designed, although its implementation was delayed by the onset of the First World War.

The process was called bio-aeration, but became known as the "Sheffield System", and a steady stream of people came to inspect the works, both from local authorities in Great Britain and from overseas.

[9] In 1915, the Corporation had made enquiries about purchasing a second-hand steam engine, approaching six locomotive manufacturers, but eventually acquired a new 0-4-0 saddle tank from Peckett and Sons Ltd, which was built at their Bristol works in 1918.

A replacement was sought, and a third 0-4-0 saddle tank, made by Hudswell Clarke in 1914, was bought from the Olympia Oil and Cake Company at Selby.

Because there was a statutory obligation to keep the treatment works operational, a special dispensation was obtained during the 1926 general strike, to allow this engine to run over the main line, delivering wagons to Kilnhurst tip.

The final phase was the construction of a sludge incinerator, which was completed in 1969 and meant that the pressed sewage cake did not have to be taken to Thrybergh to be dumped.

The connection between the works and the British Rail network was cut in 1984, and the system became one of a very small number of isolated standard gauge railways.

[6] In 1992, the problem of ammonia levels in the final effluent was addressed by the construction of a system using anoxic zones and diffuse air activated sludge treatment.

[18] In dry weather, the outfall discharges 30 million gallons (136,000 m3) of treated water each day, more than doubling the flow in the river at this point.

The analyser which measures emissions from the incinerator plant had been completely destroyed, and in order to mitigate a 16-week delivery time, the manufacturers removed one from a training centre at Telford, and it was hired by Yorkshire Water until a new unit could be supplied.

[22] In 1921, Sheffield Corporation built a coal-fired power station on spare land at the south west corner of Blackburn Meadows.

At the time there was no national grid, and the steelworks which occupied much of the Lower Don Valley needed additional electrical power.

[23] The chosen site was close to the steel works, was near the river, which supplied cooling water, and was well-served by railway lines, to deliver coal.

When the rest of the power station was demolished, two of its seven cooling towers were left standing due to their close proximity to the M1 motorway, and the risk that their demolition might cause Tinsley Viaduct to be damaged.

In 2011, as part of Sheffield City Council's drive to become self-sufficient for energy, construction of a biomass power station began.

[27][28] In 1993 Sheffield City Council negotiated with Yorkshire Water and leased an unused part of the former sewage works for 99 years, at an annual rent of one peppercorn, to enable it to be reclaimed and turned into a nature reserve.

In 2005 the City Council exercised an option to increase the size of the reserve by taking over additional land from Yorkshire Water.