Southern Water's sewage treatment works at Eastbourne have attracted worldwide attention over the years and it was interesting to read the view of the "commentator" in Idler Magazine's look at the "crappiest" towns in the UK (The Argus, September 28).

They could be right to describe it as the "s**t castle" - after all, it does process 74 million litres of waste from nearly 140,000 people every day and does, deliberately, look like a castle.

It was actually designed, in conjunction with the council, to complement similar buildings on the Eastbourne coast.

Many would argue the building has actually become something of a tourist attraction. Indeed, it has featured in the local tourism office's publicity for the town and public visits, like those to the famous Brighton sewers, are regularly fully booked.

Last year, it was praised for being a fine example of how modern architecture can enhance the character of English seaside towns when included in the national publication Shifting Sands, a joint initiative between the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE) and English Heritage.

It was highlighted as a model of how contemporary and forward-looking design could lead to the regeneration of English seaside towns while providing its essential public service.

It has been visited by mayors and mayoresses, MPs and official delegations. Two years running, officials from Northern Ireland, planning their own sewage works, visited the plant to see how it can fit so well into a residential area.

Other visitors have come from as far afield as America and Australia, while pictures of the plant were wired to embassies around the world as part of a story published by the Government's Central Office of Information.

Of course, the fort has a big job to do, disguising the huge sewage treatment plant, the size of a football pitch, that operates below the ground.

It passes waste water through a multi-stage treatment process, making it clean enough to safely release out to sea through a 3.2km outfall pipe.

The £64 million scheme to build the plant was completed just over two years ago, by which time Southern Water had extended the promenade from the Sovereign Centre to the works. The company also built new car parks, refreshment kiosks and toilets.

A large landscaping project also took place with improvements including the planting of 5,000 trees and shrubs, designated picnic and dog walking areas, boardwalks and new shingle ridges to provide a natural coastal habitat for plants and lichens.

And the big benefit is that seawater off this important stretch of the Sussex coast is cleaner than ever before, meeting stringent European standards.

-Geoff Loader, communications manager, Southen Water