Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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28 | OCTOBER 2018 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Innovation Zone Innovations to help you... protect against floods Hydro-Brake (Hydro International) The Hydro-Brake series offers surface water, fluvial, foul/ combined water and sewer network flow control. Its internal geometry allows water to flow through without restriction under normal circumstances but, once the water reaches a predetermined head, a self- activating vortex is triggered. Initially launched in the 1980s, in recent years the series has grown to include four products: the original Hydro-Brake Flood, which provides large-scale protection at the watercourse level; Hydro-Brake Optimum, which manages low, moderate and high flows to deliver sustainable drainage from single sites to large networks; Hydro-Brake Agile, which reduces upstream storage and manages flood risk at sites with stringent discharge consents; and Hydro-Brake Orifice, which manages moderate flows and delivers sustainable drainage at site and development level. Severn Trent used the Optimum for a project in a Leicestershire village that was seeing increased stormwater runoff from new developments nearby. The company designed a 310m 3 stormwater facility that used the vortex flow control device – which was designed at 183mm to meet the site's needs – to regulate flow, ensuring a maximum discharge of 40 litres/second to the local watercourse treatment works. Hydro describes the Optimum, which requires no power and has no moving parts, as self-cleansing and virtually maintenance-free. The Agile, launched in 2015, uses a float-arm- operated gate to control flow and is designed for engineers, developers, planners and water companies to achieve efficient surface or foul water attenuation. It offers a constant rate of discharge, minimising upstream storage volumes, and is ideally suited to applications with constrained discharge requirements or where the flood storage area available through attenuation is very limited. CENTAUR (EU Horizon 2020 project) Described as an intelligent autonomous system for local flood risk reduction, CENTAUR boosts capacity within the existing sewer network through 'virtual storage', using a gate to control the flow. It is designed to make use of the existing storage capacity within a wastewater network: when the level rises at the area intended for protection, the gate will modulate upstream to utilise the storage further up the network. It involves the installation of transducers at key points within the sewer network to monitor water levels and communicate that information to modules placed on lampposts or in manholes, over a radio protocol. The modules then communicate with a central hub, which uses Fuzzy Logic- based artificial intelligence to control when and to what extent a gate installed within the network should allow water to pass through. It is designed to be used in conjunction with other flood mitigation measures, such as sustainable drainage systems, to maximise benefits. Intellistorm (Waterscan) Created for use by developers, Waterscan's Intellistorm system combines water efficiency with the potential to significantly reduce discharge to drain. It offers rainwater harvesting, attenuation and intelligent data gathering so that sites can maximise water reuse, collecting rainwater for non-potable applications, as well as reducing the load on surface water sewers. The system will actively discharge supplies in accordance with weather forecast data to create the specific amount of storage space required to receive the incoming rainwater. "Designed to enhance flood resilience while reducing water consumption, this attitude-changing technology is a major step forward in alleviating issues surrounding the widespread uptake of water reuse systems," Barry Millar, operations director at Waterscan, said. "By combining rainwater harvesting and attenuation systems and using intelligent data, we can offer considerable savings and environmental benefits." 6" Buffalo Valve (The Flood Company) The 6" Buffalo Valve, which can be retrofitted to any clay or plastic 150mm/6" pipe, offers protection against sewage back water, vermin and insects to commercial and residential properties. The valve, which follows the award-winning 4" version, includes a steel reinforced plate to guard against pests such as rats and a lockable flap to allow for essential maintenance.