WET News

6 WET NEWS FEBRUARY 2019 | wwtonline.co.uk NEWS+ Devon's largest ever fatberg discovered in Sidmouth sewer • South West Water's sewer team set to spend around two months breaking up 'monster' fatberg S outh West Water has dis- covered its largest ever fat- berg in a Sidmouth sewer near the seafront. The 64-metre fatberg is the biggest ever discovered in Devon and is thought to be one of the largest found so close to the sea. "I saw it and thought: 'What on earth?' It was completely unexpected," Charlie Ewart, who discovered the fatberg, told the national media. "It's really eerie in that bit of the sewer and it does look like something out of a horror scene, all congealed and glossy and matted together with all kinds of things." Sewer workers will require full breathing apparatus to carry out the removal, which will "We are going to be using small shovels and something called a mattock – this is like a lighter version of a pickaxe so we won't tire as quickly. We also have special high-pressure sewer jetting equipment and something to suck it out in bits. "I think this fatberg is going to be soˆ on the outside but hard in Yorkshire Water announces £7.7M investment at two wastewater treatment works Y orkshire Water is starting two schemes of invest- ment totalling nearly £8 million at two wastewater treat- ment works in North Yorkshire. The company is spending £5.2 million at Thirsk Wastewater Treatment Works and £2.5 mil- lion at Bedale Wastewater Treat- ment Works to improve the quality of water returned to the local water courses, Bedale Beck and Cod Beck, aˆer treatment. The spend is part of a £70 mil- lion investment from Yorkshire Water to improve the final efflu- ent from 16 of its wastewater treatment works to meet new environmental targets on phos- phorus removal. Yorkshire Water communica- tions advisor Mark Allsop said: "This work will build on York- shire Water's vision for Taking Responsibility for the Water Environment for Good. Severn Trent completes innovative sewer upgrade scheme in Gloucestershire S evern Trent has completed a unique flood alleviation scheme in Gloucestershire using innovative underground technology. The £1.4 million scheme in Slimbridge saw the company's engineers applying 'flood grout' to 600 metres of sewer pipes as part of a UK trial of the method. The FTSE 100 company, along with working partners nmcn, renovated a total of 1.4km of sewer pipes and also installed additional tank sewers, helping to protect the local area from flooding. Severn Trent's Ian Woodward, who managed the project, said: "Slimbridge is an area which is prone to flooding and we've seen problems in the past where ground water has mixed with sewage. "It was the perfect location for the trial and we renovated 1.4km of pipes in three separate phases, with 600m of those being used for the flood grout- ing trial." Flood grouting is a method that uses two different grout materials, which are inserted into the sewers in stages. The grout flows through the damaged sections of pipe, into the surrounding soil particles and then hardens around the sewer pipe when the two grout materials mix together. The technique gives a near-perfect water tightness and seals any defects, while also stopping any groundwater from leaking into the network. As well as trialling the flood grout technique, the project also involved using other traditional trenchless technologies, includ- ing sewer lining, to renew the ageing sewer pipes. "The initial findings are really positive," Woodward added. "Monitoring of both the local the middle. I'm not too sure what is within it yet, there's a lot of wet wipes and sanitary wrap- pers, but I've tried not to look at it too closely yet, especially as I'm going to be staring at it for eight weeks." The fatberg is estimated to have developed over the course of around two years and removal is expected to cost £100,000. South West Water's director of wastewater, Andrew Roantree, said: "It shows how this key environmental issue is not just facing the UK's cities, but right here in our coastal towns. "It is the largest discovered in our service history and will take our sewer team around eight weeks to dissect this monster in exceptionally challenging work conditions. "Thankfully it has been iden- tified in good time with no risk to bathing waters." sewage pumping station and the ground water levels in Slim- bridge is showing that the grout- ing has been successful in keep- ing ground water out of the sewers in a really vulnerable area." This is the first time that Severn Trent has used this grout technique and, following the early findings from the work in Slimbridge, is a method that the company will consider using in the future to address similar ground water infiltration problems. The company says it will con- tinue to monitor the effective- ness of the trial over the coming months, during which time the ground water levels will vary. "With the success of the trial, this means our pipes will see a much longer lifespan," Wood- ward said. "So our customers can feel confident they're protected from sewer flooding for longer." "We're committed to doing everything we can to improve our local environment and by completing this work we'll exceed our target to reduce phosphorus and ensure the water we return to the environ- ment is of the highest quality and deliver significant environ- mental benefits, and in particu- lar to aquatic life." A further £2.3 million scheme is already underway to lay a new sewer pipe from Bagby to Thirsk Wastewater Treatment Works, which will also help improve the quality of the water in Cod Beck as Bagby Wastewater Treatment Works is decommissioned. The amount of phosphorus has become a measure of how good rivers and water courses are as part of the Water Frame- work Directive. As a result of Yorkshire Water's investment, over 196 kilometres of watercourses will be improved and will ensure the company exceeds targets to reduce phosphorus and in turn improve river quality. "It does look like something out of a horror scene, all congealed and glossy and matted together with all kinds of things" Sewer worker Charlie Ewart involve a combination of man- ual labour and special sewer jet- ting equipment, and South West Water said conditions will be "exceptionally challenging" for the team. "The sewer will be active while we carry out the removal, so depending on the flows, we could be wading through a lot of muck," Ewart added. Thirsk WwTW will receive a £5.2 million upgrade

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