Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/340814
10 WET NEWS JULY 2014 The Barrow Hill service reservoir will comprise two cells. It is being constructed with in-situ concrete pours over fixed steel Planning for resilience in a small space • Water supply resilience and its methodology of pumping water has led Thames Water to build its first service reservoir in a century. Maureen Gaines has been to see it. TECHKNOW • 4,500m 3 of concrete has been poured so far • Girder trusses have been used to reinforce the steel-fixed walls • Submarine-style doors, built by Huber, are being installed for inspections • GMB has already started test filling the reservoir MOANS & GROANS • The small footprint • Space is becoming more limited as the project finishes • Cannot predict traffic for deliveries PROJECT SPECS • Construct a 25Mld service reservoir on the same small footprint as the existing one • Demolish the existing reservoir • The design life for the new reservoir must be 100 years • The reservoir must be aesthetically- pleasing • GMB has already started test filling the reservoir THE VERDICT • The site has gone from virtually nothing to where it is now in seven months. "It's a good effort," says Neil Franks, senior contract manager, Thames Water • "It's a nice civil engineering job but when you get something like the truss system that's proven itself that's the best thing I've learnt from here," Allan King, project manager, GMB • Design-wise, the process has been the most efficient way of doing it in the centre of London ONSITE SERVICE RESERVOIR P icture the scene. At the front, a new block of flats is being build with a £16M penthouse at the top. More resi- dential properties are to the right and the le•. At the back is parkland and London's infa- mous Primrose Hill. Slap bang in the middle is Thames Water's newest service reservoir, being built by Galli- ford Try, Mott MacDonald and MWH Treatment joint venture GMB. It is the first new reservoir in London for more than a cen- tury, and is being built on the site of a former reservoir that was decommissioned in 2002 – ground movement caused dam- age to the roof, and water qual- ity could not be guaranteed. The original reservoir was built in 1826 and a barrel arch roof was added in the 1960s. Since then, the Barrow Hill Zone has been supplied from an infusion in the network and local pumping stations. Water has been pumped into the area from other zones using the ring main beneath London. Going forward Thames Water does not expect to make major operational savings with the new reservoir, rather the benefit will be a reduction in spikes in demand for its water treatment plants in Hampton and Ashford, which will pump the water. Thames Water's control phi- losophy will be more efficient and robust. The new 25Mld service reser- voir will enable Thames Water to meet demand and ensure security of supply, says Neil Franks, senior contract man- ager at Thames Water. Serving around 280,000 people in the Barrow Hill area, the reservoir is scheduled to be in service by January 2015. Franks says Thames has recog- nised the need for local service reservoirs, and that is sup- ported by regulator Ofwat. A lot of the drinking water is created in west London, at Hampton and Ashford, and pumped round Thames Water's ring main to other areas. Operating regime Decommissioning the old reser- voir meant a changing regime, says Franks, in how the com- pany supplied water to the area. He says water was then being pumped at the least effi- cient times in terms of energy for Thames Water and its cus- tomers. Pumping water through during the day and at other peak times than relying on a reservoir. Bringing a reservoir back allows Thames to change back that operating regime so it can pump water through and get the balance correct during the night. "It's a more efficient way of using the ring main and our energy. Energy is becoming important for all organisations, not least for Thames." says Franks.