Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | JUNE 2016 | 15 Project focus Water quality Relocated lab aids business expansion for South East Water Project focus ● New 2,800m 2 laboratory facilities in Farnborough, Hampshire ● Relocation will allow expansion of scientific services ● Painstaking revalidation required to pass UKAS assessment S outh East Water's water quality and analysis arm is set for expansion aer the relocation of its laboratory to state-of-the-art new premises. South East Water Scientific Services moved late last year from its former home in Frimley Green, Surrey, to a new 2,800 m 2 (30,000 sq ) purpose built laboratory in Southwood Business Park, at Farnborough in Hampshire. As well as a significant project to design and build the new laboratory, the move involved a major logistical exercise to transfer equipment to the new facility while maintaining essential testing services, with each of the laboratory's 57 analytical processes having to be revalidated by accreditation body UKAS. This was completed in January this year when assessors gave the new laboratory their seal of approval following a five-day visit. Extra capacity search More than 70 staff at South East Water Scientific Services operate its laboratory 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Covering the full range of expertise in microbiology, parisitology, and chemistry, the lab carries out over 500,000 tests annually for South East Water and more than 250,000 for other commercial customers, which include other water companies, blue chip businesses, environmental health organisations, private water suppliers and building maintenance companies. However, the company had outgrown its previous premises at Frimley, with no space available to support its ambitions to expand capacity and the amount of commercial testing it can take on. In summer 2014 it therefore began the search for new premises. The company focused its efforts on a 20-mile radius from the existing site in order to ensure that it retained as many of its skilled staff as possible. By August of that year it had settled on the former office building in Farnborough, conveniently located for the M3. With an open, warehouse- like layout the building required extensive interior construction work in order meet the company's needs; however this provided an opportunity to design the layout of the new laboratory from scratch, without having to compromise on anything in the desired facility. Construction work started in January 2015 with a new floor being JamEs BroCkEtt EdiTor WATEr & WASTEWATEr TrEATMENT South East Water Scientific Services staff outside the new laboratory