WET News

4 WET NEWS FEBRUARY 2018 NEWS+ South West Water calls on SPS for Mayflower treatment process • Siltbuster HB300 lamella systems installed to remove particulate material generated during backwashing process at £60M treatment works. S iltbuster Process Solutions, a provider of modular and packaged water treatment systems for the municipal and industrial wastewater sectors, has been called in to treat the backwash waters associated with the use of ceramic membrane fil- tration at South West Water's £60M state-of-the-art Mayflower Water Treatment Works. Two Siltbuster HB300 lamella systems have been installed to remove particulate material being generated during the backwash- ing process. Described as a pioneering treat- ment process that will take UK sur- face water treatment into a new era, the Mayflower project is build- ing a new water treatment works to supply up to 250,000 people in Plymouth with high-quality drink- ing water. The project is being delivered by infrastructure group Balfour Beatty as the main con- struction contractor, working in partnership with Interserve, which is responsible for the construction of all infrastructure, buildings and pipelines. The works will use an innova- tive combination of treatment processes supplied by Dutch water company PWNT, consisting of suspended ion exchange, inline coagulation and ceramic membrane filtration. In addition, granular-activated carbon filtration and UV disinfection are being provided downstream of the PWNT processes. The ceramic membranes, which were installed as part of the main treatment plant, have extremely small pores less than 1/10,000th of a millimetre in diameter to catch almost all parti- cles including any bacteria and harmful organisms, such as cryptosporidium. The use of a membrane means that back- washing must take place to remove the particulate material that is collected. Historically, this water was discharged directly to CONTRACT WINS Wastewater treatment specialist WPL has won three utility framework contracts – two from United Utilities and one from Anglian Water. The project for UU's Silloth wastewater treatment works involves installation of a 10,000 PE plant comprising 20 WPL Hybrid-SAF (submerged aerated filter) units. A similar project is underway at Anglian Water's Stan- bridgeford WwTW in Luton, with 12 Hybrid-SAF units. Veolia Water Technologies has secured a contract to upgrade the treatment process at Trescott Waste- water Treatment Works to meet a tighter ammonia discharge consent of 1 mg/l. The project will use Veolia's Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology. ClickSoftware has won an estimated £3M contract for field services software from Scottish Water. manufacturing but also because its customised solution uses Drinking Water Inspectorate- approved materials and utilises a stainless lamella cassette. Neil Heard, MEICA Project Manager at Interserve, said: "The Mayflower Water Treatment Works is capable of producing up to 90 million litres [megalitres] of drinking water every day ensur- ing a sustainable supply of high quality drinking water for homes and businesses for decades to come. SPS's range of industrial lamella clarifiers provided us with a compact solution that South West Water is behind the Mayflower project. Good monthT- Bad month For the environment, after a ban on the manufacture of products containing microbeads came into force in January. Microbeads can cause serious harm to marine life, but the UK's ban – praised by campaigners as one of the toughest in the world – will help to stop billions of microbeads ending up in the ocean every year. For SCE Catering Limited, trading as Saffron Cottage in Shrewsbury, which was fined £9,266, including costs, for blocking sewers with fat, oil and grease. The case represents a second successful prosecution for Severn Trent, with Cafe Saffron in Codsall having been ordered to pay a total of £5,495 in 2016. TBM arrives at Beckton as Thames project progresses • Tunnel boring machine, nicknamed 'Susie', arrives at Beckton sewage works. T hames Water's ongoing work to ensure a healthy environment along the River Thames has passed another milestone with the arrival of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) at Beckton sew- age works. Lowered 30 metres below ground by a specialist heavy- duty crane, the TBM will now begin its work of burrowing more than 850 metres over the next six months. When it reappears in May, the TBM will have bored a three- metre wide tunnel under Europe's largest sewage works to connect the existing Lee Tunnel to the future Thames Tideway Tunnel. Mark Morrison, senior project manager, said: "Our new tunnel will play a crucial role in reliev- ing the future Thames Tideway Tunnel of sewage and rainwater allows us to safely and effectively remove the particulate material from the treatment process. Through its meticulous planning and experience within the sector, Siltbuster Process Solutions was not only able to deliver on all of its promises, but also complete the works ahead of schedule." Dr Richard Coulton, CEO of Siltbuster Group, said: "We were pleased to be given the opportu- nity to work on the Mayflower Water Treatment Works – another pioneering project that is benefit- ting from our innovative treat- ment solutions." m 3 of wastewater a day. It became part of Sir Joseph Bazalgette's network in the 1860s and has since been redeveloped and expanded to accommodate a growing population. surface water supplies, but it is now highly regulated and heavily discouraged. By using two of Siltbuster's HB300 lamella systems, the site is able to provide an effective sepa- ration of suspended particulates from the water, treating up to 270m 3 /hr. The packaged system includes flocculation tanks to improve settlement rates and access steelwork, providing a complete design and build solution. Siltbuster Process Solutions was an attractive option, not only because of the offsite The naming ceremony for the TBM at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. at times of extreme high flows, preventing damage to the environment." Before being lowered into position, the team met to name the machine 'Susie', a«er long- serving employee Alan Crump's wife. Delivery manager, Steve Wilkinson, said: "It's a great choice of name and a fantastic recognition of Alan's long and dedicated service, which pre- dates Thames Water as a com- pany. Alan joined in 1972, two years before the Thames Water Authority came into being." It took the team more than three hours to first carry out a practice li«, before rigging 'Susie' up to a harness and carry- ing out a precision li« down into the purpose-built eight-metre- wide sha«. The team are now preparing for their first stint, and will connect a conveyer belt to the rear as they go, which will remove the soil being excavated. Specialists will 'drive' the machine from an in-built cab and will use laser technology to ensure the machine stays on its designated route. Thames Water's site at Beck- ton treats the waste of nearly four million people, which equates to approximately 1.1M

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