Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/996476
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | JULY 2018 | 23 • THE SOLUTION A nglian's catchment management team worked with the Environment Agency to identify seven farmers they needed to work with based on their proximity to the aquifer that feeds the boreholes. "Getting the farmers on board was actually the easy bit," Hewson-Fisher says. "A er that initial engagement where I told them what the problem was, I think they were all shocked, as I was, that such a small amount of pesticide can cause such huge problems. "Our motto is healthy crops, healthy water – we wanted to find a solution which all parties were happy with and really bought in to." Individualised solutions were then put in place. One farmer, who owned two fields within the catchment, was using a contractor to handle spraying. Anglian Water provided a drip tray to use under the sprayer's induction hopper so that any drips or spills are contained. Another was given a biobed, which uses a biomix – a combination of straw, compost and topsoil – to filtrate any drips and spills through natural microbiological activity. At six of the farms, purpose-built sheds were installed where farmers could fill up Anglian is setting up a demonstration site for pesticide safety with the University of Lincoln their sprayers and clean off their vehicles. Any drips and spills within the sheds are caught in a catch pit and then pumped through a biofilter similar to that used in the biobed. "We have to ensure that the farmers continue to maintain them," Hewson- Fisher says. "We've provided them with the maintenance documentation booklet but I will continue the engagement with them and make sure they are utilising the equipment correctly to ensure we are protecting the source." Anglian has also drilled two new observation boreholes within the catchment, and gained access to a third operated by the Environment Agency, to provide an early warning system should the water quality in the aquifer deteriorate. The company also had a significant task in recommissioning Winterton WTW a er half a decade of inactivity. Steve Parker, the integrated projects leader, worked with a commissioning engineer and members of the operations team to see what elements of the plant could still be used, and the network then needed to undergo rigorous testing to ensure it was ready to receive water. "We needed to work on the network to reverse the flow of water, but a er a period of inactivity there's a chance that reversing the direction of flow will disturb sediment and affect water quality," Parker said. "We flushed out the pipe as much as we could and began to slowly change the flow, monitoring the water quality while we did it." At the end of March this year, Winterton was returned to service, and has been providing safe and compliant drinking water to the people of Scunthorpe since then. "A er the initial engagement where I told the farmers what the problem was, I think they were all shocked - as I was- that such a small amount of pesticide can cause such huge problems."