29 minute read
Water Resources
DEVELOPING STRATEGIC RESOURCE OPTIONS TO TACKLE INCREASING WATER STRESS
The Environment Agency (EA) has recently launched a consultation into the determination of water stressed areas in England.
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by Jon Darwent
Principal Consultant, Stantec
In an update to its 2013 classification, using data from water businesses across the UK and the National Framework for Water Resources, seven new company areas are proposed to be classified as being water stressed. These fall under the scope of Severn Trent Water, South Staffordshire Water, Wessex Water, Portsmouth Water, Cambridge Water, South West Water’s Bournemouth and Isles of Scilly areas, and are in addition to areas already classified by the EA as under serious water stress.
The Environment Agency’s publication also includes an update to its forecast for the longer-term environmental water needs. This projects that under the enhanced scenario, with a greater protection of sensitive river flows, there would be a need to recover 2,900Ml/d of abstractions.
The scale of this challenge and need for a joined up, national strategy led Ofwat to allocate up to £469m in its PR19 final determination to investigate 17 Strategic Water Resource options with a total capacity of up to 1,500 Ml/d to help achieve security of supply. This will enable the nine water companies to develop ‘construction ready’ solutions for AMP8 that protect and enhance the environment and benefit wider society. The solutions being delivered through a formal, gated process comprise 11 source-type solutions (reservoirs, effluent reuse) and six transfertype solutions (river, canal, and pipeline routes).
To facilitate the development of a best value set of options, the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has been formed by Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. RAPID is responsible for appraising the 17 Strategic Resource Options (SROs) through a gated process and has, to date, evaluated the Gate 1 submission on an accelerated timeline for Southern Water’s pressing need to reduce abstractions in Hampshire.
Figure 1: UK Map showing proposed changes to classification of areas of water stress.
Designing in Value
The SROs are to be considered alongside other options within regional plans. This new level of planning, which sees the water companies of England grouped in to five regions, will assess how existing and new resources can be best shared to meet long term needs. As many of the SROs involve transfers between regions, the plans will be reconciled between the regions, to
FEATURE: WATER RESOURCES
Figure 2: Example Benefits of Innovative Pipeline Route Optimisation
ensure they are joined up and reflect the needs, opportunities and alternatives across the country. The proposal is that regional solutions are then adopted by the companies in their Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs). These planning processes are seeking to produce solutions which go beyond maintaining water supplies and to deliver stakeholders’ wider preferences for environmental improvements, increased resilience of supplies to climate change and shocks and to enable wider societal prosperity. It is therefore important that these objectives are incorporated within the next stages of SRO developments. The challenge is to deliver these wider benefits efficiently, not expanding scope and cost as a secondary, supplementary phase.
With many of the SROs involving transporting water long distances, they have the potential to provide value en route. The development of a new source and/or a transfer system could provide improved resilience for those customers supplied by systems in the vicinity. Cross connections could enable the new system to provide an alternative means of supply during planned outages or asset failures. Benefits could even extend to greater use of sources as drought conditions may well not be experienced simultaneously across the country, such that a resource could meet events in both the donor and recipient areas. The planning of schemes to contribute towards Net Zero carbon and environmental improvement targets will require that they minimise their own whole life impacts whilst also providing a more sustainable source of water such that existing abstractions impacting the environment can be reduced or stopped. The operational carbon of moving water long distances can be high and therefore it is important that routes are found that minimise pumping requirements.
Maximising the value of a scheme against these criteria requires a systematic approach to capturing the opportunities. To realise this and to ensure the scheme is efficiently developed and progressed requires the use of digital planning tools. With a vast array of datasets available in GIS layers, key information on needs, opportunities and constraints can be assimilated and algorithms developed to generate solutions that optimise them. For example, Stantec’s Automated Route Selector is a powerful GIS tool which will produce an optimal pipeline route with the example benefits shown in Figure 2 above.
Through these innovative techniques we can design solutions that when selected as part of regional or company plans will deliver the requirements for biodiversity net gain and net zero carbon as well as providing a resilient water supply.
Optimising solutions within a portfolio
Once the options have been considered within their regional plans it will be interesting to see how the selected portfolio operate and perform in combination. Options will have been designed in response to certain needs within the region, however, this higherlevel planning may identify wider use opportunities. Needs arise at different times over the planning period and the options have different timescales for their delivery meaning that their individual usage may vary over time. Resulting operational changes will need to be considered in the next stage of SRO developments to ensure the option delivers the best possible value. This may include extending pipelines to connect to other zones of deficit or increasing certain components to meet higher combined demands.
To answer these questions, it will be important that the predicted use of all components of the plan, across the range of forecast scenarios, is carefully considered and presented. This will provide the focus for further refinement of schemes, to form regional and company plans that do not only answer the supply resilience question, but deliver a lasting legacy for customers, the environment and communities.
www.stantec.com/uk
A RAPID EXPLANATION OF OFWAT’S ACCELERATED GATE ONE FINAL DECISIONS
The Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) received submissions for four potential strategic regional water resource solutions on 28 September 2020. With water shortages forecast to be most acute in the South and South East of England, the solutions put forward by Southern are intended to address its very urgent need to plug the gap between supply and demand, and to end the use of drought permits and orders to keep taps running in all but the most extreme drought events by the end of 2027.
by Magda Styles
Principal in RAPID - Water Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development
Can you tell us about the Final decisions that were made by Ofwat for Accelerated Gate 1?
First of all, a few words on what the gated process is about.
In the final determination for PR19 Ofwat allowed £469M for 9 companies to investigate and develop 17 strategic water resource solutions. These are regional solutions and the aim is to strengthen the long term resilience of our water resources, protect and enhance the environment, and benefit wider society. This funding allows companies to accelerate the development of solutions to be ‘construction ready’ for the 2025-2030 period and it encourages joint working.
Delivery of these solutions is subject to a formal gated process, overseen by RAPID and its purpose is to ensure at each gate that: ■ progress is being made on the solutions that have been allocated funding; ■ costs incurred in doing so are efficient; and ■ solutions merit continued investigation and development.
RAPID’s role in this process is to assess this, and to provide advice and recommendations to Ofwat, so that Ofwat can make decisions on continued ringfenced funding for solution progression.
There are two tracks in the gated process: standard and accelerated. The timing of submissions for standard gates is aligned with WRMPs and regional plan timetables, and we expect the solutions to be construction ready early in the next PR period, 2025-2030. Most of solutions progress on the standard track.
The accelerated gate timings are for solutions that are most likely to provide Southern Water with additional supplies for their Hampshire area by end 2027, because Southern’s need for the additional supplies occurs earlier than for the other regions.
The accelerated gate one was the first checkpoint – it’s a completely new process for both RAPID and the companies. This is early in the development of the solutions, the investigations are in their preliminary feasibility stage, so it is not a point where major decisions are made on whether a given solution is better than an alternative one – there is simply not enough information for that yet. It is, however an important checkpoint to ensure that an appropriate progress is being made in order for all solutions to be at the same stage of development by gate two, which is the point at which decisions will be made on which solutions may be better and how to streamline the whole portfolio of solutions.
So, at gate one, we don’t expect any solutions to be eliminated unless they are clearly demonstrated to be unsuitable, no longer require further development funding or will not benefit from the structured gate process.
Southern Water had three solutions funded under the gated process. They were Fawley desalination, which was the preferred solution in their WRMP, Itchen recycling (which was the WRMP alternative), plus West Country North Sources - a joint solution with Bristol Water and Wessex Water which relied on a water from a new reservoir at Cheddar plus transfer from there, through Wessex Water’s area and into Southern’s Hampshire supply area.
Southern also submitted a new solution. This was a raw water transfer from Havant Thicket, the new reservoir being developed by Portsmouth Water to cater for Southern’s needs. This proposed transfer would be in addition to the potable water transfer already agreed with Portsmouth. This submission was subject to additional assessment to determine whether it should be added to the existing programme and receive additional funding.
FEATURE: WATER RESOURCES
So, onto decisions. On our recommendations Ofwat, decided that: ■ The Havant Thicket raw water transfer should be allowed funding to join the accelerated gate programme. However, it should be a collaborative solution with Portsmouth Water, given they own the reservoir. - The funding allowed is £5.110 million (for gate two to four activities). The allocation of funds is 100% in favour of Southern Water up to gate two. The companies will jointly agree a contractual mechanism that compensates Portsmouth Water for any costs arising. We expect both companies to review this allocation at gate two and each subsequent gate (taking into account activities that need to be completed in order to comply with timescales) and provide a recommendation to RAPID.
■ Desalination and recycling should progress to the next gate on the accelerated track. - However, we found that not all expenditure have been efficient, so some have been disallowed. Efficient costs allowance for desalination is £1.937 million (of £2.72 million claimed). For water recycling solution, it is £2.347 million (of £3.13 million claimed) – so 1.66 was disallowed. - We also concluded that the submissions quality ‘Fell short in some areas’. For desalination and water recycling solution, this meant a potential delivery incentive penalty of 10% applied to efficient and appropriate expenditure. Southern Water has the opportunity to avoid the penalty if it addresses all the priority actions we listed, and does it in full no later than 3 months before their next gate deadline. ■ West Country North Sources should progress, but on the standard track.
This is because the companies has clearly shown that this solution cannot be in place by 2027. The expenditure for this has been allowed in full and with no penalty.
What does this mean for the sector – is there headway being made?
The accelerated gate was a useful checkpoint to establish what progress is being made, if it’s sufficient, and if the companies’ efforts are in the right areas. We have suggested a number of remedial actions to ensure that the final goal – which is that a solution is in place and operational by 2027 – is met. We also offered a number of recommendations to help improve future gated submissions.
I think that following the process and the decision-making was also helpful to see for the other water companies, the owners of solutions progressing on the standard track, whose gate one submissions are due in July 2021. They could see what the focus of our decision-making was, and ensure they are making progress in the right areas, and spending money efficiently.
Did you come across any challenges along the way?
Oh yes. Quite a few lessons learnt for both RAPID and the companies. The first, and the most important, is to avoid surprises. The whole experience reiterated the need to work together throughout the process. This benefits both the companies and the regulators, and helps keep the focus firmly on what the process is mean to achieve – which is to have the best solutions in place in a timely and cost efficient manner.
The gate is not an exam and should not be a big reveal. It’s a checkpoint to make sure that progress has been made and the money has been well spent; we don’t want companies to treat the gated submissions as the goal in itself, but to keep an eye firmly on the outcomes – having a solution in place by when it’s needed. There is a lot of value for both sides in maintaining an ongoing engagement– companies make the required progress and RAPID and its constituent regulators are not swamped by a deluge of documentation to review and gates. We worked with companies to collate and to act on the key learnings. Many have been already addressed through the updated guidance and submission templates, which was a collaborative effort. We are making headway on the rest, and plan to publish a summary lessons learnt document, and how we plan to address them. The whole point is to make sure we learn from each gate and each interaction, and the process is as smooth as possible and leads to what it has been designed to do –which is to accelerate the development of the strategic regional water resource solutions.
What’s next for RAPID?
We have just published the updated guidance and the submission templates for the gates in 2021. We plan to publish the lessons learnt summary by 31 March. We are also working on our internal processes in readiness for the next gated submissions.
The standard gate one submission is on 5 July. There are 14 funded solutions but there may be more submissions – we are actively encouraging new solutions that would benefit from accelerated development. We then have the accelerated gate two in September, with the 3 submissions that made it through the accelerated gate one.
Throughout this, we have regular meetings with each of the solution owners, as well as liaison meetings where all of them, and the key stakeholders, meet together. These are really helpful to make sure we are learning from one another, the process is as smooth as possible, and we understand all the barriers and risks, and address them promptly. We want to maintain the focus on achieving outcomes, we the best way to do this is to work in close collaboration.
Iain Weir, Sales & Marketing Director
Wastewater solutions for a resilient future
As an established contractor within the wastewater sector, Stonbury is excited to provide environment-conscious methods in maintenance, refurbishment and new build solutions.
Stonbury understands that continuing to deliver responsible wastewater management is as crucial as providing clean drinking water, and is excited to be working hard to tackle contemporary wastewater challenges whilst championing the UK 2050 Water Innovation Strategy to build resilient infrastructure systems that keep society’s vital services operating.
Following the success of previous frameworks, Stonbury have begun work on a number of new wastewater build, refurbishment and maintenance projects across the country and is pleased to deliver a range of raw water, grey water and sewage processing solutions that provide value for both people and the environment. NEW BUILD ASSETS Stonbury understands that population growth, significant asset deterioration and evolving industry standards means it is sometimes necessary to expand existing sites or build new wastewater infrastructure. Using the Carbon Curve to inform viability of all proposed projects, Stonbury can confidently tackle all aspects of a design and build whilst reducing carbon emissions at each stage of the construction.
Building ‘Cleverly’ by maximising the use of off-site construction and on-site waste recycling is a priority for Stonbury on new build projects where ‘Building Less’ or ‘Building Nothing’ are not viable options. Stonbury’s experience in environmentally-conscious building techniques offers a portfolio of solutions including foundations and groundwork, service reservoirs and tanks, inlet and outlet structures, connecting pipelines and general fabrication.
Stonbury’s new build portfolio offers both ‘green’ and ‘grey’ solutions that address the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) and promotes reed beds as a natural system that provides a low-carbon and low-cost alternative for tertiary treatment of domestic, industrial or agricultural wastewater.
REFURBISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE Stonbury continues to deliver regular maintenance programmes as well as large scale refurbishment schemes in order to satisfy the ‘Build Less’ carbon curve objective and budget constraints from clients. Such schemes promote optimal performance and increased longevity of assets; reducing the need for expensive, carbon-heavy new build interventions.
Stonbury’s previous wastewater refurbishment projects have demonstrated considerable reductions in construction time, financial cost, and an asset’s carbon footprint over its lifetime — in some cases delivering savings of over ninety per cent compared with the cost of a new replacement, whilst significantly increasing both immediate capacity and operational lifespan.
Wastewater structures are required to withstand demanding conditions and therefore ongoing maintenance is essential. With expertise across a range of wastewater asset types and materials, Stonbury provides restoration to eroded and chemically degraded surfaces; repair and realignment of pipework; and specialist application of polyurethane and epoxy waterproof coatings.
In addition to conventional systems, Stonbury’s experience in reed bed management ensures that they are also well-placed to design and maintain longlasting biological systems correctly. As a Constructed Wetlands Association member, Stonbury provide assured maintenance for continued functionality of natural systems, advocating an annual regime to remove senesced organic material and repair pipework.
A CARBON NEUTRAL FUTURE The water industry faces critical challenges as the effects of climate change and natural resource decline amplify. Putting the carbon agenda at the forefront of its business operations, Stonbury is proud to offer solutions to wastewater challenges whilst following Water UK’s Net Zero 2030 Route Map to a carbon neutral future.
With an urgent need to decarbonise the process and delivery of long-lasting and resilient wastewater solutions, collaboration and knowledge-sharing between water companies, supply chains, regulators and other innovators is imperative, and will play a key role in Stonbury’s inaugural Carbon Conference for the Water Sector.
“Following the success of our annual Water Industry Asset and Quality conference, we are excited to host a flagship event to promote carbon thinking across clients, consultants, contractors and supply chain, and build upon our established reputation for extending asset life as we deliver low carbon solutions through AMP7 and beyond”. Iain Weir, Sales and Marketing Director
Stonbury is looking forward to working with clients, suppliers and contractors alike to provide wastewater solutions that halt carbon output, protect and enhance natural systems, and enable the water industry to not only stand up to, but become part of the solution to the climate crisis.
The Caribbean region consisting of picturesque tropical islands with pristine, idyllic beaches and reefs, and vast areas of unspoilt and protected rainforest, surrounded by water, yet sustainable water resources and potable water shortages still plagued many.
by Dr. Kiran Tota-Maharaj
Reader in Civil & Environmental Engineering, Aston University
Caribbean countries enjoy relatively high standards of living with most countries defined by the United Nations as upper-middle income (Fraser, 2021). This excludes the Caribbean region from much international development funding, simultaneously, high levels of public debt combined with the region’s vulnerabilities to climate change makes it difficult to secure funding and investment for critical infrastructure. For many small island developing states of the Caribbean, where climate change-related pressures, such as drought and extreme weather, compound geographic, industrial and infrastructural issues—water scarcity is a way of life.
Access to clean drinking water is the most threatened right of Caribbean people today. Variations in temperatures and lower rainfall patterns have been making matters worse. The region is acutely aware of the environmental risks and the need to invest in more resilient water services to safeguard its economic growth and development. Several communities and villages across the Caribbean consist of storage tanks, evidenced that the region is not immune from water-stresses. Several people across the Caribbean still rely on filling their tanks from the water distribution main pipes to use during scheduled outages or frequent breakdowns by the various water utilities. Water supply is often unreliable is some villages and remote communities and further impacted by low water pressures and flow distributions. Despite day-to-day water supply shortages, breakdowns and outages in the water distribution network, a 2017 UN water report stated that most people in the Caribbean have access to safe potable water supply but irregular in some cases (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2020; Fraser, 2021).
Climate change has increased water scarcity and is exacerbating water problems across the Caribbean region. Climate risks facing each Caribbean island’s water resources availability and utility services sector are unique. Building Water Resources Resilience for Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Water Security Challenges and Strategies in the 21st Century is urgently needed. A Regional Integrated Approach: Sustainable Water Resources Management Approach with Climate Change Adaptation with regional approaches in tackling the complex challenges of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) across the Caribbean region. Whilst most Caribbean people outside rural areas across the region have a good connection to potable water supplies, they frequently experience major loses of drinking water supply due to outdated infrastructure in the need of constant repair and maintenance.
A recent report by the United Nations classed Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis as water scarce (countries with less than 1000 cubic metres per captia of renewable and sustainable water resources per year) (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2020; Fraser, 2021). Furthermore, the Barbados Water Authority states that the country has only 350 cubic metres per capita. Climate variations has already significantly impacted on Barbados’ water supply. All of Barbados’ internal renewable water resources come from rainfall and in 2019 the country saw its lowest recorded levels since 1947 (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2020; Fraser, 2021). The European Investment Bank has agreed to support priority water investment across Barbados, to improve water supply across the country. A USD $12 million loan from the European Investment Bank to the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has been
Figure 1: Coconut and Palm trees at Pigeon Point Beach, Tobago, West Indies. (Credit: Getty Images)
FEATURE: WATER RESOURCES
secured to rehabilitate the island’s drinking water distribution network by improving efficiency, service quality and resilience to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change (Figure 2). The investments will also lead to improvements to the deteriorated wastewater treatment facilities in the water-scarce country (European Investment Bank, 2020). This funding will allow for the modernisation of water supply and sewerage systems on the island of Barbados, leading to substantial energy savings, reducing water losses in networks and an improvement in wastewater treatment operations. The investment will focus on the rehabilitation of aged and deteriorated leaking infrastructure, pipes and reservoirs. The new investment will better protect water supply in Barbados from climate change and more frequent extreme weather (European Investment Bank, 2020).
Trinidad and Tobago is the wealthiest in the Caribbean region and the fifth-richest by Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the Americas, recognised as a high-income economy by the World Bank (World Bank, 2021). Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean countries, Trinidad’s economy is primarily industrial, and the country’s wealth is attributed to its large oil and natural gas reserves. Nevertheless, Trinidad and Tobago’s water distribution systems, water supply and shortages are out of sync and out of step with the country’s development status (Tota-Maharaj, 2019). Technological giants have brought Trinidad and Tobago one step close to achieved developed nation status with the launch of a 5G network. Trinidad and Tobago have joined other developed countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, and territories in the Middle East and Asia, where leading operators have been working aggressively to make 5G deployment a reality. With all these technological advancements across the country’s telecommunications infrastructure, there is still very little advancement in the water and wastewater sector. Across Trinidad and Tobago, the water utility is owned and operated by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). They (WASA) loses as much as 60 million gallons of water each day from leakages and poor infrastructure, which accounts to more than 45% of the daily water supply. Across Trinidad and Tobago, it is challenging to quantify the impacts of climate change, however they have experienced reduced precipitation levels in range of 10-20 % in the dry season (January-May) and is Figure 2: Water Infrastructure in Barbados (Credit: Shutterstock)
Figure 3: The availability of clean water has become a major issue in the Caribbean region. (Adapted from EwingChow (2019).
symbolised by a tropical maritime climate, with rainfall mostly in the form of showers due to daytime convection. According to 2019 figures, Trinidad and Tobago gets approximately 12% of its water supply from desalination and expanding this maybe the future direction of the water utilities (United Nations-UN WATER (2021).
The Jamaican scenarios and experience are quite similar with the country’s Water Resources Authority experience major loses of water that has been produced and is supposed to be delivered but it not teaching the end uses because of aging infrastructure (leaking and perforated pipelines). This past summer in Jamaica, there was a significant drought period and was extremely challenging for the water supply providers. There are two dams or large water resources in Jamaica with 650 different water supply systems (Jamaica Observer, 2019). In the absence of sustainable water resources for either dams or alternative sources, Jamaica’s water supply would constantly be in crisis mode. The residents of Kingston, Jamaica and the rest of the island have perennial problems getting potable water supply to their taps, partly due to an aging and overburdened water system. To make matters worse for Jamaica’s Water Resources Authority, the island has been suffering from drought conditions due to the El Nino effect in the past. Water “lock-offs” or outages as referred to in Jamaica are quite frequent occurring without warning (Kebede, 2015). Jamaica prides itself on the country’s potable water supply, but more than 60% of the island’s water infrastructure is too old to be effective. Although much of the water distribution and supply network was constructed in the 1960’s when Jamaica became independent the United Kingdom there are still small bits and pieces from the original water system built in the 1800s.
There are many problems facing each water sector in the Caribbean region and climate change is aggravating the existing and underlying conditions for the water utilities. Climate change related challenges such as floods and extreme weather conditions are slowly becoming the new norm for these small island developing states. Given the complexities of compounding political, economic and environmental issues across the Caribbean, a regional collaboration is urgently required in finding sustainable solutions for the water crisis. If infrastructure problems and structural integrity of the water distribution systems (pipelines, pumping stations) are left unaddressed to critical infrastructure (for water and wastewater management), things are only going to deteriorate further as climate change increases the pressure. As innovations continue to address the issue of water scarcity, outdated and obsolete water management systems will need to be replaced and alternative sources found for the Caribbean region.
SELWOOD
SELWOOD SOLUTIONS RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF COMPLEX TASKS
Selwood’s pumping solutions teams operate from branches around the UK, supporting customers with complex and challenging tasks. Here are some examples from recent months.
Flooded crematorium
Heavy rain, snow and the pressures of dealing with the devastating impact of Covid-19 combined to create a crisis at Kirkleatham Memorial Park and Crematorium in Yearby, North Yorkshire.
The conditions left the site and facilities, which are at the bottom of a hill, overwhelmed by water at the worst possible time. The team were already working round the clock to service an increased number of cremations and funeral services.
Craig Middleton, Framework Manager, led a rapid response out of Selwood’s Middlesbrough branch. The job was the first shout for Middlesbrough’s newlycommissioned installation team, which quickly attended the site and set up three Selwood S150 pumps to divert water into a pond, where it flowed into the stormwater system.
Once the flooding subsided and the job was complete. Craig returned to the site with small gifts for the team. “They told us they felt like the forgotten ones,” Craig added: “So it was nice to do something to show that they are appreciated.”
Sewage solution
A burst sewage pipe causes significant inconvenience at any time – but for people living in the small village of Hythe, Hampshire, it was a source of major disruption to their daily lives.
To keep flows under control, 14 tankers had been deployed to remove, transport and dispose of the sewage waste. This system was costly and caused significant noise and traffic problems for locals in the village, which is often congested even without additional vehicles on the road.
Pumping solutions specialists at Selwood’s Chandler’s Ford headquarters were called upon by Cappagh Browne, who were assisting Southern Water in dealing with the burst pipe, to find a temporary solution which would ease the disruption for villagers until a more permanent repair was carried out.
Because of the limited space available, NZ immersible pumps were used to pump sewage out from the site of the affected pipe. This was connected to a 300mm pipe and a pipe crossing setup which went up and over the car park, allowing vehicle access to the area of the repair. The solution, from planning to commissioning, took just three days.
Marina maintenance
Whitehaven Marina, known as the maritime gateway to the Lake District, Cumbria, was created in 1998 following the installation of a sea lock system designed to protect the town of Whitehaven from regular flooding. It has 400 fully-serviced berths, and is regularly used by commercial traffic including fishing vessels and wind farm boats.
An unexpected mechanical failure on the south outer gate meant emergency support was required. The gate was forced shut and could not be operated again until it was repaired – and that prompted the need to pump more than 1.5 million litres out of the lock to allow access for maintenance crews.
The marina team installed stop locks to create a dam to hold back the sea, before Selwood’s teams installed two 21kw electric submersible pumps and began the task of pumping the lock out.
They were able to drain it completely in less than a day, allowing the maintenance teams to get to the gate mechanism and repair the fault as rapidly as possible.
Tony Taylor, marina supervisor, said: “The response from Selwood was absolutely brilliant – they were amazingly quick and did exactly what we needed for the job.”
Whitehaven Marina
Hythe
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