As part of a joint venture with Morrison Construction, Earth Tech Inc., a business unit of Tyco International Ltd., and a global provider of consulting, engineering and construction services, has been awarded a USD$10.5 million (£5.2 million) contract by Yorkshire Water to upgrade the Albert Water Treatment Plant in West Yorkshire, UK.

The Earth Tech joint venture will install a new Magnetic Ion Exchange (MIEX) System that will increase the plant’s efficiency while lowering operating costs. The MIEX system works by filtering moor land water to remove the manganese and reduce the color and organic compounds before distribution into the local water supply. This will be the first installation of MIEX in the UK, but the process has been successfully used for water treatment applications in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.

The Albert Water Treatment Plant supplies 14.5 million gallons (55 million litres) of water to 195,400 people in Halifax and the surrounding Calderdale area. Earth Tech’s improvements will mean that the treatment plant will produce higher-quality water that will be guaranteed for the next 20 years.

The project work is scheduled to begin this month and is expected to be completed by December 2008.

“The location of the Albert Water Treatment Plant is a challenge in itself,” explains Ian Jones, Operations Director of the Earth Tech Morrison joint venture. “Originally built in the 1980’s, the plant is located in a well-developed residential area, which requires us to design the additional facility and plant upgrades around the plant’s existing parking area. Here we can construct the additional plant to treat our rising water processing demands using MIEX.”

 “Local communities will benefit directly from a more efficient, reliable and ecologically sound wastewater treatment service,” adds Tony White, Managing Director of Earth Tech’s European operations. “We have a long and successful history working with Yorkshire Water and are delighted to have won this contract.”