Southern Water has optimised its Swalecliffe Wastewater Treatment Works to increase available storage, reducing storm overflows by 36%. The optimisation cost around 90% less than building a new storm tank and was much less carbon intensive.
The storm tanks at Swalecliffe Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) were not being used to full capacity, and as a result the site was using its long sea outfall around 100 times a year. The water company said that to prevent this it wanted to find a way to use the storage while staying within regulatory permits and guidelines.
Optimising the site to manage more stormwater
Southern Water worked with the Environment Agency to get new permits and design a complex engineering solution to completely overhaul the way the site worked. The comany installed new chambers and pipework which enabled it to redirect 450 litres of storm water per second during heavy rainfall and store it in the 1,800 cubic metres of extra storage capacity.
The installation of the new chambers and pipework cost a total of £750,000, as opposed to the millions that would be needed to build a new storm tank. This optimisation of existing assets means that building of new structures was avoided, saving time, cost, and carbon.
The work was completed in August 2023 and immediately started preventing storm overflow releases from the long sea outfall at Tankerton Beach.
Southern Water said it has seen a consistent 36% reduction in storm overflows as a result of the optimisation and will continue to monitor the results.
The utility is investing over £25 million on upgrades to the Swalecliffe Wastewater Treatment works, including the replacement of the storm overflow pipe.
Southern Water said that by using optimisation over building new structures, it was able to make the investment go much further.
bNovate has launched BactoCloud, a secure cloud-based platform that connects and manages its BactoSense instruments, enabling real-time monitoring and optimization of microbial water quality.
Amiblu, a global leader in Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipe systems for wastewater, stormwater, drinking water, irrigation, hydropower, and industrial applications, has announced the appointment of Martyn Turton as its Sales Director for the UK & Ireland, driving strategic market development in the infrastructure and water sectors, effective immediately.
As a project manager at Metasphere, a Grundfos-owned remote telemetry company at the cutting edge of innovation, Fey McHarg, has witnessed firsthand how the intelligent harnessing of data, specifically through the data-as-a-service model, is fundamentally reshaping and revolutionising the water sector.
Attendees at next month’s National Civils Show, Floodex, National Drainage Show and Waterways Management on 26th and 27th November are set to benefit from an expert speaker line-up and the opportunity to visit a wide range of exhibitors all co-located in one place at Excel, London, one of the UK’s leading international exhibition and convention centres.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.