MONMOUTH, UK, Jan. 21, 2008 -- In October 2005, silt management specialists Siltbuster Limited and construction group Costain Limited, collaborated on a temporary solution for the treatment of water discharge off the proposed £315 million Kingsway Business Park, Rochdale.
Costain, the site contractor for the Phase 1 infrastructure works, approached Siltbuster to provide expertise on the best course of action to remove suspended solids from potential runoff from the 640 acre site.
According to Costain's General Foreman, Peter Murphy, "We chose Siltbuster to undertake the water treatment work, because of previous proven experience and working relationships."
An estimated 1,000,000 cubic metres of earthworks material was moved during the course of the project and the risk of contaminated site water polluting the local water courses had to be addressed.
Costain excavated temporary lagoons and brought in numerous 6" pumps and hundreds of metres of pipe work in order to effectively manage the water.
Prior to commencement, Siltbuster inspected the 640 acre site and advised using five FB50 Flat Bottomed mobile silt traps. The innovative units are specifically designed to remove fine particles from water, including silt, raw cement fines and other solids to allow treated water to be discharged off-site in an environmentally friendly form.
Subsequent laboratory tests concluded that in addition to providing the mobile silt traps, chemical dosing was also required in order to improve settlement and treat the fine material present in the water.
Siltbuster Project Director, George Anderson, explained: "We took samples for laboratory testing but just by looking at the sample of the water on site we had a good idea of the complexity of the job ahead and we knew it wasn't going to be simple. Our own laboratory tests confirmed the water needed the highest level of treatment in order to get the solids to settle, which meant three stage chemical treatment.
"It's not an everyday requirement, but three stage chemical treatment involves dosing with Coagulant, raising the pH with Caustic and then using flocculant to bind the small particles together, effectively getting them to "hold hands" and grow in mass, so they are big enough in size to settle in water.
"Once we knew the exact treatment requirements, five Siltbuster units were dispatched to site, followed by a semi-automated three stage chemical dosing plant, a supply of chemicals and Siltbuster's own specialist Process Engineers," continued Mr Anderson.
In order to do this, Siltbuster provided a semi-automated chemical dosing plant as part of a three stage treatment process, upstream of the five FB50 units.
Costain have now successfully completed Phase 1.
The proposed Kingsway business park is one of the largest developments of its kind in the UK, and due to the scale of the project, the site will be developed in phases over a 10-15 year period.
Siltbuster Limited is a leading UK provider of mobile silt management equipment.
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