Understanding the wastewater network

Leading flood and pollution prevention specialists, Detectronic, have teamed up with global water, energy and maintenance solutions providers, NCH Chem-Aqua, to help a Yorkshire-based brewery better understand their wastewater network.

The brewery approached NCH Chem-Aqua with a view to saving water within the plant and further improving operational costs and efficiencies. NCH Chem-Aqua suggested the implementation of a six month industrial and trade effluent monitoring project at the plant to gain a comprehensive insight into exactly what was happening in the network.

Explains Neil Richards, NCH Chem-Aqua’s regional sales manager UK North: “We don’t have all of the technology and equipment that was required for this particular monitoring project so, having worked with Detectronic in the past, we contacted the team to see how they could help.

“I met with Detectronic’s technical support manager, Phill Tuxford, at the site where we discussed the best way to approach the project that would enable us to gather the data we required to deliver those savings and efficiencies the client had tasked us with.”

Outlines Phill: “Following the site visit, we devised a bespoke monitoring strategy which included the installation and maintenance of six of our MSFM Flow meters and a rain gauge over an initial two month period.

“The monitoring period was consequently extended for another three months and during that time we moved the equipment to different parts of the site to gather flow data from different locations.”

Continues Phill: “The objective of the monitoring project was to measure the flows across the site to work out what quantity of effluent was coming from where, ascertain if any rain water was entering the sewer – hence the use of a rain-gauge – and see if effluent was coming in from known connections with the adjacent football ground and small housing estate, along with a potential cross connection with the neighbouring industrial sites.

“Our data centre team analysed all of the information the monitors provided and produced a detailed report for Neil. The report highlighted the fact that rainfall was entering the sewer across half of the site. The housing estate and football ground were also contributing a nominal amount and there was definite and significant infiltration from neighbouring industries.

“We also discovered that more wastewater was entering the network from a certain piece of equipment at the plant than previously estimated and that during a ‘stop-weekend’ at the plant, wastewater was continuing to enter the drains. Finally, water from the cleaning towers at the plant was entering a local river via osmosis.”

Adds Phill: “These findings gave us a very clear picture of what was happening at any given time in the network and highlighted several issues that Neil and his team could start work on.”

Concludes Neil: “Using the data from the Detectronic monitors and the key results from subsequent analysis, we were in a position to offer unrivalled advice and solutions to each of these issues and enable the brewer to achieve its initial objectives.”

Ends.