Phosphorus removal contract award by Severn Trent Water

  • Technology

Issue: 

UK water company Severn Trent Water is to receive an automated tertiary solids removal plant that will allow one of its sewage treatment plants to meet a new discharge consent of 0.25 mg/l for phosphorus.

Bluewater Bio is to provide its FilterClear high rate multi-media filtration technology under a contract placed by Severn Trent Water’s key capital delivery partner CiM6, which brings together Costain and Stantec. The activated sludge plant serves a population equivalent of around 16,000.

The installation is for Severn Trent Water’s Brockhampton Sewage Treatment Plant, which is in the Cheltenham area. The upgrade is required to bring compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive. Bluewater Bio is designing, manufacturing, supplying, installing and commissioning the new FilterClear 4v2340 plant, with delivery scheduled for May of this year.

According to a statement from Bluewater Bio, the contract is its second phosphorus removal scheme in the past 12 months, both for Severn Trent Water. It says FilterClear had previously undergone an extensive trial at Yorkshire Water's Bolsover treatment works, as part of the UK’s joint Chemical Investigation Programme (CIP). According to Bluewater Bio, FilterClear was one of the few technologies shown to consistently meet the challenging total phosphorus target of 0.1 mg/l for this size of works.

In the statement, Fergus Rooksby, Commercial Director of Bluewater Bio, commented: ‘Given the increase in stringent P consents coming into force this [five-year investment cycle], we believe FilterClear is in a strong position to meet the needs of the UK water market… This contract, in addition to our current contract at Codsall STWs in Staffordshire – due to be commissioned and operational in February 2018 –  allows us to showcase FilterClear as an ideal option for a chemical dosing approach to low phosphate concentration consents.’

According to Bluewater Bio, FilterClear is both a modular and scalable process, treating flows ranging from 2 l/s to in excess of 1000 l/s. It says the technology has a proven track record across multiple applications, both in the UK and internationally, having proven to be highly competitive when compared with mono- and dual-media and other filtration systems.

Keywords: 

  • municipal wastewater, phosphates