Treatment Works

The problem

Ernesettle & Camels Head Treatment works had a problem with excessive amounts of grit in the settlement tanks. There was 250 tons of silt to be removed from 2 large tanks. South West Water approached Glanville Environmental to undertake this project. These settlement tanks clean waste that has been discharged from other works, however, if the discharge contains grit it sinks to the bottom of the tanks and blocks the pipes. This means that sewage could not be treated properly. Glanville Environmental were called to clean out the tanks and trim back any vegetation.

The solution

Glanville Environmental constructed a tipping bay with sand bags which allowed the removed grit to be tipped on site and the excess water to drain off. The dried grit could then be taken to a licensed landfill site for disposal. We emptied the excess sludge from the tanks using our state of the art liquid ring tankers.  The grit was removed using one of high powered Jet Vac units and this was tipped into the sandbag bay. The Confined Space Team with full Breathing Apparatus were then used to enter and clean the tanks.

The result

Once the grit and vegetation had been removed the tanks could once again treat waste water efficiently. Due to our careful planning and management the project was completed one week ahead of schedule.

As a result of the successful outcome of this project South West Water then commissioned Glanville Cleansing to undertake numerous similar projects throughout the Devon and Cornwall region.