Posted to News on 9th Oct 2006, 00:00
No pH problems at water treatment works
After 14 years in continuous operation, the peristaltic pumps used for lime dosing at Clay Lane Water Treatment Works (WTW) have been upgraded as part of a project to optimise performance at the site. The water treatment works at Clay Lane, Rochdale, receives water from four reservoirs in the Naden Valley. Following treatment, up to 18 megalitres of water a day feeds into to Bamford Service Reservoir, from where it is supplied to over 46,000 properties in the region.
An integral part of the treatment process is the addition of lime slurry, in order to control the pH of the water. Clay Lane WTW had previously been using an older model of peristaltic pump supplied by Watson-Marlow Bredel for this purpose. However, in 2003 the pumps were upgraded as part of a 2 million project to improve the site.
"The peristaltic pumps previously supplied by Watson-Marlow had been in continuous use for fourteen years," says Neil Tillery, process controller at Clay Lane WTW. "They are very robust, and I was impressed with how well they worked - so when we upgraded the site, I stayed with Watson-Marlow." The process control engineers at Clay Lane WTW opted for Watson-Marlow Bredel's SPX10 and SPX25 peristaltic pumps to handle the lime dosing.
The previous models used had no automatic controls, and had to be manually adjusted for variable speeds. However, the new pumps are totally automated, making the management of the system much easier.
