On Wednesday 14th September 2022 BSIF announced the Water Pollution Prevention Award 2022 winners as Fosse Liquitrol!

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The award ceremony took place during the Contamination & Geotech Exhibition held at the NEC, Birmingham.

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The Water Pollution Prevention Award, supported by the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Wales recognises the efforts made by business to protect the environment and ensure that all water pollution risks are managed in an effective and efficient way. The entrants submitted case studies based upon their approaches, the criteria for the award was based around the entrant demonstrating a detailed understanding of their working environment in relation to preventing incidents  that could lead to the pollution of the water environment, surface water or ground water.

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Each of the award entries were independently judged by the Environment Agency who then decided upon the finalists.

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The award was open to all businesses and organisations operating in the UK Key Criteria: Entrants must demonstrate a detailed understanding of their working environment in relation to preventing incidents that could lead to the pollution of the water environment, surface water or groundwater highlighting

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• Potential pollution risks / hazards identified

• The consequences of not preventing pollution incidents

• What improvement changes were made to business operations and how these were implemented

• Training of staff including Health and Safety

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The Water Pollution Prevention Award was be based upon a submitted case study demonstrating

how your company managed the risk of incidents that could lead to the pollution of the water

environment, surface water or groundwater.

 

Here is the award entry from Fosse Liquitrol

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Modular Bunding Solutions

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Potential Pollution Risk

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Any company that handles bulk chemicals and oils is required to provide secondary containment that will provide impermeable containment of 110% of the volume of the bulk tank size. In the event of a spill or leak in the primary container hazardous liquids, potential pollution of ground water is avoided thus complying with the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage ) Regulations 2001 and with best practice for bulk chemical storage.

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Where secondary containment is not provided by double skinned tanks, there is a requirement to construct impermeable containment .

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At Watchgate Water Treatment Plant near Kendal United Utilities operates a clean water treatment plant for Manchester’s water supply from Thirlmere and Windermere. An on site tank holding 12% sodium hypochlorite was contained by wooden bunding which was deemed not to be effective in the event of a spill thus causing ground water pollution.

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The consequences of not preventing pollution incident

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Environmental responsibility is becoming of increasing importance to all companies. The costs to the reputation of major companies plus the cost of fines from the Environment Agency are increasing.

ESG issues are of increasing importance in the raising of capital on the financial markets.

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In the case of United Utilities the consequences of an un-contained spill would be either ground water pollution with 30,000 litres of concentrated sodium hypochlorite, or worst case, pollution of Manchester’s clean water supply.

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What improvement changes were made to business operations and how these were implemented

To meet best practice for chemical storage , an impermeable bund was required to provide
containment. Although the tank was 58,000 litre capacity it was only filled to 30,000 litres so required a bund of 39,000 litres capacity. (110% of the liquid stored).

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A bund of 14.14m x 4.12m x 0.91m was designed using modular 3 ft containment walls to meet the dimensions suitable for the site and to provide over 39,000 litres capacity.  This construction included an impermeable liner.

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The bund needed to be lined with an LLDPE liner compatible with up to 15% concentration of sodium chlorite stored. (See chemical compatibility charts).

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The modular bund needed to be quick and easy to install on the tarmac surface at Watchgate and to be easily relocated as the tank may be needed to be moved. The modular construction enabled these criteria to be met.

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All the bund and impermeable liner installation were provided so there is no demand on the client’s engineering and maintenance staff. .

After installation, the bund was tested for impermeability by filling with 30,000 litres of water and checking the water level did not drop for three days. The bund passed this impermeability test indicating no leakage.

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Potential for Replication

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The ability to design and build bespoke , modular bunds constructed to meet tight environmental standards provides a very cost effective solution  for secondary containment of bulk tanks. United Utilities found it the most cost effective solution.

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In addition where tanks are needed for temporary storage, the ability to dismantle the modular bunds and relocate them is a  major advantage.

 

Refineries and chemical processing plants often require plant and liquid storage to be temporarily provided to cover plant maintenance. Modular bunds provide very cost effective secondary containment in such situations

 

Waste management and construction companies are typically on site for a limited amount of time.

For example hydrocarbon and petrochemical waste from rigs are held offshore before being brought into the harbour for discharge into secure storage tanks on the quay.

These tanks require secondary containment to comply with the current Oil Storage Regulations.The bunds need to be:

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Assembled on the quayside at short notice

• Tanks are manoeuvred into bund during assembly

• The bund had to be dismantled and removed when the job was completed and be relocated at other sites for future us

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Training of staff including Health & Safety

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Training of staff, accredited by the BSIF,  is provided in spill awareness and response to:

• Develop an awareness of the risks and threats associated with liquid spills

• Understanding of the safe and effective use of spill control resources

• Simulated emergency spill situation

• Containment techniques and evaluation of best practice

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A group of United Utilities Environmental Managers were given a Train the Trainer’s course to train their staff including those at Watch Gate Water Treatment Plant.

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For more information on this product please get in touch. 

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Fosse Ltd
Whetstone Magna, Lutterworth Road,
Leicester, LE8 6NB
United Kingdom

• +44 (0)800 028 3434

• sales@fosse.co.uk