Leading provider of water and wastewater treatment technologies Bluewater Bio International has announced that their innovative high performance multimedia filtration technology, FilterClear, has been selected by Anglian Water to be included in their Tertiary Solids Removal Framework.
The contract has been awarded for three years, with an option to extend for another seven years.
A FilterClear demonstration plant was operated for four months at Anglian’s Cambridge Sewage Treatment Works. Operational and water quality data was collected to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology. The performance met Anglian’s expectation and has been considered as a potential alternative to MBR or conventional sand filters where stringent solids performance is required.
In line with the National Environment Programme to improve environment and water quality, there is a trend of increasingly demanding consent limits for discharging treated wastewater into water bodies. Under the current AMP5 period (2010 – 2015), Anglian has sites with a Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) consent below 10 mg/l. Similarly stringent discharge consents are being widely adopted during AMP6, both at Anglian and across the UK.
In the meantime, Ofwat’s rigorous approach to price limits dictates that water companies’ investment programmes have to select the most cost-effective technologies to achieve ever more stringent consents.
Water companies are incentivized to deliver the most sustainable treatment solutions and, in order to achieve the required BOD standards with acceptable CAPEX and OPEX,
Anglian Water, through the @one Alliance, are now actively evaluating innovative technologies. FilterClear’s selection as a tertiary solution follows pilot demonstrations of competing technologies, with effluent quality and operational parameters closely monitored and compared.
Daniel Ishag, Founder & CEO of Bluewater Bio International commented:
“This award, with one of the UK’s largest utility companies, renowned for its robust R&D focus, represents our first framework deal in the UK. To be selected after undergoing such vigorous testing and validation at their Cambridge facility is further testament to the value proposition that we hope to replicate with many other water companies around the world.”
“With stricter discharge consents coming into force, BwB is well placed to capture a significant proportion of Anglian’s tertiary filtration upgrades as a result of both the positive trial and the framework itself. I look forward to working with the Anglian team and their delivery partners to meet these consents.”
Glasgow-based FilterClear’s innovative suite of high performance filtration technologies and its key differentiators of class-leading throughput rate and solids retention, high dirt holding capacity and low volume of backwash waste, were key to Bluewater Bio's acquisition of the firm in September 2011. The small footprint, minimum civil works, quick on-site installation and minimal operational intervention which provide a lower whole life cost over the life of an asset, look set to make the technology an increasingly attractive option for end users.