WATER TREATMENT
customer, to ensure it remained effective as part of their operations and a number of trials took place on one of their sites and different dosage levels were explored until it was finalised and the customer was satisfied with its performance. It was then rolled out across 15 sites as Airophos P750 PWG.
This led to deliveries being reduced by around one third and significantly reduced the volume of MSP required, and it now needs to be ordered less frequently. Less handling is also required, which makes the product a safer option for operators and provides much greater supply chain resilience.
Rethinking delivery methods
One of the challenges facing water companies and their suppliers is often the remote nature of many of the water treatment plant sites. These have required small access vehicles to traverse limited access routes.
Traditionally, products were delivered in multiples of 1,000L, due to those measures being the capacity of containers that have to be transferred into customer tanks. This can also be a significant drain on resources, because each chemical transfer needs to be carefully connected and disconnected.
In response to one water company’ s needs, we developed a‘ milk tanker’ style of chemical delivery. This is not only able to easily navigate tight spaces and hard-to-reach locations, it also allows for bespoke orders of any amount required, eliminating the need for customers to order only in multiples of 1,000L.
Our 26-tonne tankers are now filled with the required product and they can carry out multiple drops of bespoke amounts. This has led to less deliveries and a reduced number of connections and disconnections, which has both environmental advantages and benefits for the health and safety of employees and the level of resources required.
This is particularly helpful when delivering to water treatment sites as these are often unmanned and can require personnel to attend site solely to accept deliveries. This‘ milk tanker’ style delivery has won Airedale Group an industry award and has since been rolled out to multiple customers also looking for a more sustainable and efficient chemical delivery process.
Consolidating chemical needs
We are currently working on a live project with a customer to increase their delivery efficiency and optimise their chemical performance across their network of water treatment sites. Work is underway to develop a single product effective in operations across all their sites, which will replace existing products of varying concentrations.
Sites that make up the infrastructure of the UK’ s water treatment industry were designed and built at various
times over several decades. Therefore, they all operate differently with their own set-ups requiring individual approaches and a suite of chemical products often including different strengths.
These methods were considered right for each site at the time of development, but for many, the time has come for an update to their operations and we have been instrumental in creating a more modern, productive and efficient way of working. As time and technology have moved on, it is now possible to update the way these sites work in a more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable way.
Summary
The common denominator across all these projects has been innovation. Innovation has been key in making these advancements in operations and has required multi-departmental co-ordination, including transport and technical teams. In the water treatment industry, we have found that collaborating with customers to overcome challenges in their sector has become a key point of difference in an increasingly competitive market. ●
Richard Ward
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AIREDALE GROUP k + 44 1535 637876 J enquiries @ airedale-group. com j www. airedale-group. com
52 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981