New storm water drainage systems in Irvine and Kilmarnock

Leading water management solutions company, Asset International ltd (Asset), in partnership with KWH Pipe UK Ltd, has supplied a Weholite storm water attenuation tank to help improve river and bathing water quality in Irvine and Kilmarnock, Scotland.

The £49 million Scottish Water project at Meadowhead was commissioned to reduce overflow from combined sewers in Kilmarnock and Irvine spilling into the local river system in the event of heavy storms. The completed project will bring significant environmental improvement to local rivers and to the coastal waters of Irvine Bay in the Firth of Clyde

The specialist water management solutions team from Asset and KWH Pipe provided a 10,000m³ attenuation tank and 300 metres of associated pipework in 2.1 metre nominal diameter.

“The long established partnership between KWH Pipe (UK) Ltd, the Scottish Water framework supplier for large diameter Polyethylene pipework systems and Asset International, the UK licensee for the manufacture of Weholite products, has led to the successful installation of what is the largest ever Weholite storage tank supplied and installed anywhere in the world”, said George Merry, managing director of KWH Pipe UK Ltd.

The tank is capable of holding 10 million litres of water, and features sixteen legs of 2.6 diameter pipes, comprising approximately 2km of pipework in total.

A tank of this scale is large enough to contain storm water flow in the event of a large amount of rain fall, allowing Scottish Water to meet stringent European Union directives. The smooth invert provided by the Weholite system was crucial to the project.

The project is being delivered by MBV, a Morrison Black & Veatch joint venture. MBV designed the system so that the retained storm water is directed into a new pipe and channelled to the Meadowhead Treatment Works. From there it is managed in an environmentally friendly way to ensure that the bathing water quality standards in the Irvine Bay are met by Scottish Water.

Commenting on the choice of Weholite plastic tanks and pipes, Dominic Moynihan, project manager for MBV explained: “A number of things directed us to Weholite. Firstly, the fact that it gave us a smooth invert without the need for further treatment. Secondly, Weholite offered an installation service, which meant that the same engineers who had manufactured the pipes were the ones installing them on site. Their knowledge and expertise ensured the product gave us the performance designed to meet our specifications. It also meant that the whole installation process has been pretty much trouble free.”

Speaking about the complete process, George Merry of KWH Pipe said: “The KWH Pipe and Asset partnership worked closely with MBV, from conceptual design through to installation, test and inspection. We provided a unique service, which saw the completed tank tested in accordance to CESWI guidelines, giving MBV the confidence of a 100% watertight tank.”

Simon Thomas, managing director at Asset, added: “The Meadowhead project continues to showcase our effective urban water management solutions, which have been deployed in a number of UK and European towns and cities in recent years.

“As flooding in our urban environments continues to become more and more of a focus we will continue to develop our systems in order to meet any and all eventualities.”
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For more information about Weholite call Asset International Ltd 01633 273081 or visit www.weholite.co.uk