Projects

Thames Water Was Commissioned to Design and Construct the UK's Largest Urban Water Reuse Facility

Thames Water Was Commissioned to Design and Construct the UK's Largest Urban Water Reuse Facility While Minimizing Environmental Impact

Project Name

Old Ford Water Recycling Facility

Location

London, England

Client

Thames Water Utilities Limited

Thames Water appointed Black & Veatch to design, construct and commission the first commercially viable membrane bioreactor reclaimed wastewater facility in the UK. It will service a new sporting facility in London.

A park site called Old Ford is located in the Lower Lee Valley in east London. Old Ford is a designated nature reserve. With this in mind, Thames Water secured planning permission from four local authorities to ensure that a new wastewater facility would afford a minimal impact on the local community, environment and nature species in and around the park. It will recycle sewage and treat it to a higher quality than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard.

“As a project manager, project delivery to the required scope, program and budget is critical. If you work with Black & Veatch, you get an absolutely outstanding job.”

Mark Bulpett, Thames Water

Water Reuse

Thames Water will apply anaerobic pre-treatment, fine screening, biological treatment in a two-stage membrane bioreactor reclaimed process, granular activated carbon adsorption, and chlorine disinfection. It will generate 570 m3 per day (150,000 gallons per day) of reclaimed wastewater, which will be pumped into the park’s distribution network to be used for toilet flushing, sprinkling systems and irrigation of parklands and fields of play.

The project supports the client’s sustainable development strategy, which includes initiatives for efficient water use, reuse and recycling. The treatment building includes features to minimize visual impact, including a roof system with living grass. The new building has been designed with exterior finishes, including wooden cladding and stone-filled gabion baskets to ensure that it blends in with the surrounding area.

Thames Water later plans to use the facility for research and development to support expansion of wastewater reclamation to other sites within the UK. The new facility will also house a visitor’s centre to promote site sustainability to a wide variety of visitors and stakeholders.