Water treatment system developed by King's Lynn firm heading for Northumbria

Preparations have just begun in Northumbria for the installation of a wastewater treatment system devised by Lynn's Gurney Environmental.

Northumbrian Water has now started on-site work in readiness for the construction of an Aero-Fac system, developed by process engineers at Gurney, based at Bryggen Road, on North Lynn Industrial Estate.

They developed a specific wastewater system for Northumbrian Water to deal with a huge seasonal variation in population at the location. A normal winter sees a population of 200, but this rises in the summer to almost 3,000. This dramatic variation in flow from winter to summer can create serious issues for many wastewater treatment designs.

So far, Northumbrian Water have been transporting excess wastewater flows by tanker, incurring high costs and carbon footprint.

The Aero-Fac system, which has been used for more than 18 years at sites around the UK, handles large flow variations without the need for significant operator intervention and also uses renewable wind energy. Its operating and maintenance costs are low and are typically 85 per cent less than conventional activated sludge systems.

The system requires no sludge handling, removal, testing or disposal by completely self-digesting sludge within the system itself.

Earlier this year, Jersey Water placed its third order in three years for another of Gurney's systems used to treat raw water.