Working as Principal Designer and Principal Contractor for Northumbrian Water, on a £66m scheme to upgrade and clean the trunk water mains, Seymour improved water quality for 1million customers. Utilising innovative cleaning techniques, harmless sediment build-up on the inside of the trunk mains was cleared as part of NWL’s ‘Acceptibility of Water to Customers Programme’ for homes in the Northeast.
As some of the trunk mains have been in use for over 100 years, age, condition, material, and size were considered at the design stage. Best outcomes were guaranteed through utilising two cleaning techniques: Ice pigging and Typhoon Jetting.
Ice pigging drastically reduces the time required to clean pipes and amount of water required, making it more cost effective and environmentally friendly. Injecting slushed ice into an isolated section of pipe allows the pressure build-up from reinstating the water supply to compact the ice which then scrapes clean the inside of the pipes in a non-invasive but extremely effective manner. Dirty ice is flushed from the system, water is then sampled and supply reinstated.
Typhoon jetting utilised a specialist high pressure jetting system to clean trunks mains, which continuously collected the water used for recycling and re-use.
