Nominate/Submit Case Studies

Become a Featured Company

MGF Ltd

Major Supply Grid Upgrades, Somerset

Upgrade the Water Supply GRID for Bridgewater with a challenging design

By: MGF Ltd

Published: October 24, 2019

Dancing Hill - Courtesy of MGF Ltd

Scope of works

Excavation works began in 2017 at the Dancing Hill Reservoir site as part of a £6 million project to upgrade the Water Supply GRID for Bridgwater and the surrounding areas. Major upgrades are required due to large-scale developments in the area.

Issues & solutions

The design was particularly challenging due to the complicated nature of the ground surrounding the reservoir tank. A sizeable berm was built on the ground profile around Cofferdam 4 to ensure a safe and stable excavation. This exaction also had to accept other loadings from Cofferdams 1, 2 and 3. Multiple 203UC tank brace frames were used due to the strict lift plan limit of 1 tonne. Larger or heavier brace systems could risk the collapse of existing foundations.

Vibration pile driving was not permitted due to the detrimental effect it could have on the high-pressure water mains that supplies customers. There was also a HV cable running through the site that had to be avoided. The exact location of other services created additional challenges and ongoing surveys had to be monitored throughout the duration of works.

As of 2017 there are four connected cofferdams in place allowing safe working space to combine new pipeworks to the main reservoir tank. Multiple back-to-back 203UC tank braces with special alignment of bracing has been key in the design, combined with KKD 600 sheets to secure the trench. Several Lightweight DavitSafe systems allow safe access into the 10m deep cofferdams.

Sector: Water & Utilities
Client: Wessex Water
Location: Bridgewater, Somerset
Scheme: Water Supply GRID Upgrade
MGF depot: Bristol
Products hired: Multiple 203UC brace, KKD 600 sheets, lightweight davit

Dancing Hill - Courtesy of MGF Ltd

Dancing Hill – Courtesy of MGF Ltd

For more information: MGF Ltd | +44 (0)1942 402700 | www.mgf.co.uk

Courtesy of MGF Ltd

Courtesy of MGF Ltd

Courtesy of MGF Ltd

Alleviating Flooding at Beaumaris Castle

Installation of a surface water drainage system to alleviate the flooding at Beaumaris Castle

Derby Hydro Power House

Design and support for a hydro power house and turbine chamber in centre of Derby

Installation of New Foul Pumping Station in Jersey

Providing support for the installation of a new foul pumping chamber tank in Jersey

Major Sewer Upgrades in New Zealand

A temporary works solution for major sewer upgrades in Auckland, New Zealand

Major Supply Grid Upgrades, Somerset

Upgrade the Water Supply GRID for Bridgewater with a challenging design

River Humber Pipeline Replacement

A three-year project to provide National Grid with a 5km long, 3.65m diameter tunnel bored 30m under the river bed

Holderness Flood Alleviation Scheme (2024)

Design and construction of new ‘online’ pumping station and flood storage aquagreen to improve resilience in the Humber region

Lamerton STW (2024)

Reed bed and associated feed pumping station solution for nature-based phosphorus removal

Wark on Tyne STW (2024)

leveraging current digital technology to enhance both the design and construction phases of Northumbrian Water’s upgrade of Wark STW

Witches Oak Raw Water Pumping Station (2024)

Severn Trent’s Green Recovery Programme: combining natural solutions with conventional infrastructure

Witches Oak WTW: Green Recovery - Decarbonising Water Resources (2024)

The challenges of designing and constructing the Witches Oak programme of works on multiple sites to a condensed timescale

Brook Street (Dawlish) CSO (2023)

Dawlish is a traditional seaside town on the south coast of Devon, approximately 12 miles south of Exeter and is a popular holiday and day trip destination. South West Water (SWW) and Galliford Try’s objective was to ensure that the bathing water quality did not deteriorate within the next 20 years by ensuring that there […]

Burnley WwTW Catchment Strategy (2023)

The Burnley integrated catchment scheme is one of United Utilities’ (UU) largest AMP7 projects with a value of £77m. The project is being delivered by UU’s construction delivery partner (CDP) framework by Advance-plus, a joint venture between MWH Treatment, J Murphy & Sons (JMS) and Stantec UK. The project commenced in 2020 and through two […]

Durleigh WTC (2023)

In 2019, Wessex Water launched a £51 million project to upgrade the Durleigh Water Treatment Centre (WTC) in Somerset, which had reached the end of its operational life. This project was crucial in maintaining the delivery of high-quality drinking water to a population of 44,500 and was part of the company’s long-term water supply strategy […]

Marhamchurch SPS (2023)

Marhamchurch is a small village around 2.4km south of Bude and has a population of just over 800. Sewage from this village is pumped to a nearby large sewage treatment works which processes the waste from Bude and the surrounding area. The existing Marhamchurch Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) was built around 50 years ago and […]

Meadow Road Stormwater Tank (2023)

Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in east Devon, at the start of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast, with a population of just over 5,000 people. It has been described as a picturesque town with a two-mile pebble beach for the hardy swimmers braving the seas for a dip in the beautiful […]

Niagara Weir Stabilisation & Fish Pass (2023)

During the industrial revolution, pollution and weir constructions in Yorkshire resulted in the rapid decline of river standards and loss of once abundant species such as salmon, trout, and grayling. The rivers were wiped of ecological habitats and the number of species found in the river declined by 83%. In 1999 Yorkshire Water installed the […]

Witches Oak WTW: Green Recovery - Decarbonising Water Resources (2023)

In the summer of 2020, the water industry was set a challenge by its regulators to identify ways to support the country’s green economic recovery from Covid-19. Severn Trent responded with a number of proposed programmes, including Decarbonising Water Resources (DWR), the subject of this paper. The objective of the DWR programme was to provide […]

Wooler WTW (2023)

Wooler Water Treatment Works (WTW) is fed by four boreholes and supplies up to 160m3/hour of potable water to Wooler and surrounding areas, including several tourist and semi-residential holiday parks serving over 5,000 people. Seasonal fluctuation in demand can increase turbidity and increase iron and manganese concentrations in the borehole water, particularly when flows are […]

Burnley WwTW Catchment Strategy (2022)

The Burnley Integrated Catchment Scheme is one of United Utilities largest AMP7 projects with a value of over £60m which commenced in 2020. The project is being delivered by Advance-plus, a joint venture between MWH Treatment, J Murphy & Sons and Stantec UK; United Utilities’ framework construction delivery partner (CDP). In UK Water Projects 2021 […]

Chippenham Gateway Sewer (2022)

Wessex Water were served under S98 of the Water Industry Act to provide an offsite foul water connection for St Modwen’s new Chippenham Gateway development. This commercial development consists of one million square feet of commercial development and potentially a 150-room hotel. An initial modelling appraisal identified insufficient capacity in the local public sewerage network […]

Fontburn WTW (2022)

Northumbrian Water’s Fontburn Water Treatment Works is located on the outskirts of the Northumberland National Park and produces drinking water for around 50,000 homes in rural and semi-rural areas from Longhorsley and Morpeth, down through Bedlington and as far as North Shields on the River Tyne. The plant produces approximately 20 million litres of water […]

Johnson Street Storm Overflow Screening Project (2022)

The Johnson Street Storm Overflow (SO) Screening Project in Gateshead was designed to protect the River Tyne from aesthetic pollution improving river quality for the benefit of customers, wildlife and the environment. The SO at Johnson Street was previously a significant unscreened discharge to the River Tyne. The project scope was to screen all spill […]

Plas Uchaf Reservoir (2022)

The construction of Plas Uchaf Reservoir was completed in 1870. It has an embankment dam that is approximately 15m high, with a puddle clay core. It has a retained capacity of 225,500m3 and a surface area of 3.5ha. The reservoir is formed across a tributary of the River Elwy, with Dolwen Reservoir located approximately 0.7km upstream of Plas […]

Rothbury STW (2022)

Rothbury Sewage Treatment Works is an unmanned Northumbrian Water site located 13 miles north-west of Morpeth, Northumberland. It is on the western valley slope of the River Coquet, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. The area is a popular year-round holiday destination with several caravan sites within the catchment. The original works dates from […]

Southwaite WwTW (2022)

Southwaite is a small rural village in Cumbria about 5 kilometres south of Carlisle. The works treats a population of about 1,000 from the village and the nearby M6 Motorway Services. The existing trickling filter works had reached the end of its asset life and needed to be upgraded. In a first of its kind […]

Burnley WwTW Catchment Strategy (2021)

Burnley WwTW serves a domestic population equivalent (PE) of 107,115 plus trade load. The existing site processes include screening and grit removal, primary settlement, activated sludge plant (ASP) with final settlement, nitrifying filters, chemical dosing and storm storage tanks. The sludge treatment facilities include sludge thickening, THP, mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD), associated ancillaries and sludge […]

Carlisle WwTW (2021)

Carlisle WwTW is in north Cumbria, which is part of United Utilities’ northern area. The site is located to the north west of Carlisle’s city centre, on the banks of the River Eden, and serves the city of Carlisle. The treatment works receives domestic sewage, trade flows, and tankered imports, providing primary and secondary treatment […]

Cog Moors Advanced Anaerobic Digestion Facility (2021)

Welsh Water’s sludge strategy is to treat 97% of sludge using advanced anaerobic digestion (AAD) technology. The Cog Moors AAD facility was constructed to supplement the existing facilities at Cardiff and Afan in South Wales along with the recently constructed Five Fords facility in North Wales. AAD gives the benefits of: Meeting the Enhanced Sludge […]

Durleigh WTC (2021)

Wessex Water’s £50m project to upgrade Durleigh Water Treatment Centre (WTC) in Somerset is progressing on programme and within budget, despite some particular challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Work at the site near Bridgwater started in 2019. It is the largest single-value scheme delivered by Wessex Water’s Engineering & Sustainable Delivery (ESD) department and […]

Hawkhurst South WwTW (2021)

The NEP Quality drivers for the Southern Water’s Hawkhurst South WTW are to meet the new iron and total phosphorus discharge permit limits by 31/12/2021, a tightened ammonia permit by 31/03/2025, and to maintain compliance with all aspects of the current discharge permit at lowest whole life cost. In addition, the population equivalent is set […]

Heigham WTW (2021)

Heigham Water Treatment Works (WTW) has supplied clean water to the City of Norwich for more than 100 years. The treatment works supplied an average 42 Ml/d of water into the Norwich Public Water Supply Zone serving a population in excess of 200,000. The £36m scheme was the largest capital investment project within Anglian Water’s […]

Holloway Storm Relief Sewer (2021)

In the 1850s, London’s population was approximately two million. In 1858, predicting population growth, Sir Joseph Bazalgette constructed a combined sewerage system collecting both wastewater from homes and businesses, and rainwater run-off, to serve a population equivalent of four million. Now, with London’s population approaching nine million, the sewerage network can become overloaded during severe […]

Hollym, Myers Lane, WwTW (2021)

Constructed in 1991, the existing Withernsea Sewage Treatment Works (STW) lies 2km south of the East Yorkshire coastal resort town of Withernsea and was built circa 180m from the cliff edge with an expected asset life in excess of 60 years. Since 1998, coastal erosion rates in the area have increased significantly from historic levels, […]

Huddersfield Energy & Recycling Facility (2021)

Sludge treatment in the Huddersfield area was previously provided by incineration at Calder Valley Incinerator, located at Yorkshire Water’s Upper Brighouse Site. This incinerator has been inoperable since a weather event in 2015. Following a strategic review, Yorkshire Water Services (YWS) decided to progress with conventional mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) plant supported by lime sanitisation […]

Ledbury & Brockhampton STWs (2021)

Both Ledbury and Brockhampton are medium sized works (c15,000 PE) serving the catchments of Ledbury and Cheltenham respectively. Each site was subject to a first-time phosphorus permit with Brockhampton receiving higher flow to full treatment and a tighter BOD permit, and Ledbury having significant growth projected in the catchment. Both sites both required new tertiary […]

Lletty Brongu & Ruthin STWs (2021)

Welsh Water raised a programme of quality schemes for completion in AMP6 to address tightening of phosphorus permits set by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) at ten wastewater treatment works. Some of the sites in the programme were subject to a new total phosphorus (TP) permit of 0.5 mg/l T-P and required the installation of a […]

Ludham Licence Reinvestment (2021)

Ludham WTW supplied 2.1 million litres a day (MLD) of treated water to 2,464 properties in Ludham and Martham whilst originally being fed by Ludham boreholes, with emergency supply coming from East Ruston boreholes. This £7.6m scheme addressed area growth and abstraction licence challenges by combining different schemes to deliver an efficient solution for customers […]

Maerdy WTW (2021)

Maerdy Water Treatment Works (WTW) is located 35km north of Cardiff, supplying up to 16Ml/d potable water to customers in Ferndale and the surrounding area. Raw water is gravity fed from Castell Nos and Lluest-Wen Reservoirs and the quality can be highly variable, particularly following heavy rainfall resulting in a challenge to WTW performance. In […]

Mosswood WTW (2021)

Northumbrian Water (NWL) provides water supply and sewerage services to a population of 2.7 million in the north east and 1.8 million in the south east of England, delivering 1,100 MLD of drinking water. Potable water treatment works vary from small groundwater sources to large surface water treatment facilities such as Mosswood Water Treatment Works […]

Sunderland Groundwater Stations (2021)

The Sunderland Groundwater Stations (GWS) have historically provided a reliable and cost-effective source of good quality water to the Wearside distribution area. They were mostly built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and consist of one or more shafts, of up to 150m in depth, into the magnesian limestone aquifer. Each station has […]

Tideway Central - Albert Embankment Foreshore (2021)

The Thames Tideway Tunnel project will upgrade London’s Victorian sewer system, which was developed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette in the mid-1800s for a population of 4 million people. Now with over 8 million Londoners, the system capacity, around 6mm per hour rainfall in the catchment, has been exceeded and the discharges of mixed water through […]

Tideway Central - Main Tunnel Primary Lining (2021)

The Tideway Project is a 25km long combined sewage storage and transfer system along the River Thames in central London, UK. The project is split into three design and build contracts with the limits of each contract determined primarily by geology along the alignment. The contract for the Central Section, the longest and most challenging […]

Waverley Growth (2021)

To accommodate new housing and commercial growth in the Waverley/Catcliffe area of Sheffield, Yorkshire Water required the design and construction of a new pipeline to transfer the flows from a housing development of 4000 homes to the main Blackburn Meadows WwTW. The pipeline route crossed main dual carriageways, other roads, roundabouts, railway lines and passed […]

West Huntspill WRC Bathing Waters Improvements (2021)

West Huntspill Water Recycling Centre (WRC) is a Wessex Water facility situated south of Highbridge in West Somerset. This environmentally sensitive site is within a National Nature Reserve and adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area (Bridgewater Bay and the Severn Estuary). The facility serves a catchment of 62,000 […]

Wolsingham STW (2021)

Wolsingham Sewage Treatment Works (STW) required upgrading in order to manage increased demand due to population growth in the catchment. The works, adjacent to the River Wear between Crook and Stanhope in northwest Durham, included a combination of new STW components and the upgrade of existing facilities. Northumbrian Water sanctioned the £5.77m project and Tilbury […]

Blackburn and Darwen WwTWs (2020)

Blackburn WwTW, located at Samlesbury near Blackburn, serves a population equivalent (PE) of approximately 400,000 and discharges final and storm effluent to watercourses that are tributaries of the River Darwen, feeding into the River Ribble estuary and ultimately into the bathing waters of the Fylde coast in the Irish Sea. Over the last 12 months, […]

Brancote Sludge Treatment Centre (2020)

Located to the east of Stafford, Severn Trent’s Brancote Sewage Treatment Works (STW) catchment will see an increase in population from 78,075 current population equivalent (PE) to 85,532 by 2028. The site is split into two distinct areas with the STW processing the sewage flows from within its own catchment and the sludge treatment centre […]

Brentwood STW (2020)

Brentwood Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is one of Thames Water’s medium sized treatment works. The site is located to the north-east of London between Harold Wood and Brentwood in Essex. The STW treats foul water from the catchment serving West Brentwood, Warley and Pilgrims Hatch. It currently serves a population of 36,500 which will increase […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct - Birmingham Resilience Project (2020)

Between 1893 and 1904 the Birmingham Corporation dammed the Elan Valley in Wales and constructed an aqueduct to channel water to Birmingham. At the height of the industrial revolution, between 1800 and 1900 Birmingham was booming, and its population rose substantially. Following outbreaks of smallpox and diarrhea, city officials deemed it essential to provide its […]

BRP - Raw Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2020)

The Birmingham Resilience Project (BRP) is designed to provide a backup source of raw water from the River Severn to the water treatment works that serves Birmingham. During planned or unplanned outages of the primary water source, the raw water system will abstract water from the River Severn between October and March and supply 117 […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2020)

Raw water has been collected in reservoirs in the Elan Valley in Wales and transferred 118km under gravity through an aqueduct to the water treatment works (WTW) in Birmingham for treatment and distribution to the city’s residents and industries since the beginning of the 20th century. The original infrastructure was constructed over 100 years ago, […]

Church Wilne WTW (2020)

Situated on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border, Church Wilne WTW serves 600,000 Severn Trent (ST) customers in the East Midlands. Built in 1967 to extract and treat 27 ML/day from the River Derwent, the works has been extended twice to 135 ML/day meeting the needs of both a growing population and increased water quality standards. However, the […]

Durleigh WTC (2020)

Durleigh Water Treatment Centre is located approximately 2km west of Bridgwater, Somerset and is Wessex Water’s second largest surface water treatment works serving a population of 44,500. The site was originally designed to treat up to 28.5 Ml/d, with water drawn down from the 959,000m3 Durleigh Impounding Reservoir. Raw water quality has deteriorated in recent […]

Huddersfield Energy & Recycling Facility (2020)

Huddersfield Energy and Recycling Facility (Huddersfield E&RF) is in Mirfield on Yorkshire Water’s Upper Brighouse site. The project involved the demolition of the existing incinerator and construction of a new mesophilic anaerobic digestion facility that will produce electricity; equivalent to powering 5280 homes once it is fully operational. The primary drivers for the scheme were: […]

Langsett WTW (2020)

Yorkshire Water’s Langsett Water Treatment Works (WTW) is located 17km north-west of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. The WTW treats raw water which is extracted by gravity from two upland impounding reservoirs at Langsett (adjacent to the WTW) and nearby Midhope (approximately 1km south-east of the site). […]

Morecambe WwTW Catchment Strategy: Part 3 (2020)

Operated by United Utilities, the Morecambe sewerage system collects at Schola Green Wastewater Pumping Station (WwPS) located in the west end of the town. From there, flows for treatment are pumped via a 6km long pipeline to Morecambe Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), which is situated to the south, near to the village of Middleton. Both […]

Murton WTW (2020)

Murton WTW is fed by six boreholes and supplies up to 350m3/hour of potable water to Berwick-upon-Tweed and surrounding areas, serving over 7,500 properties. The boreholes which feed the Berwick Water Supply Zone can contain turbidity, particularly when flows are high, interrupted or varied. The existing treatment process was unable to remove the turbidity, causing […]

Newham STW (Threemilestone Project) 2020

Newham Sewage Treatment Works is located on the outskirts of Truro, Cornwall. The site treats wastewater from the city and the surrounding areas which are experiencing a rapid population growth. A £6.8m project was sanctioned by South West Water in May 2018 to provide a new secondary process stream, utilising the novel Nereda granular activated […]

Nottingham, Shakespeare Street, Flood Alleviation (2020)

Shakespeare Street in Nottingham is situated at the heart of Nottingham Trent University campus, a short walk from the main square in the city centre. The basements of a number of buildings in the area suffered repeat sewer flooding, ranking inside the top 1% of all flood risks across the Severn Trent (ST) region. In […]

Oldham & Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) (2020)

United Utilities is the regional water company for the North West of England, delivering water and wastewater services to 7m people from Cheshire to the Scottish border. Oldham WwTW and Royton WwTW are two major wastewater treatment works located in Oldham, to the north east of Manchester. The Oldham and Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) project […]

Phillipson Street CSO Scheme (2020)

The Phillipson Street CSO Scheme is located in Wallsend, a suburban area to the east of Newcastle city centre with an industrial past. In the catchment upstream of the existing CSO, a total of 3,869 people are served by a fully combined sewer network. The existing CSO has undergone several upgrades over at least the […]

Withernsea Long Sea Outfall - Part 1 (2020)

Withernsea is located in Yorkshire, approximately 18 miles east of Hull on the Holderness Coast. The area is vulnerable to coastal erosion due to the geology being mainly soft boulder clay. Groynes and sea walls being installed in Bridlington and Hornsea have affected the longshore drift, which has caused Withernsea area beaches to narrow, providing […]

Northumberland & Halfway SPS (2020)

Llanelli Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) in Llanelli, South Wales, serves the catchment’s 60,000 inhabitants and discharges treated effluent into the Loughor Estuary. The estuary is not only ecologically sensitive, but also a critical natural asset to the local community and to the wider South Wales region. It is a natural capital asset, home to commercial […]

Alum Waters Sewer Flooding Alleviation Scheme (2019)

As part of the AMP6 Capital Programme, Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) are investing over £1bn in water and wastewater services to provide unrivalled customer service. As part of this programme. Esh-Stantec, a joint venture between Esh Construction and Stantec UK, was commissioned by NWG to investigate the sewer network and to develop a notional solution […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2019)

Since the beginning of the 20th century, raw water has been conveyed 118km from the Elan Valley in Wales, under gravity by aqueduct, to the water treatment works (WTW) in Birmingham for treatment and supply to the population of the city. The aqueduct has been in continuous service for over 100 years and requires some […]

Davyhulme WwTW Modernisation Project (2019)

Davyhulme Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) is United Utilities (UU) largest, serving over 1.3 million customers across Greater Manchester. Built in 1894, it has seen continuous development in wastewater treatment including the invention of the activated sludge process (ASP) by Ardern & Lockett in 1914. Incoming flows from the combined sewer network can reach 30m3/s, the […]

Flass Vale (Durham) Sewerage Scheme (2019)

Flass Vale is an area of woodland to the northwest of Durham City Centre that extends north-west to Durham Johnston School and the A167. Flass Burn flows generally north-west to south-east through the Vale. The Burn is an open ditch in the northwest and is culverted in the southeast including through a former bus depot […]

Killingworth & Longbenton Water Management Ph 3 (2019)

Since 2010 the Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) for the Tyneside Drainage Catchment have developed and implemented an area-based prioritisation process to identify and investigate those drainage areas at greatest risk of performance failure. The Killingworth, Longbenton and Forest Hall area was one of those areas identified, something supported by the published 2010 Strategic Flood Risk […]

Medlock Quality Programme (2019)

Medlock Quality Programme is part of United Utilities AMP6 investment programme across the North West and is the third Nereda® Reactor Plant to be operated by United Utilities. The scheme can be split into two distinct areas: (i) the upgrade of Failsworth WwTW to meet the new discharge consent and reduce the volumes of spills […]

Pegswood STW (2019)

Pegswood Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is a Northumbrian Water (NW) site located 16 miles north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 2 miles north-east of Morpeth, Northumberland. The treatment process comprised inlet screens, flow control and storm separation to storm tanks, two Dortmund pyramidal settlement tanks, four biological percolating filters, with a circular humus tank discharging final effluent […]

Quay Road Charlestown DG5 Flooding Scheme (2019)

Situated on the outskirts of St Austell on the south coast of Cornwall, Charlestown Harbour is an unspoilt, original Grade II Listed Harbour. Used recently as a key location for the filming of the BBC’s remake of the 1970s hit series Poldark, it has also been used for Dr Who, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, […]

Renny’s Lane Foul Sewer Rising Main Replacement (2019)

Renny’s Lane Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) is located in arable farmland to the south of the Belmont and Carville residential estate, north east of the City of Durham. The pumping station has two parallel rising mains which transfer combined flows into the gravity sewerage network which ultimately drains to Belmont Sewage Treatment Works (STW). The […]

Water Supply GRID - Conclusion (2019)

The Water Supply GRID is the largest scheme ever undertaken by Wessex Water and provides important new infrastructure for the south-west region with resilience connections to Bournemouth Water, Bristol Water and South West Water via Wimbleball Reservoir – it is effectively a south-west area regional grid (see Figure 1 below). It has improved interconnectivity within […]

Woolston WwT Scheme - Part 4 (2019)

Woolston WwTW uses a conventional activated sludge plant (ASP), built in 1966, treating sewage flows from part of the Southampton conurbation, serving a population of approximately 62,000 people. The site occupies an area of 1.26 hectares. The existing sewerage system which feeds into the WwTW collects both wastewater and stormwater from the Woolston catchment area. […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct (Nantmel and Frydd Wood) - Birmingham Resilience Project (2018)

At the height of the industrial revolution, Birmingham’s population was booming. Between 1800 and 1900, the city had grown substantially. An innovative solution was needed to provide its residents and industries with safe drinking water. James Mansergh had identified the Elan Valley as a source for water. With Birmingham located so far in land, the […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2018)

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA) has conveyed raw water 118km from the Elan Valley in Wales under gravity to Frankley Water Treatment Works (WTW) in Birmingham. The treatment works was inaugurated at the same time as the EVA and has treated water, to supply the residents and industries […]

Blackpool South Surface Water Strategy (2018)

The Blackpool South Surface Water Strategy is a £30m scheme aimed at improving bathing water quality along Blackpool’s golden mile. The project tackles the combined challenges of climate change, an aging Victorian sewer network, increasing urbanisation and a responsive catchment. The project’s objectives are the reduction in frequency and quality improvement of spills within the […]

Bournemouth CIS Tunnel Renovation (2018)

Bournemouth is served by a sewerage tunnel known as the Coastal Interceptor Sewer (CIS), an inverted ‘T’ configuration with two tunnels routed parallel to the coastline and a few hundred metres inland. The two tunnels are routed towards each other and form a confluence equidistant along the coast, turning north and heading inland towards the […]

Bristol Water Southern Strategic Support Main (2018)

The Southern Strategic Support Main (SSSM) comprises a 700mm diameter pipe line between Barrow WTW in south Bristol to Sandford, a distance of 19km, and a 600mm diameter pipe line between Cheddar WTW and Banwell a distance of 11km. The two pipelines connect at Sandford. The project commenced with a review of the outline proposal […]

Cheddar Pumping Station (2018)

The Southern Resilience Scheme is a new £27m water infrastructure project that provides improved security of water supply to a population of approximately 280,000 people across Bristol Water’s supply area. The scheme comprises a new 30km ductile iron main of 600mm and 700mm diameters, as well as the upgrade of the existing pumping station at […]

Christchurch STW Inlet Rising Main Renovation (2018)

A burst occurred in a section of 400mm DI rising main within the curtilage of Wessex Water’s Christchurch sewage recovery works in Dorset. The works serve a population in the adjacent catchment of 59,000. The location of the burst was close to a bend in the main, beneath a large diameter primary sedimentation tank, and […]

Cowleigh Distribution Service Reservoir & Lower Wyche Pipeline (2018)

Cowleigh Distribution Service Reservoir (DSR) and Lower Wyche DSR are located to the north and south of Great Malvern, Worcestershire and are overlooked by the Malvern Hills. Cowleigh DSR receives water from Powick Pumping Station and the Southern Strategic Main, whilst Lower Wyche DSR receives water from Bromsberrow WTW which is borehole site. Severn Trent […]

Dalton Piercy WTW (2018)

Dalton Piercy Water Treatment Works (WTW) supplies an average demand of 32 Ml/d to ~45,000 properties and significant industrial customers in Hartlepool. The current site process includes UV disinfection, sodium hypochlorite dosing and orthophosphoric acid dosing. This article describes how Anglian Water’s @one Alliance successfully applied product-based delivery principles to the Dalton Piercy Manganese and […]

DCWW AMP6 Water Quality Zone Improvements (2018)

Of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s 85 (No.) Water Quality Zones (WQZs), 20 (No.) contribute 75% of the company’s targets to improve water quality and reliability. Detailed analysis has been carried out and documented in Zonal Study reports for these zones. These identified specific schemes, ranked in cost benefit order, presented in a standard plan and […]

Deephams STW - A630 Major Upgrade (2018)

Thames Water’s Deephams Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is located in Edmonton, North London and treats a 989,000 population. Three drainage catchment areas of Lea Valley, High Barnet and Tottenham flow to the works, the ninth largest plant in the UK. The original effluent treatment process was built between 1956-1966 and had been updated at various […]

East Tanfield STW (2018)

East Tanfield Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is a Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) site located 11 miles north-west of the City of Durham and 9 miles south-west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It consists of two distinct sites: a ‘lower’ site comprising a terminal pumping station (TPS) with emergency storage tanks adjacent to the Houghwell Burn watercourse; and an […]

Frome Valley Relief Sewer (2018)

The Frome Valley Relief Sewer scheme represents a £15m capital investment by Wessex Water to provide additional capacity for the continued development within the North Bristol area. It is the third phase out of a total of four phases which will see wastewater flows diverted from South Gloucestershire to Avonmouth Sewage Treatment Works in Bristol […]

Hagley (Newfield Road) Flood Alleviation (2018)

The small town of Hagley, Worcestershire is served by an ageing sewer network which drains the wastewater of the 6,000 inhabitants towards the large Milestone Drive Sewage Pumping Station. Following decades of growth, misconnections and increased urbanisation within the existing catchment, hydraulic pinch points on the foul sewer network subjected numerous clusters of low-lying properties […]

Hanchurch Service Reservoir (2018)

A ‘product-based’ approach to service reservoir construction is revolutionising the way MMB are constructing a new multi-million-pound distribution service reservoir (DSR) for Severn Trent Water (STW). To boost productivity in the construction process, the new 43ML reservoir is being treated as a ‘product’, manufactured largely off site in controlled-conditions, before being assembled on site near […]

Irton WTW (2018)

Yorkshire Water’s Irton Water Treatment Works (WTW) is located 5.5km southwest of Scarborough in North Yorkshire. The WTW abstracts water from an aquifer via numerous boreholes and supplies two local service reservoirs; Springhill and Low Mount, which feed Scarborough and the surrounding area. Demand profiles are seasonably variable. The site has an abstraction licence for […]

Killingworth & Longbenton Water Management (2018)

Since 2010, the Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) for the Tyneside drainage catchment have developed and implemented an area-based prioritisation process to identify and investigate those drainage areas at greatest risk of performance failure. The Killingworth, Longbenton and Forest Hall area was one of those areas identified, something supported by the published 2010 Strategic Flood Risk […]

Manganese North (2018)

Between 2007 and 2014 two of Northumbrian Water’s (NWG) water supply zones, served by Whittle Dene WTW and Warkworth WTW, both in Northumberland, consistently received the highest number of water quality contacts for discoloured water. In previous AMP periods, NWG undertook a programme of strategic mains cleaning and unidirectional flushing to improve customer acceptability performance. […]

Minworth STW - Thermal Hydrolysis Plant (2018)

Minworth STW is Severn Trent’s largest sewage treatment works and serves a population equivalent of 1.75 million from Birmingham with full flow to treatment of 1,070Ml/d. The works treats sludge arising from a population equivalent of 2.3 million which is made up of indigenous sludge plus imported sludge from the nearby Coleshill STW and various […]

Nine Elms, Battersea Growth & SuDS (2018)

The Nine Elms redevelopment area within Battersea includes 21,000 new dwellings, office, leisure and retail space creating 8000 new jobs including the new US Embassy, a relocated New Covent Garden Market site and the Northern Line extension. An integrated water management study completed by Thames Water (TW) in partnership with the Greater London Authority, ARUP […]

Northcombe WTW GAC Scheme (2018)

Located near Okehampton, Northcombe WTW supplies a large region of North Devon including Barnstaple, Bideford and South Molton. The works supplies over 88,000 customers, with around half of these relying on Northcombe as their sole supply of water. As standards for water quality change, South West water (SWW) has been issued a notice by the […]

Ogston WTW (2018)

Ogston Water Treatment Works (WTW) is located at Stretton, Higham in Derbyshire and it provides treated water to Higham, Ambergate and Whiteborough Reservoirs. The maximum works output is 76 mega litres per day (MLD) with an output for the New works DAF (dissolved air flotation) plant of 50 MLD. As part of the AMP6 coagulation […]

Plymouth Central STW Stormwater UV Irradiation (2018)

The European Union’s (EUs) revised Bathing Water Directive (rBWD) (2006/7/EC) came into force in March 2006 replacing Bathing Water Directive (BWD) (76/1160/EEC). The overall objective of the revised directive is the protection of public health. From November 2015, a new classification system for bathing waters (excellent, good, sufficient or poor) was introduced, with more stringent […]

South West Water Shellfish Waters NEP AMP6 Programme (2018)

The 2010 Shellfish Waters Directive placed a new obligation on South West Water (SWW) to endeavour to meet the Shellfish Waters Regulations ‘Guideline’ Standard. (Class B). The Shellfish Waters (SFW) programme of work was to meet legislative requirements to protect or improve designated shellfish waters to support shellfish life and growth, contributing to the quality […]

Tideway Central - Overview (2018)

Thames Tideway Tunnel is the largest water infrastructure project currently under construction in the UK and will modernise London’s major sewerage system, the backbone of which dates back to Victorian times. Although the sewers built in the mid-19th century are still in excellent structural condition, their hydraulic capacity was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette for […]

Tynywaun WTW (2018)

Tynywaun Water Treatment Works forms part of the South East Wales Conjunctive Use System (SEWCUS) chain of water treatment works that supply the central South Wales valleys and cities of Newport and Cardiff. This SEWCUS system does not, however, provide full conjunctive use to the Tynywaun distribution area, having very limited connectivity. The works has […]

Upper Chelburn Impounding Reservoir (2018)

Upper Chelburn Impounding Reservoir (IR), located near Rochdale on the east Lancashire moors, is owned and operated by United Utilities (UU), providing compensation water to the nearby Rochdale canal. The reservoir is impounded by northern and southern earth-fill embankments (Figure 1), with a resulting capacity of 236,000m3. The 16.5m high northern embankment was constructed between […]

Woodgate Hill Service Reservoir No. 2 (2018)

Woodgate Hill Service Reservoir No. 2 (SR2) was commissioned in 1963, providing a total capacity of 269Ml and a throughput that equates to 20% of the regional water demand. The reservoir was built in to the hillside with an excavation of around 380,000m3. With a footprint of 47,000m2, at the time of construction, Woodgate Hill […]

Woolston WwT Scheme - Part 3 (2018)

Built in 1966, Woolston Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) uses a conventional Activated Sludge Plant (ASP) to treat sewage flows from part of the Southampton conurbation. Serving a population of approximately 62,000, the site occupies an area of 1.26 hectares. The existing sewerage system which feeds into the WwTW collects both wastewater and stormwater from the […]

Beckton to Riverside Sludge Mains Refurbishment (2017)

Thames Water Utilities Limited (TWUL) currently transfer a proportion of the wastewater sludge generated by Beckton Sewage Treatment Works (STW) in East London to Riverside STW using 2 (No.) 8km buried pipelines. These twin pipelines were originally installed in the late 1960s to pump sludge in the opposite direction from Riverside to Beckton where it […]

Bickerstaffe Pumping Station (2017)

The Southport Demand Monitoring Zone (DMZ) comprises ten supply zones with a population of approximately 245,000 covering the majority of the areas of the District Councils of West Lancashire and Sefton. Southport DMZ suffers from a number of issues including (i) peak demand during the summer months (ii) population growth (iii) water management. To overcome […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct (Bleddfa) - Birmingham Resilience Project (2017)

At the height of the industrial revolution, Birmingham’s population was booming. Between 1800 and 1900, the city had grown substantially. An innovative solution was needed to provide its residents and industries with safe drinking water. James Mansergh had identified the Elan Valley as a source for water. With Birmingham located so far in land, the […]

Bransholme Surface Water Pumping Station (2017)

Hull’s response to the 2007 flooding that affected thousands of homes in the Bransholme catchment is now complete and operational. This saw Yorkshire Water appoint Black & Veatch (now Binnies) to carry out a feasibility study followed by a design and build contract for a new pumping station. The new Bransholme Surface Water Pumping Station (SWPS), […]

Bristol Road Sewer Pumping Station (2017)

Burnham Jetty is the only ‘poor’ bathing water site in the Wessex Water region as categorised by the EU Revised Bathing Water Directive. Wessex Water has been working with the Environment Agency and committed £39 million to 12 schemes to improve this rating. Bristol Road Sewer Pumping Station (SPS) and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) rebuild […]

Bynea Sewage Pumping Station (2017)

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) is carrying out a strategic package of works in the Llanelli and Gowerton catchments with the aim of reducing spills into the Loughor Estuary. Bynea Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) is a key asset, receiving sewage flows from the local catchment and transferring them to Llanelli WwTW. The site originally operated […]

Cowley Trunk Main Project (2017)

Following a burst on the existing 24” trunk main running along the Oxford Eastern Bypass in September 2014 causing severe flooding, Thames Water made the decision to replace the high risk section of the main to prevent future pipe failures. The Optimise Joint Venture delivered the £6m project, installing 2km of replacement trunk main along […]

Davyhulme WwTW Modernisation Project (2017)

Davyhulme WwTW is United Utilities’ largest wastewater treatment works, which serves over one million people in Greater Manchester; it has been undergoing a £200 million modernisation process, which started on site in 2015 and is now close to construction completion. The upgrade is required to ensure it complies with tighter discharge consents and the impact […]

Heigham WTW (2017)

Heigham Water Treatment Works (WTW) is the main supply of water to Norwich and supplies an average of 42Ml/d of water sourced from the River Wensum at several locations. Potable water is pumped into the Norwich Public Water Supply Zone feeding a multitude of storage reservoirs, booster pumps and properties. The main raw water abstraction […]

Hesketh Bank WwTW (2017)

Hesketh Bank Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) serves a population of approximately 5,800. The catchment of this Lancashire village is mainly residential and much of the surrounding land is dedicated to agriculture. The treatment works is on the edge of the village and is situated close to the River Douglas, near its confluence with the Ribble […]

Horsley WTW (2017)

Northumbrian Water’s Horsley WTW serves around 800,000 people in the Newcastle and Tyneside area. The original works was constructed in 1977 and last extended in 2003. It draws its supply from the nearby River Tyne at Ovingham and the Whittle Dene complex of reservoirs fed from Kielder Water. The existing works has a capacity of […]

Ipswich Tidal Barrier Project (2017)

Ipswich’s position on the estuary of the River Orwell in Suffolk makes it susceptible to both fluvial and tidal flooding. The Ipswich Tidal Barrier Project is the final element of a £58m programme of work by the Environment Agency (EA), to upgrade the flood defences on the East and West bank of the tidal river […]

Irvine Bypass Trunk Main (2017)

An existing, but ageing, 33”-36” diameter potable water main supplying over 40,000 customers in Ayrshire was identified by Scottish Water as requiring replacement. The existing pipeline was to be replaced with a new pipeline constructed of polyethylene (PE) pipe sections butt-fusion welded into 200m long pipe strings. Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA), a joint venture between […]

Minworth STW - Thermal Hydrolysis Plant (2017)

Minworth STW is Severn Trent Water’s largest sewage treatment works and serves a population equivalent of 1.75 million from Birmingham with full flow to treatment of 1,070Ml/d. The works treats sludge arising from a population equivalent of 2.3 million which is made up of indigenous sludge plus imported sludge from the nearby Coleshill STW and […]

Mogden STW (2017)

Mogden Sewage Treatment Works is the second largest in the UK. The first phase was built between 1931 and 1935 at a cost of £1.7 million and covers an area of 55 hectares. The facility treats wastewater from a population equivalent of 1.9 million across a 60 square mile catchment area of north and west […]

Oldham & Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) (2017)

United Utilities is the regional water company for the north west of England, delivering water and wastewater services to 7m people from Cheshire to the Scottish border. Oldham WwTW and Royton WwTW are two major treatment works located in Oldham, to the north east of Manchester. The Oldham and Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) project combines […]

Springs Impounding Reservoir (2017)

United Utilities (UU) is the statutory undertaker for 132 impounding reservoirs (IRs) retained by earth-fill embankment dams which fall under the requirements of the 1975 Reservoir Act. Before the era of ‘Pennine’ type clay core construction techniques, many impounding reservoirs that were constructed around the turn of the nineteenth century were substantially homogenous, comprising of […]

Tideway Central - Vessel Relocation (2017)

London’s sewerage system was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette in the 1850s, for a population of four million people. Whilst the Victorian sewers are still in excellent working condition, they are struggling to cope with the demands of the city’s growth. Every year, tens of millions of tonnes of raw sewage pour into the River […]

Whitburn Spill Reduction (2017)

Northumbrian Water is required to provide investment to reduce spills at Whitburn and St Peter’s, Sunderland in order to comply with the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) by December 2017. Sunderland (north) is an urban catchment of predominantly residential properties and is home to Sunderland’s Blue Flag award winning beaches at […]

Woolston WwT Scheme - Part 2 (2017)

Built in 1966, Southern Water’s Woolston WwTW uses conventional activated sludge plant (ASP) to treat sewage flows from part of the Southampton conurbation, serving a population of approximately 62,000 people. The site occupies an area of 1.26 hectares. The existing sewerage system which feeds into the WwTW collects both wastewater and stormwater from the Woolston […]

MGF celebrates turning 40!

MGF are proud to announce that this month marks our 40th anniversary! Whilst we can’t get together to celebrate, we are reminiscing about the “good old days”.

MGF is now open in Scotland!

After almost a year in action, MGF’s Livingston Depot has been providing excavation safety solutions to those across Scotland

MGF Launch New Lifting Equipment Division

MGF are thrilled to announce the launch of our new Lifting range!

Bridgwater Water Supply

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF successfully came up with a design that suited the complicated ground surrounding the reservoir tank

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF successfully managing ground movement during construction works

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF successfully install temporary works within 2 weeks

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF offer a cost effective and safe solution that was easy for the contractor to install

Sewer Replacement in Shallow Trench

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF GRiPSHORE range used over traditional shoring methods

Vyrnwy Large Diameter Trunk Main

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF provided expert temporary works designs for over 100 excavations

Walton le Dale WwTW

Celebrating 40 years! A look back - MGF make simple made-to-measure systems that were easy to install/remove