Our teams have worked with local project partner AQS Environmental Solutions to clean one of the largest service reservoirs in Ireland.

The 2 stage project completed during November was a huge success with the complex works being completed on time to the hour. The accuracy of planning allowed Irish Water to have their asset back into supply weeks earlier than if traditional methods had been employed, reducing risk to the network.

The reservoirs at Belgard are some of the largest in Ireland and store final treated water just prior to the customer taps.

During the project, the tanks were isolated from supply and drained. AQS then provided state of the art Superflex Jet Vac equipment to remove 930m3 of sludge from within the reservoir compartments.

Once empty our teams lead by Cleaning Supervisor Neil MacDonald cleaned every inch of the reservoir that has a floor area of 22,000m2.

Neil explains how the teams were able to clean the reservoirs so quickly, “Traditional cleaning methods involve using high-pressure jetters/washers. To be effective these require the teams to be close up to the tank surfaces, including the walls that can reach 10m high, this would, therefore, require scaffolding, additionally as pressure washing can only clean small areas at any one time it can take days or weeks to work around a large reservoir such as Belgard.”

“Using our PM100 cleaning system we can remove biofouling through a low pressure/chemical process delivered in a wide spray, this allows application to much larger areas and as we use extending lances scaffolding is not required.”

“As the Supervisor of the cleaning department in the business I have multiple teams out cleaning reservoirs like this every day of the week in the UK, it is brilliant to be extending this in Ireland and to be working with the guys from AQS”.

The products used in the cleaning are specifically designed for drinking water reservoirs.

Rónán Beasley, Technical Director at AQS was also thrilled at the project outcomes, “It has been great to work so closely with the team from Panton McLeod, by combining our individual strengths we were able to deliver this critical project to the highest standard, on cost, and on time. We look forward to working together on future projects for the benefit of our client Irish Water.”

Jim Panton also looks forward to further opportunities for the two companies, “We have supported a number of projects in Ireland over the past 10 year but this one stands out, not just due to its scale but also as it was such a huge success, Rónán and the team have been excellent partners and played a massive part in its success. I think their capability to manage the waste materials brilliantly complements our range of Water Quality Engineering services be that PM100 cleaning, pipeline commissioning or robotic services.”

Key facts and figures:

• 100ml – Total stored volume of reservoirs.
• 22,000m2 – Internal floor area cleaned.
• 2 weeks – Total time to empty and clean both cells.
• 930m3 – Amount of sludge removed from the 2 cells.
• 60m – Horiztonal distance pulled by the SuperFlex jet vac.
• 1000m3 – Amount of water overpumped.

To find out more about AQS click here

For more information, contact our team on 01896 663 330 or email info@pantonmcleod.co.uk

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