Scottish Water, the fourth largest water and wastewater services provider in the UK, has teamed up with engineering, consulting and construction company Black & Veatch and piping solutions providers KWH Pipe to employ an innovative concept of mobile pipe production that will reduce costs and environmental impact in a project to upgrade Edinburgh’s water treatment facilities.

Scottish Water is currently carrying out a major project in excess of £100m to build the new Glencorse Water Treatment Works (WTW) and replace ageing mains and storage tanks providing water to Edinburgh and surrounding areas. The aim is to facilitate the city’s continued expansion and improve the quality of drinking water to around 450,000 customers throughout Edinburgh. The whole project is planned for completion in September 2011.

“It is the largest single project of its kind in our current investment program of £2.4 billion. In the tendering process, Black & Veatch offered the best mix of quality and cost. The bonus for us was that the Edinburgh project will have the same team that successfully managed the Katrine Project,” says Gus Conejo-Watt, capital investment delivery manager at Scottish Water.

As a result of the Katrine project, Glasgow has, since October 2007, been enjoying fresher water than ever. The WTW was delivered more than two months ahead of schedule and £10 million under budget. The project received the prestigious Capital Project Management Award in December 2007 and the Saltire Awards for Civil Engineering in October 2008. Among other things, the judges were impressed by the innovative nature of the project.

"In order to protect the 150 year old listed causeway and other reservoir structures, Scottish Water, Black & Veatch and KWH Pipe came up with a scheme of laying the large diameter water supply pipes across the bed of the reservoir,” says Conejo-Watt. “All parties involved were pleased with the solution, which reduced the risk of damage to the historic structures.”

“One of the reasons that KWH Pipe, as a fairly small player in the UK, have won these prestigious projects, is our ability to not only supply pipes, but to deliver a solution that allows customers to save time and money while working in an environmentally sustainable manner”, says George Merry, managing director of KWH Pipe (UK) Ltd.

In the case of the Glencorse Edinburgh project, a major part of the innovation consists of producing the high density polyethylene pipes adjacent to the actual construction site, minimising transport costs, traffic disruptions and reducing the carbon footprint of the project. KWH Pipe has set up its mobile production plant on the outskirts of the city, next to the pipeline route. Once it has produced the 15 kilometres of large diameter pipes needed for the project, it will move onto another project somewhere else in the world, leaving the site in an enhanced condition.

"This mobile plant set-up will save a lot of energy, as the need for heavy traffic delivering to the construction site will be minimised,” says Bryan Mackie, Project Manager at Black & Veatch. “The mobile plant also enables us to minimise welding by producing longer pipes than usual, which makes installation more efficient than in the Katrine project.”

“The 22-metre pipes produced at the mobile plant are the longest pipes ever produced in the UK”, continues George Merry. “Longer pipes mean about 500 welds less, which really simplifies the installation process on the whole and results in an extremely competitive overall installed cost. With fewer joints, the risk for leakage is also less. However, in case specifications change, we can produce pipes of any length and pressure class in sizes DN/OD 630 – 1600 mm.”

A steady stream of visitors shows that there has been a great interest in the state-of-the-art production facility. Production will continue until mid-June 2009, but George Merry says that the mobile plant could remain at its current location for a limited time in case Scottish Water or other potential customers decide to purchase more pipe. /ins

Picture caption:

KWH Pipe’s mobile plant is located at an industrial area next to the pipeline
route
© Scottish Water

Picture caption:
Pipe can be produced in any size between 630 and 1600 mm
© Oy KWH Pipe Ab

KWH Pipe in brief

KWH Pipe is a provider of plastic piping solutions in Europe, Southeast Asia and North America. KWH Pipe also develops technology and sells equipment that complements core operations. More information is available at kwhpipe.co.uk and kwhpipe.com.

For additional information, contact:

Oy KWH Pipe Ab

John Reinlund

P.O. Box 21
FI-65101 VAASA
FINLAND

Phone: +358 40 860 7086
Fax: +358 6 315 3088

www.kwhpipe.com

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