The challenge: Isolating reservoirs without stemming the flow

摘要

In the North, Northumbrian Water has in excess of 220 service reservoirs, providing a number of different uses. Some are predominantly used for breaking pressure and/or strategic storage for network resilience, or eliminating variation in demand. Wherever possible the company also likes its treatment works to operate at steady flows. "That's how we achieve the best water quality and most efficient results, when they're running at a stable flow," says Mark Pledger, Northumbrian Water senior technical advisor, strategic networks. So with the control and operation of service reservoirs being a complex procedure, taking the reservoir out of service for inspection and cleaning adds to the dilemma of ensuring minimal impact on customers. Many service reservoirs have ball valves as inlet control mechanisms, and manual access into the reservoir is required for maintenance, causing potential safety and water quality issues.