As the environmental work gets underway in Lenham, follow the progress of this multi-million investment project in the Lenham blog diary.
The planting of the reed beds at Lenham WTW is now complete – with a helping hand from the local MP, Hugh Robertson.
Despite the showers, Mr Robert toured the works and planted the last few reeds of the 7,500 which make up the four new beds.
He showed a keen interest in the construction and works in a tour led by myself, Jon Crooke, Southern Water’s Assistant Director of Operations and Morrisons Project Manager Tom Hughes.
While the reeds are small, the new beds are flooded to a depth of around 50 mm to prevent rabbits eating the young plants. During the next few months they will grow to around a metre high and wastewater will be spread across the shingle. This adds a tertiary treatment process to provide the final polish before the cleaned water is recycled to the Great Stour.
Mr Robertson was invited back to the site later this year to see the completed works and how his reeds have flourished.
Published by Gary Sayers on 20/5/2009 at 11:22:48
I'll keep you up to date with progress throughout the project via this blog and explain the various structures and equipment as they come on line.
We've made a good start at Lenham. We set up on the site back in February and immediately started on ground work to create the reed beds. This is now complete and we hope to start planting the reeds within the next few weeks.
A couple of large holes have been dug ready for the construction of a new humus tank and distribution chamber. In addition the base that will support the nitrifying trickling filters is progressing well.
The upgraded works will be able to cope with almost double the amount of wastewater and comply with stringent new consents. This is testament to Southern Water's commitment to cater for more demand and continually improve the quality of water recycled to the environment.
Tony Wilson is our site manger and he along with all the site construction teams enjoyed a plate of fish and chips last week as a thank you for achieving an accident free working month.
I'll report next time on the distinguished reed planter who’s been lined up by Southern Water's communications team and tell you a little about our farmer neighbour at Lenham, farmer. In the meantime stay safe.
Published by Tom Hughes on 30/4/2009 at 14:12:22
