Complex pipework at Oldham WwTW

United Utilities is the water company in the North West of England, and in 2015, they appointed Black and Veatch as the main contractor on the The Oldham and Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS).

The project involved closing the Royton wastewater treatment works (WwTW), transfering flow 4.2km to Oldham and upgrading the Oldham treatment works to treat the combined flows to meet a higher river water quality standard. At both sites, additional storm storage was also required to reduce storm discharge and improve the River Irk.

As the large buried pipework sub-contractor, we were part of the team modernising the Oldham site which included installing 900mm ductile iron pipework into the ASP (activated sludge plant) distribution chamber.
The pipes were to drain the ASP lanes into the final settlement tanks.

This posed a particular challenge as we were connecting pipework into two fixed points without using VJ adaptors. We drew on all our years of experience with similar projects to ensure all angles and lengths were 100% accurate, and that the pipes were slung correctly to make sure they aligned with the two fixed points.

The project was completed successfully, on time and on budget.