Industry Insight Tours – Peacehaven Wastewater Treatment Plant

This March the Sustainable Business Network took 20 businesses to Peacehaven Wastewater Treatment Plant to find out what happens to our wastewater once it has left the sewers, as part of the Green Growth Platform ‘Industry Insight Tours’ series of events.

Our helpful Southern Water Guide led us around the state of the art facility which became operational in 2013 and features a living roof which at 18,000m² is the largest living roof in the UK and the equivalent to 3 football pitches.

The facility was linked to existing local sewerage systems by using tunnel-boring machines constructing up to 37 meters of tunnel a day and the plant now treats 95 million litres of wastewater a day from sewers from Brighton and Hove and the surrounding areas.

The water is pumped up into the plant and into chambers. First fat, oil, grease and grit are removed in aerated channels; scrapers clear settling solids from the bottom and scum tubes clear floating debris from the top. The water then receives primary treatment as it passes up through llamella clarifiers which coagulate the sludge until it is heavy enough to sink to the bottom where it is channelled away.

The secondary treatment comes as water passes through biological aerated flooded filters (BAFFs), containing thousands of small polystyrene-like beads which act to provide a surface for bacteria to break down organic compounds in the water.

The llamellas and BAFFs replace traditional settling pools. Without them the site would need to be 10 times as large to cope with the amount of wastewater received! A combined heat and power unit on site means that the gases produced during the treatment processes can be used to generate power.

Once the water is treated and cleaned it is released 2.5km offshore at Friars Bay.

Industry Insight Tours continue in April to Woodlands In-Vessel Composting Facility.

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The Green Growth Platform supports a thriving and innovative green sector in Sussex through a unique menu of business services delivered by a team of industry specialists, business advisors and university experts. The Platform offers businesses 1-2-1 coaching, events and networking, innovation and R&D support and skills and training. For more information and free membership, please visit www.greengrowthplatform.co.uk.

The Sustainable Business Network is pleased to be working in partnership with the Green Growth Platform to run a series of networking events, site tours and specialist seminars: www.sustainablebusiness.org.uk/network