MJ Abbott

Installation of BioBubble sewage treatment plant

Manor Farm, Wiltshire

Project summary

Groundwater issues successfully overcome

The proposed sewage treatment plant had to deal with the effluent produced by a 1 bedroom flat (with potential for the connection of a 17 bedroom country house in future years) and proposals for a 100 person conference facility/barn conversion. The design of the treatment system was simple in comparison to the difficult ground conditions experienced in previous contracts at this site. The plant had to be designed to cope with relatively low flows for the majority of the year with a sudden influx of additional load perhaps only 10 times year.

The ground water was struck within 1.0m of the ground level and with the conditions found to be largely a soft loamy clay/chalk mix, stability of the ground was very poor. As ground water transmission through the ground was so rapid, simple dewatering was not feasible and 8 no 300mm boreholes had to be drilled around the excavation with a series of umbilical pipe and header pipe work installed and connected to 2 no 6” diesel pumps.

MJ Abbott worked in partnership with Carlow Concrete to form the balance tank and the reactor tank and with Advanced Aeration Ltd (Bio Bubble Technologies) to form a high end and highly reliable sewage treatment system.

The works comprised:

  • Installation of 2 no 4.1m diameter x 3.0m deep concrete tanks
  • 4 no x 3.5m manhole boxes used to support the excavation
  • Drilling 8 no x 300mm boreholes
  • Temporary 6” dewatering pumps employed
  • Conversion of existing outbuilding to control room
  • Installation of 110mm uPVC gravity pipework
  • Installation of manholes/inspection chambers
  • Electrical control equipment including GSM communications and monitoring
  • Electrical connection works by MJ Abbott electrical engineers in accordance with NICEIC standards.

On completion of the system, the plant was filled with water and bacteria introduced to induce the treatment process due to the low inflows initially.

Our customer was thrilled with the final installation and the attention to detail with the reinstatement.

Annual maintenance contracts are in place to ensure the longevity of the system with the minimum of intervention.