WPL Wins Thames Water Contract For SAF Units

• Package treatment specialist secures competitively tendered framework
• WPL scores highly on customer satisfaction and innovation
• HiPAF plants will bring mains sewerage to remote rural locations

Wastewater treatment specialist WPL has won an exclusive contract to provide below-ground HiPAF packaged plants to Thames Water in AMP 6 (2015-2020). The company will supply and maintain integrated submerged aerated filter (SAF) plants to the utility during the current investment period.

The HiPAF SAF units are typically used to deliver wastewater treatment to small settlements and villages which have not previously had mains sewage. Below-ground installation means that they make minimal visual impact to the landscape.

Simon Kimber, Sales and Marketing Director for WPL said: “It’s great news for us. WPL won this contract in a highly competitively tendered framework, securing this valuable business reflects the confidence Thames Water has in our products and the service we provide.”

WPL specialises in custom-made plants that can be designed to suit hard-to-access rural sites. The company has more than 25 years experience of manufacturing and maintaining wastewater treatment plants and has a reputation for combining robust technology with high environmental standards.

Rural sites

Simon Kimber said: “Thames Water has a lot of small rural sites, particularly in parts of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. WPL HiPAF plants are designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, which is a great bonus in rural and environmentally sensitive locations.

“We will be supplying plants which combine primary settlement, SAF technology and final settlement in a single unit. By manufacturing the plants off-site at WPL’s purpose built engineering facility in Waterlooville, we can ensure consistent quality control in a controlled environment.

WPL will be the sole supplier of integrated SAF plants to Thames Water during the current regulatory asset management period (AMP6). It is expected the utility will install around a dozen plants during that time.

Value for money

The framework was awarded on the basis of health and safety criteria, customer satisfaction, value-for-money, innovation and collaboration. WPL scored particularly highly on innovation, value-for-money and customer satisfaction.

Simon Kimber said: “WPL has a history of supplying integrated SAF plants to Thames Water and we are delighted this relationship is set to continue.”