Improved odour control is now in force at United Utilities’ waste water treatment works at Birkenhead, following recent refurbishment by Hygrade, in partnership with Amey.

The odour control plant was originally supplied and installed by Hygrade around 2006, working with Byzak Limited (now part of the Amey Group). It was one of two major odour control plants supplied to United Utilities, with a combined contract value of £2.1 million.

The refurbishment works included the replacement of all existing stainless steel isolation and non-return dampers with corrosion-resistant, all GRP dampers. The design, manufacture and testing were all carried out using Hygrade’s in-house experience and capability.

Hygrade also replaced the existing sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite dosing cabinets with new units, using digital type dosing pumps for precise dosing control of the odour control plant. All the dosing cabinets were designed and assembled at Hygrade Works, including new pipework, pulsation dampeners, calibration tubes, isolating and loading valves.

The existing carbon bed was removed from site and a full diameter flange added to the roof of the unit to allow future access to the internal cages, as and when required. The internal stainless steel perforated cages were also replaced.

The entire refurbishment works were successfully completed with absolute minimum downtime of the odour control plant, since this was of paramount importance to the client.