Newmore Water Treatment Works

The purpose of the project was to increase the treatment capacity of the works while improving the process response to sudden high raw water colour events, often combined with a turbidity increase. Furthermore, due to its ability to start-up and achieve treatment requirements within minutes, Actiflo has proved to be more effective and versatile than the original clarifiers in dealing with the raw water variations.

The VWS technical solution centers upon the Actiflo^® process, which is ideally suited for difficult-to-treat sources with sudden variations of variable loads of Colour and Turbidity. Actiflo^® is a patented extremely versatile, high-rate, sand ballasted clarification system that effectively removes suspended solids and organic matter in surface water by coagulation / flocculation and lamella settling, achieving extremely low levels of outlet Turbidity and True Colour. Microsand (known as Actisand^®) is utilised as a seed for floc formation, providing a surface area that enhances flocculation and acts as a ballast or weight. The resulting sand ballasted floc enables clarifier designs with high rise rates and short retention times, having a typical footprint between 5 and 20 times smaller than conventional clarification systems of a similar capacity.