By Steve McCormack
Holidaymakers and watersports enthusiasts visiting South Wales this summer will benefit from a £5.8 million sewerage network upgrade at the resort town of Porthcawl, which was completed in March 2003 for Welsh Water Capital Alliance.
The project created a combined storm overflow (CSO) incorporating approximately 200 metres of three-m-diameter Weholite pipe from Asset International Ltd of Newport, South Wales. The recently completed scheme is the second phase of the multi-million pound upgrade of the wastewater system serving the Porthcawl catchment.
The work was undertaken by David Lewis Civil Engineering under the Alliance in South West Wales, a partnership between Welsh Water and Morrison Construction.
The UK company Hyder Consulting, which designed the scheme, specified Weholite structured-wall plastic pipe because of the restricted site and close proximity to holiday and residential homes. Its manufacturer, Asset International, claims that Weholite pipe reduces overall project costs by up to 15% compared to traditional pipe.
In addition, the project upgraded the Beach Road sewage pumping station that serves the Pen-y-Bont wastewater treatment works, pumping some 320 litres per second. The project added 1,300 m3 of additional attenuation tank storage as part of the CSO to avoid overspill of untreated wastewater into the emergency sea outfall in times of high rainfall.