Compost waste cleared

The job involved deploying a jetting and vacumation vehicle called a DISAB Centurion, which has a liquid ring pump, giving it additional suction power over long hose runs.

The machine is capable of removing a large variety of waste, including powders, ash, granular material, sludge and aggregates, even rubble. A standard jet vac tanker worked alongside the DISAB to provide water jetting.

A risk assessment and method statement to allow the Lanes teams to work in a potentially hazardous area was agreed with Amey.

A three-person confined spaces team, all wearing breathing apparatus, worked in rotation. While one drainage engineer operated the jetting and vacuumation hoses, a second provided support, and a third stood in reserve. All three were in line of sight at all times.

As part of this work, 20 sumps, measuring 1.5 metres deep and two metres square, were pumped out. The same confined entry techniques were used to clean a 247 cubic metre leachate tank on another floor.

While this work was underway, atomiser machines were used to spray a fine mist of water around the jet vac vehicles to supress odours, so the impact of the clean-up work on local residents was minimised.