The Eden Valley Mineral Water Company (EVMWC) in Cumbria bottles and sells spring water. The site generates two types of wastewater: process wastewater from plant clean-up (trade waste) and foul water from the site.

Since there's no nearby sewer, they need to treat the wastewater on-site before releasing it into the local River Beck. The existing treatment system included blending the two waste streams, filtering through screens, and further treatment through a reedbed system and a lagoon.

However, they began experiencing more frequent issues with the treated water quality, particularly with ammonia levels, which led to out-of-spec discharges. To address this, a packaged treatment plant was installed to treat foul waste before mixing it with trade waste for further treatment in the reedbed and lagoon.

With production demand increasing by 15-20% each year, they anticipated needing new production lines, which would add pressure to the wastewater system. As a result, EVMWC requested an upgrade to their reedbed system.

ARM surveyed the site and found issues with the reedbed’s capacity and flow. The existing horizontal flow system couldn't handle the load effectively. To fix this, ARM:

  • Converted the reedbed to a vertical flow system for better capacity.

  • Installed a new surface water distribution system and an effluent collection system.

  • Used larger media for filtration.

  • Added aeration to enhance treatment capacity.

They also improved the lagoon’s level control and optimized operating conditions.

EVMWC’s existing reedbed system wasn’t keeping up with increased production, and they needed more reliability for future growth. The upgrades by ARM enhanced the system’s capacity, ensuring it could meet discharge consent even with further production increases.