Garside Sands make waves at Thames Water

Company supplies 2,400 tonnes of Slowfil sand to improve water quality across London and the Thames Valley

GARSIDE Sands have supplied more than 2,400 tonnes of their pioneering Slowfil sand to Thames Water as part of an ongoing programme to improve water quality for customers across London and the Thames Valley.

Thames Water – the UK’s largest water and waste water providers – serve 15 million customers and purify their drinking water using the traditional method of slow sand filtering at their five operational sites.

Garside Sands, part of Aggregate Industries, supplied the sand following a successful trial last year in conjunction with anthracite filter media specialists Western Carbons. The product meets the strict industry standard for size, grading and colour required for the production of safe drinking water.

Doug Cook of Western Carbons, who installed the filtration media for the specification, said: ‘Having a highly accurate specification of sand plays a crucial role in ensuring that our water filtration process is safe.

‘Garside Sands worked closely with us to understand what it was that we needed and, following a successful trial last October, they were able to provide us with a finely graded sand which offered the right level of permeability to manage the removal of microorganisms. We are delighted with the results so far.’

Clive Martin, commercial manager at Garside Sands, said: ‘Slow sand filtering was a method adopted back in Victorian-times and, despite the revolution in technology, is still considered one of the most effective forms of water purification today – all while being incredibly cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

‘If the sand is of high quality, we know that these filters can produce water that has a 90–99% bacterial cell count reduction. As such, we ensured that we spent the right amount of time in developing a sand that would help to both enhance and maintain the quality of water that Thames Water’s slow sand filters can continue to produce for years to come.’