Commissioned by Aquafin, Aclagro built a small-scale wastewater treatment plant (KWZI) along the Klijtebeek in the West-Flemish municipality of Heuvelland over the past few months. For this project, the contracting company collaborated with the experts at Collinet. Patricia Bauwens, Head of the Operational Office at Aclagro, explains how this collaboration unfolded in practice.
Improve water quality
“This WWTP project fits within the objective of the local administration and Aquafin to improve the water quality of the Klijtebeek,” confirms Patricia Bauwens. “To ensure the treatment plant operates optimally, the Flanders Environment Agency commissioned the municipality of Heuvelland to disconnect as much rainwater as possible locally from the sewer pipes in the village center and to discharge this water to the same Klijtebeek. The construction of a separate sewer system was also part of this plan.”
Collinet as engineering partner
For the preparation and development of this project, Patricia and her colleagues relied on Collinet's expertise. “Their team handled the creation of the execution drawings and the production of six HDPE manholes, three of which were made from double-walled pipes with a diameter of 1,500 millimeters. Additionally, we could count on Collinet for the installation of the overflow gates and wall sluices in the manholes, as well as the placement of fiberglass-reinforced gratings on the manholes, including the necessary supports.”
Plug & play
Kristel Vanmolle, Sales Engineer at Collinet, explains the advantages of these manholes. “One of the strengths is the easy installation of all kinds of accessories – such as sluice gates, overflow gates, and valves – in the manholes, which can be operated both manually and electrically. Moreover, they are easily accessible for maintenance and inspection. As a supplier, we also had the opportunity to prefabricate the manholes in our workshop and deliver them ‘plug & play’ to the construction site. With a lightweight HDPE design, we were able to guarantee a quick installation, in collaboration with Aclagro.”
Weir gates and penstocks
Both the weir gates and penstocks will soon come in handy, Patricia confirms: “The function of the weir gates is to maintain the media level upstream. With a simple turning movement, the customer can set the desired level, allowing excess water to flow over the gate plate to the lower-lying property. Penstocks serve as shut-off valves to temporarily block or allow (waste) water to pass through.”
Deadline met
“At the end of June 2023, the pits on the site were finished with the installation of GRP gratings on them,” says Kristel. “The scheduled delivery deadline before the 2023 construction holiday was therefore easily met. This is partly thanks to the excellent cooperation between the teams of Collinet and Aclagro!”
Aclagro
Wondelgem - Heist-op-den-Berg
specialized in soil remediation, water treatment, infrastructure, demolition works, asbestos abatement
