Pollution investigation services

Description

This procurement covers the investigation of polluted surface water sewer outfalls by testing and tracing of the affected sewer network to determine where misconnections or other pollution sources exist, contacting owners of properties where misconnections have been identified and liaising with property owners whilst they action the required rectifications to their drainage. This procurement covers a specialist service whereby suppliers resolve polluted surface outfalls that are suspected of suffering from widespread misconnections of household appliances (e.g. washing machines), raw sewage sources (toilets) and in other cases trade effluent from commercial premises. Thames Water is alerted to the possibility of a polluted outfall by reports from the Environmental Agency, Local Councils, Thames’s own work force, stakeholder groups or the public. We run the surface water outfall programme (SWOP) in conjunction with the Environment Agency to identify outfalls to watercourses suffering from wastewater pollution. These outfalls have been diagnosed with widespread diffuse sources, likely third-party misconnections. Misconnections on private properties are the responsibility of the property owner. Outstanding misconnections which have not been resolved by customers, will be handed to the relevant Local Authority for legal action. Projects will be awarded mini competition or Direct Award by the Environmental Protection Team (EPT) of Thames Water. Once a project is awarded, the supplier traces the pollution and narrows down the areas in a catchment that require further investigation. Property surveys are then carried out in these areas which includes initial letters to notify properties of the survey requirement and the standard PSWO letters to advise owners of any issues and/or misconnections that are identified by surveys of pipework using dye testing, caging, CCTV etc. A project is split into 4 main stages: — pre-survey – initial planning stages before field work, — field investigations – including pollution tracing and required property surveys, — rectifications – where all field work is complete and misconnections are awaiting rectification by owners. Projects will be awarded under the terms of the agreement via mini-competitions or direct award directly by Thames Water. We aim to appoint a maximum of 3 suppliers to the framework agreement.