Mon, 06 Mar 2006

Ecological wastewater treatment scheme wins another prize

CASTLETON, Yorkshire (NNA) – Iris Water & Design, which last year won a series of prestigious awards for its ecological wastewater treatment scheme at the village of Scrayingham, has scooped another prize.

At the “Landscape Scale Wetlands - Developing Visions” conference, held to coincide with the World Wetland Day on 2 February, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) chose the Scrayingham wastewater treatment system as the winner of the “Small Living Wetlands Award 2006”.

The project, designed and built by Iris Water & Design for Yorkshire Water, was submitted for the prize by the water company.

“I am really thrilled and pleased with this award, let’s hope it leads to further ecological pond and wetland systems being built in the UK,” Andrew Joiner from Iris Water & Design said in a statement.

The system consists of a series of ponds with rock filters on a natural slope allowing the wastewater to flow through the system by gravity alone. The treatment process relies solely on the light and warmth from the sun and air, making it naturally sustainable and low maintenance. The micro-organisms that occur in wetland and aquatic ecosystems are exploited to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment process. Another element of the process is the development of diverse and stable ecological communities of plants and animals in proximity to the water treatment system.

The award will be presented by CIWEM at its annual dinner on 5 April 2006.

END/nna/cva

Item: 060306-01EN 6 March 2006

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