For established quarrying company and concrete products supplier E&JW Glendinning, keeping environmental impact to a minimum is a primary concern.

The company, which operates from a number of sites throughout Devon, was in need of expertise from a specialist pumping provider to help it solve a particular problem at its Pigsdon Quarry site at Bude, in Cornwall.

The site is used for quarrying high PSV gritstone, popular as an ideal material for road surfacing. Glendinning works closely with the Environment Agency to ensure its activities at Pigsdon have as little impact on its surroundings as possible.

Pigsdon’s location in an area of the UK subject to high rainfall means that there is a need to safely handle a significant amount of surface run-off as well as some additional water discharged during the quarrying process.

This water is collected in lagoons created around the site for the purpose, and because it contains high volumes of silt it needs to be thoroughly filtered before it can be safely discharged into a nearby stream.

Glendinning had installed a capable filtration system, but its problem was in finding a pumping solution capable of flowing water into it at the high volumes required.

Reliability, ease of maintenance and minimal downtime were key requirements for the site, where monthly sampling checks are carried out, both upstream at the point of discharge into the local river and downstream, to ensure strict limits on PH value, aluminium levels and levels of suspended solids are adhered to.

Selwood’s specialists set to work to find the best and most efficient solution for the job in hand. Having considered a drainer pump, Selwood settled on an S100 solids handling pump, ideally suited to the application due to its ability to operate at volumes of up to 160 cubic metres an hour.

The S100 is now on site at Pigsdon, joining two other Selwood pumps previously purchased by Glendinning, all three pumps are being supported by our new Selwood depot in Saltash.

The pump is in near constant operation with minimal maintenance required, ensuring that Glendinning can continue to quarry with peace of mind that their environmental obligations are being met.