This Valentine’s Day, owners and operators of reed beds should commit to showing them some love for commercial, environmental, and reputational reasons.
Category: Oren Environmental
Controlling water flow from an abandoned mine to a nearby river
The situation
When water fills our customer’s abandoned asset, it’s pumped to a nearby river.
However, the water within the asset contains potentially harmful deposits and high salinity levels, so it can only be discharged into the river when the river is deep enough to dilute it.
The water levels in the asset must also be carefully controlled to prevent water from escaping into unknown, unmonitored, and underground channels and polluting watercourses.
The optimal pumping solution to lower costs and prevent pollution
The situation
A pumping station feeding water to a treatment scheme was failing too often, becoming costly and time-consuming to fix. The customer approached Oren Environmental to find a long-term, more cost-effective solution to the problem.
Improving treatment processes through desludging settlement lagoons
The situation
Oren Environmental operates and maintains many water treatment schemes across the UK for customers, manages reed beds, and undertakes large-scale desludging projects for various commercial organisations.
As industry leaders in our sector, our customer asked us to desludge two settlement lagoons at their water treatment scheme.
Severn questions with Billy Hurst from Oren Environmental
Billy Hurst is a construction supervisor for Oren Environmental. He began working for the company over five years ago and has worked on over 80 reed beds.
He describes his role, how he came to work for Oren Environmental, and why reed bed maintenance is essential.
Severn questions with Ross for International Men’s Day
Today is International Men’s Day, and this year’s theme is ‘Positive Male Role Models’.
We met with Ross Brown, Sales Manager at Oren Environmental, who’s recently completed the Hertfordshire Half Marathon at Knebworth House.
He explained that his job involves helping organisations keep their reed beds in tip-top condition. He also talks about how the “runner’s high”—the euphoric feeling people experience after a run when the endorphins kick in—helps him perform at his best at work and home.
Severn Questions with Charlie Anderson from Oren Environmental
It’s Nurturing November in Severn Trent Services, where people are encouraged to take advantage of mentor sessions with the senior leadership team to help nurture their careers.
Charlie Anderson is a highly experienced water industry expert and a service delivery lead at Oren Environmental. He tells us a little about his extensive career journey so far, including what makes him tick, what ticks him off, and how he’s helped nurture the careers of people who’ve worked for him over the years.
Severn questions with Alastair Pentland for World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day is on 10 October every year, and this year, the theme is workplace mental health.
We spoke to Alastair Pentland, Environmental Operations Manager at Oren Environmental. Alastair is a mental health first aider, equipped to recognise the early signs of mental health issues in his colleagues and to support them.
Why are reed beds often built and forgotten?
A reed bed is a nature-based solution for treating water. It can be used in the final stage of the wastewater treatment process, ensuring water is ‘polished’ before being discharged into watercourses and the wider environment.
However, a reed bed system can often be neglected despite its essential role, leading to suboptimal performance and potentially harmful environmental consequences. But why does this happen?
We spoke to Ross Brown, Sales Manager at Oren Environmental, who explained why reed beds are often built and forgotten.
5 ways we take a sustainable approach to our reed bed work
We understand the crucial role a well-maintained reed bed can play in water treatment. We also acknowledge that reed beds are valuable ecosystems that provide a habitat for various plant and animal species.
That’s why maintaining them requires a sustainable approach, too, to ensure their health and effectiveness while enhancing their environmental performance. Here are five examples of sustainable practices we use to manage and maintain reed beds, which often challenge traditional methods offered within our industry.
