Digital Monitoring Prevents Pollution at St Andrews Site
Real-time data insights helped Scottish Water avoid over-pumping and environmental risks during critical repairs at a major station.
Engineers successfully utilized remote monitoring technology to avert potential sewage overflows and costly bypass operations at a strategic pumping station in St. Andrews.
The St. Nicholas Sewage Pumping Station, a terminal site receiving flows from five upstream locations, was undergoing planned maintenance to replace an inlet gate valve and a non-return valve. During the project, crews discovered a failing isolation valve that prevented the replacement of the non-return valve without fully draining the line.
Standard emergency procedures would have required “over-pumping”—using temporary bypass equipment—or a fleet of vacuum tankers to manage high inflows. However, the volume of water exceeded available tanker capacity, and over-pumping presented high costs and potential disruption to the surrounding area, including the local golf course.
The project team opted to restrict flows from the five upstream stations, using their internal storage capacity to hold water while the main line at St. Nicholas was drained and repaired. This strategy relied on the Avensor monitoring system, a digital service that provides live data on water levels and equipment health via a mobile application.
While two stations provided constant remote data, engineers performed periodic manual checks at the remaining three. The real-time intelligence allowed the team to remotely monitor conditions and only attend sites to pump water in a controlled manner when necessary.
The station was returned to full operation without the need for temporary pumping infrastructure. Officials noted the approach reduced environmental risk by preventing potential pollution events and resulted in significant cost savings.
Following the successful intervention, Scottish Water has requested additional work at the site to further integrate digital monitoring.
About the Author
Jesse Jacobs is Assistant Editor of EPOnline.com.
