BMT Cordah Ltd staff includes hydrogeologists, hydrologists, ecologists and engineers with experience of water supply and wastewater management. BMT Cordah, therefore, can provide an integrated service in the assessment, management and protection of water resources.
In particular we can provide the following services:
Feasibility studies into development of alternative water supplies;
Borehole design and drilling supervision;
Supervision and interpretation of pumping tests and assessment of reliable borehole yields;
Assessment of impacts of abstraction schemes on other water users and ecological sites;
Assessment of water quality in relation to use;
Identification of potential impacts on surface water and groundwater resulting from new developments (eg landfill site, housing, pipeline installation;
Contaminated land investigations to assess possible water pollution sources.
The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) (WFD) is a wide-ranging and ambitious piece of European environmental legislation as transposed in the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.
Its overall objective is to bring about the effective co-ordination of water environment policy and regulation across Europe.
The WFD aims to protect sources of water from depletion as well as maintaining the quality of fresh water available in the environment. Industries which abstract water from surface water courses and underground sources will be required to pay a fee based on the volume removed. This is likely to affect sites where abstracted water is being used as process water or for cooling purposes. Similiary the WFD will affect companies that discharge waste water to surface or groundwater water courses.
Water minimisation techniques can be used to reduce the volume of water being abstracted for use on site. These may include recycling of water within the process by incorporating water management practices, or by treating water for re-use rather than disposal. These techniques can help to reduce water use and minimise the cost of abstraction. Reduced abstraction also has the benefit of reduced disposal costs.