Major Modular Upgrade at Alderney WTW with Advanced Ceramic Membrane Technology

RSE is involved in the upgrade of the existing Alderney WTW in Bournemouth, as a trusted water technology solutions provider offering products for purifying drinking water, recycling effluent and cleaning water in industrial processes. RSE has been contracted by South West Water to design, manufacture, install and commission a new 84MLD ceramic membrane treatment plant with upfront ozone dosing.  The ceramic membrane treatment process selected was the PWNT CeraMac® 37 system.

Utilising an offsite modular build approach allowed for significant programme efficiencies to be made as it allowed the existing civils works to run concurrently with the fabrication and assembly of the new building within RSE’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and while PWNT’s CeraMac® units were being fabricated in Italy and The Netherlands.

Starting work for our client in April 2023, RSE expedited critical path design and prioritised critical procurement items to secure the quickest programme possible. This facilitated fabrication commencement within 5 months of our start date, allowing the off-site modular build to start in early 2024. The first modular unit was delivered to site in October 2024, having already been factory tested, allowing RSE to programme a commissioning start in January 2025.

At the close of 2024, RSE achieved a major milestone in the delivery of our scope at Alderney WTW, successfully transporting and reassembling the entirety of our offsite modular build Ozonated Ceramic Membrane Plant on-site in Bournemouth.

This is the largest offsite modular build ceramic membrane plant in the UK and has been delivered at twice the speed of traditional projects, with 70 no. modular units transported to site over only an 8-week period. 

The successful logistics programme required meticulous logistical planning, and involved securing strong collaboration with our client, tier 1 principal contractor and subcontractors. The full delivery schedule ensured all relevant authorities, and the site team, had assurances as to exactly where each unit was located at any day or time.

Enabling all involved to clearly visualise our delivery strategy was paramount, meaning the in-house RSE BIM team used the Autodesk Construction Cloud Federated Model to prepare a step-by-step 4D animation of the delivery and re-building of the plant.

RSE Alderney WTW Programme Key Dates: 

• Contract Award – April 23
• Procurement Start – May 23
• Off-Site Fabrication Start – September 23
• Off-Site Assembly Start – March 24
• First Modular Unit Delivered to Site – October 24
• Final Modular Unit Delivery to Site – December 24
• Commissioning Start – January 25

At RSE, we pride ourselves on our team’s ability to deliver against our commitments, offering our clients security with programme and capital expenditure. This can all be achieved due to the strong foundations RSE has built.

Commitment to Excellence & Reliable Delivery

• Critical supply chain agreements.
• Offsite modular build approach driving market-leading safety and sustainability performance.
• Factory quality assured products.
• In-house self-delivery model, utilising group company expertise.
• Automated production processes.
• Reinvestment in innovation-led solutions.
• Access to operational stock.
• 40,800m2 of covered manufacturing space.
• Commitment to compliance.
• Tried and tested standard product solutions.
• Project dedicated specialists.
• UK-wide coverage across 26 facilities.
• Servant leadership model.
• ACC BIM / 4D modelling.
• Client, tier 1 and subcontractor collaboration.
• Real-time geographical tracking.
  

RSE is a leading ESG-focused organisation with over 2000 employees that develops technology and solutions to overcome environmental, technical, and commercial challenges of sustainable water purification technology solutions. ESG Report 2024