Cornish Metals is using eight Bredel 40 hose pumps and three Qdos chemical metering and dosing pumps from Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions (WMFTS) in its newly opened water treatment plant (WTP) at South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall, England.
South Crofty ceased producing tin in 1998 but Cornish Metals is working to reopen it, aiming to reinstate production by 2026.
Before Cornish Metals can begin extracting tin, it must dewater the flooded mine and treat e8 million m3 of contaminated water so that it meets standards set by the Environment Agency.
The treated, clean water is then discharged into the nearby Red River at a rate of up to 25,000m3/day (882, 866 cubic feet).
As part of the process to decontaminate water pumped out of the underground tin mine, the Bredel pumps are used for transferring sludge, while the Qdos pumps are dosing hydrogen peroxide to oxidise the contaminated metals in the mine water at the WTP. Cornish Metals expects the dewatering of South Crofty to take 18 months.
Qdos is accurately dosing hydrogen peroxide during the cleaning of the contaminated mine water, to oxidise the metals and cause iron and arsenic to precipitate out of the solution, in the first of five process steps at the WTP.
Bredel hose pumps provide the process with reliable, low maintenance and contained transfer of thick sludge - containing contaminants such as iron, manganese and arsenic - which is separated from the treated water in stages two and four.
The Bredel hose pumps are transferring sludge out from the lamella clarifier into a tank, where the sludge is thickened, and then pumping the thickened sludge to another tank from where it is transported to a nearby site for underground storage.
Steven Kingstone, South Crofty project manager at Cornish Metals, said: “We are lucky in Cornwall to have a number of suppliers such as Watson-Marlow, producing high quality equipment that we can utilise in the reconstruction of South Crofty mine.
“This highlights the importance that we place on buying local where we can, which ensures that the reopening of South Crofty benefits the local population and economy as much as possible. As the site develops, we look forward to continuing to work with Watson-Marlow.”
Bredel and Qdos pumps deployed at water treatment plant
