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SPECIAL SERVICES I ndustrol cleaning manager Jason Parsons reports that
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one division of the Bale Group offers 'special services'. For example, sewage works are designed to handle human waste, but road grit often
finds its way into the system. Grit isn't biodegradable so water companies want it off their premises.
The company dispatches ultra-powerful sucking equipment and personnel who are specialists in dealing with sewer networks, tank cleaning and underwater silt removal.
The suction gear, developed to work more than 300m underwater on North Sea drilling rigs, has been adapted to fit four Bale six-wheeled rig ids. They are all Scan ias, fitted with Danish-made Fiexline tanks.
These specialised rigs carry two pumps: a vacuum pump for suction which can move 34rn3imin, and a compressor.
Compressed air is piped to the end of the hose and injected up the suction pipe. This twopronged process achieves what the Bale Group describes as a "magnificent lift".
Crews are also trained in confined space rescue: "If a man goes down, the rescue team will retrieve him," says Parsons.
Specialised equipment isn't cheap. Special Services manager Allan Dyson reports that the Flexline combined jetting and suction units cost £200,000 apiece. The first was bought four years ago and he expects them to last 10 years.
The Special Services division also has a recycler vacuum tanker. "It draws liquids and solids from the sewer into the tank," Dyson explains. "Water is then drawn from the contents and used for jetting.' This machine is regularly dispatched to help out South West Water.
Then there is the remote reel which is used to clear sewers that can't be reached by Bale trucks—for example sewers in fields. Once at the scene, waste passes along the pipe into a waiting tank.
The remote reel can also be used for jetting. It is compact enough to fit into the back of a van and its simple design means Bale technicians can easily keep it in order. The Flexline units are more complex, but Dyson adds: "We don't have problems with them."