Lanes guards against pollution with Aqua Sentry

The UK’s largest independent drainage operation, Lanes, has joined forces with pollution prevention specialist Aqua Sentry to help organisations avoid spills and pollution of watercourses and systems.

The move is a result of Lanes’ consultancy work with clients aiming to meet IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) legislation, Pollution Prevention Guidelines and ISO14001 Environmental systems.

It should also help them to avoid unnecessary and costly environmental mistakes, says Aqua Sentry’s director Rob Staines: “Contravening European Environmental Directive 2004/35/EC, which uses a ‘polluter pays’ principle, can result in unlimited fines or two years’ imprisonment.

“According to the Environment Agency, every year there are more than 5,000 pollution incidents involving oil, production effluent and fuels in the UK. Although some of these are on land, the vast majority affect the water environment.

“On average, a spill costs a typical business up to £30,000 in fines, clean up charges and production losses.

“With Aqua Sentry monitoring and containment products, clients ensure their facility complies with stringent pollution prevention guidelines and avoid such sanctions.”

The product range includes innovative interceptor monitoring, site closure devices and bund water control units.

Installing level alarms for separators, bunds and oil tanks eliminates unnecessary waste management costs and raises the alarm if there is a pollution risk. Pollution can then be stopped at the touch of a button, thanks to revolutionary closure devices which shut down the drains within seconds, stopping pollution from leaving the site. This immediate response system can be initiated manually, by computer or by mobile phone.

Lanes’ marketing manager, Michelle Ringland, explains why the UK’s largest independent drainage specialist has chosen to partner Aqua Sentry: “Our role is to provide advice as well as practical solutions to our clients. That includes consultancy for organisations aiming for ISO14001 or PPG accreditation through their drainage maintenance and repair programmes and waste management procedures, and providing regular, high quality CCTV surveys and up-to-date CAD drawings.

“Whilst helping clients to devise these overall drainage strategies, we were being asked about pollution containment and prevention and felt that we should be able to offer this service alongside our own. 

“Aqua Sentry is a market leader in this technology, so adding its products and services to our own was a natural choice. And it has already been well received by existing — and new — clients.”