News

February 2022  As evident by the lack of recent news, we continue to be extremely busy with work that takes us from one side of the country to the other.  Over the last few years our team has expanded to include a scientific sample technician, an adminstrator and an additional environmental/ecological consultant.

We continue to provide free, informal advice and will happily discuss potential projects and investigations with clients with no obligation to proceed.

October 2020  Have you ever thought about potential natural pollutants, like wild animal pathogens, which might be affecting your water sources? We have been doing some work recently with water sources in the South of the UK with a reintroduced beaver population. 

July 2020  Despite the challenges of the past few months, we have adapted our processes to be able to provide essential services to enable our clients to re-start their water supplies safely after a period of them being out of use due to lockdown. This involved chlorination and disinfection of established water supplies that had been dormant for a time. We have also been busy travelling and ensuring that those clients with ongoing or new projects requiring our investigation services have been able to receive our services whilst maintaining social distancing. 

March 2020  Due to the continued expansion of the business and demand for our services, we are now VAT registered.  

December 2019  The second half of 2019, saw a higher growth in demand for our services across the business. Whilst we have been providing a steady stream of water testing and sampling across the country, we have also been working on a number of more complex investigations and projects. These have varied in scope from the assessment and project overview of connecting private clients onto the mains supply, often through tricky terrain, all the way to working on off-shore islands providing a range of training, risk assessments and proposals to meet the changing sewerage needs of more remote customers.  

August 2019  We are pleased to welcome aboard Pete Armitage as a new employee.  Pete is assisting with water chlorination services for domestic and industrial pipework which require a water chlorination cerificate prior to connection to the mains water supply. He is also able to issue chlorination or disinfection certificates to customers who are required by contract to ensure the pipework is clean and ready for use. Pete is fully trained and has the necessary EUSR water hygiene card which is a requirement for this type of work. He is fully DBS checked.  Having Pete with us gives us more flexibility and we are often able to offer a same day service, for those last-minute jobs. 

July 2019  Increasingly we are getting more clients with septic tanks who are concerned about the forthcoming changes in January 2020 regarding discharges.  Many people believe under the general binding rules (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397173/ssd-general-binding-rules.pdf) that in 2020 septic tanks are being banned.  Many contractors have propigated and benefited from this misinformation and sold unnecessary new sewage systems where they are not needed.

The reality is that in January 2020 it becomes illegal to sell a property served with a septic tank with a surface discharge; for most properties with a correctly functioning septic tank and soak-away there is no need to worry and their septic tank will remain perfectly legal.  In fact, it is still possible to install new septic tanks and soak-aways if the site is suitable.

Worryingly though, as more people are replacing their septic tanks with modern package sewage treatment plants, due to poor advice/lack of regulatory knoweldge by some contractors, the new installations often fall foul of the general binding rules as the treated effluent is discharged to dry ditch or pond; in both situations this is not permitted under the general binding rules due the concentration of noxious elements in the effluent.

At the moment we are seeing more and more of these each month - we strongly recommend that anyone who is consdiering undertaking this work familiarises themselves with the general binding rules prior to undertaking or instructing such works.

January 2019  It has been a busy start to the New Year at Case Environmental with several major projects either starting or well underway.  Several of these are sewage projects and consequently I have spent a lot time recently talking about the subject of sewage problems and what options exist to improve failing assets.

Inevitably, a common question that is often asked is whether a reed bed (or withy bed) system could be considered; afterall, these have been used for a long time and the basic prinicples of using nature to treat effluent does appear attractive.  However, from the perspective of a consultant, they leave a lot to be desired and anyone considering investing in a reed bed should consider all the facts;

• It is now no longer possible to use a reed bed after a septic tank - for new installations a sewage treatment plant is needed (and often these treatment plants will treat the effluent to a satisfactory quality to allow direct discharge to watercourse).
• A reed bed, correctly engineered will need a large surface area - not all sites will be suited for this.
• The growth rate and nutrient uptake in a reed bed is greatly reduced in the winter and therefore the treatment in the reed bed is less effective.
• Every year the dead reeds should be removed from the reed bed and disposed-off.
• Every 5-7 years the reedbed will need excavation of old media and vegetation, replacement with clean stone and replanting; there will be a period of time until the reed bed re-establishes itself, during which the treatment will not be effective.  There is also a significant issue of disposing of tonnes of sewage contaminated waste (and finding someone prepared to do the work).
• Due to reduced growing season and cold weather, reed beds are particularly unsuited to installation in the north of the UK.
• They require good understanding of operation and frequently maintanence to function correctly.

Having viewed many reed bed installations, we are yet to see one that operates without problem and as such would advise that anyone considering a reedbed seriously considers all the facts and whether they are fully aware of the operational obligations and constraints inherent in such an asset.

November 2018

Despite good intentions to keep this section of the website up to date with our projects, it has been neglected.  Needless to say we have been busy, exceptionally busy in fact, with a wide range of diverse projects and consultancy work taking us across the country.  Currently we have active water & sewage project sites in the following locations;

Pensford, Somerset

Chittlehamholt, Devon

Isles of Scilly, Cornwall

Roseland Peninsula, Cornwall

Sittingbourne, Kent

Hayle, Cornwall

Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall

Polzeath, Cornwall

Bodmin, Cornwall

Boscastle, Cornwall

Callington, Cornwall

Lake District, Cumbria

Multiple sites in Mid and South Wales

April 2018

The last few months at Case Environmental has been exceptionally busy with a variety of different projects across the country.  This ranges from small water sampling investigations to large environmental infrastructure projects for different customers.

However, during a recent weekend some time was spent in search of a well assumed to be present at my home address.  After some trial excavation the well was found and revealed to be in exceptional condition.

The well is approximately 15-16m deep and is assumed to have been dug around 1850.  Interestingly mains water was already available in the town a few years prior to its likely construction.

Further work is needed but the eventual plan is to make use of the water for non-potable outside uses.  As a business I have developmed many projects to reinstate such assets, some of which make excellent drinking water supplies!

January 2018

Is okay to drink raw water?

There have been many stories in the news recently about the health benefits of drinking raw water but what actually is it and is it safe?

Simply raw water is water that is untreated and free from manmade contaminants.  It may come from a variety of sources such as rain water, surface water (such as streams, rivers, lakes and ponds), spring water, well water or borehole.

Those who extol the consumption of raw water say that among the benefits are its probiotic properties but was does that actually mean?  Probiotics are believed to be beneficial when consumed to help compliment the naturally occurring bacteria in your digestive system.  This may be true for probiotic supplements made in controlled, sterile conditions but any raw water containing bacteria (and other pathogens) should not be consumed; clean water will not readily support pathogens as it is low in nutrients (the food stuff pathogens need to survive); any pathogens present will have been introduced.

If you’re lucky and have a robust immune system many people will be able to drink raw water with low bacterial counts with no ill-effects but depending on the type of pathogens (and quantity present), it could make you ill; this might be a slight upset stomach but it could also be severe gastric illness; in some cases the consequences can be life changing and even fatal; illness caused by raw water is one of the biggest killers in the world.  If you are considering drinking raw water it is very important that it is from a source that is well protected, constructed to a high standard and demonstrably free from pathogens (with a comprehensive sampling record to prove).

So if raw water is free from pathogens is it safe?  Well not necessarily; when rain falls it is free from dissolved minerals and often quite acidic due to atmospheric carbon dioxide.  This means that in contact with metallic elements (such as those used for food and drink preparation) the water can attack it, leaching various heavy metals used (treated water is pH adjusted to stop this happening).

Once water has fallen to the ground it will percolate through the soil and rock, eventually contributing to the water table; the longer water spends in contact with rock, the more dissolved minerals will be dissolved.  This can have the effect of reducing the acidity of the raw water and can also impart beneficial minerals but depending on the naturally occurring geology, can also introduce undesirable characteristics; this can include radioactivity, nutrients and various heavy metals (commonly such as lead, arsenic, aluminium etc.).  It may also include high concentrations of metals that although not normally harmful, may cause (or aggravate) health conditions.

The author of this article is Andy Case BSc (Hons) CEnv C.WEM MCIWEM, an independent water supply consultant with almost two decades experience in the water and environmental industry.  Andy’s experience ranges from small individual private water supplies to large public water supplies and everything in between.

Autumn 2017

The autumn has been very busy for Case Environmental.  Work has seen us across Devon, Cornwall, Brighton, Oxford and London (and everywhere in between)!

Work has ranged from collection of water samples to development and delivery of infrastructure replacement projects.  We have also been involved with trouble-shooting problematic water systems, helping to identify simple and easy to implement solutions for our clients.

We look forward to the start of 2018 where just in the first month we have three private sewage infrastructure projects starting!