I run Blackwell Water Consultancy Ltd, a company that specialises in helping businesses to find the right trade effluent treatment and management solutions for their site. We work with businesses of all sizes, ranging from SMEs with a single premises to multi-national companies with complex manufacturing sites.We also provide a range of statistical data analysis and modelling services to clients in the water industry and beyond. These help our clients to solve urgent problems by… Show more I run Blackwell Water Consultancy Ltd, a company that specialises in helping businesses to find the right trade effluent treatment and management solutions for their site. We work with businesses of all sizes, ranging from SMEs with a single premises to multi-national companies with complex manufacturing sites.We also provide a range of statistical data analysis and modelling services to clients in the water industry and beyond. These help our clients to solve urgent problems by increasing their understanding of their manufacturing and treatment processes.Our services cover all aspects of water use and effluent disposal, including preliminary design and feasibility studies, financial analysis, helping clients select suppliers and supervising installation and commissioning of new equipment.BWC contracts have included:- helping a food processing client to challenge a revised trade effluent consent- designing an optimisation strategy that led to 100% consent compliance for a small sewage works- modelling, operability and statistical analysis of a water treatment plant for a non-UK client- a feasibility study for rainwater harvesting for a major UK organisation- design of an effluent treatment system for a chemical manufacturer- preparing a detailed Best Available Technology (BAT) analysis for a waste management client- completing a hazardous waste assessment for licensed waste operating company.- organising and managing site & lab trials- carrying out statistical analysis of wastewater data for a major UK utility company- reviewing the design and performance of a UV disinfection plant- working with rural householders on infrastructure for private water supplies- carrying out effluent audits for a meat processing company- a water efficiency audit and effluent minimisation study at a food processing companyThe use of data analysis is at the centre of everything BWC does and demonstrates the power of this approach in a very wide range of industries. Show less

SEAMS offer a wide range of analytics-related services and my role was to further develop the company's Operational Analytics capabilities. SEAMS's Operational Analytics (OA) services include:- Site operational audits- Cost benchmarking for all types of process assets- Process supervision: using analytics for performance forecasting and fault detection- Asset rationalisation: developing strategies to consolidate process assets

I provided consultancy to industrial customers of Anglian Water about water use, wastewater minimisation and process optimisation. This included working with clients in many industries, ranging from chemicals to food processing and the NHS to metal fabrication.My work here included:- preparing proposals for clients- feasibility studies into alternative effluent treatment options- process engineering advice about RO and ion exchange plant- commissioning of process… Show more I provided consultancy to industrial customers of Anglian Water about water use, wastewater minimisation and process optimisation. This included working with clients in many industries, ranging from chemicals to food processing and the NHS to metal fabrication.My work here included:- preparing proposals for clients- feasibility studies into alternative effluent treatment options- process engineering advice about RO and ion exchange plant- commissioning of process plant- water efficiency studies (domestic and process water) for clients- option selection for wastewater re-use systems- development of team performance monitoring systems Show less

I formed and managed the Asset Reliability team within UU, a new function for the company that completed reliability assessments that contributed to UU's maintenance funding submission to OFWAT. As well as perfoming the day-to-day management duties I also carried out engineering and modelling analysis for a variety of water and wastewater reliability studies.This work included:- management of a team of consultants and permanent staff- development of the business case for the… Show more I formed and managed the Asset Reliability team within UU, a new function for the company that completed reliability assessments that contributed to UU's maintenance funding submission to OFWAT. As well as perfoming the day-to-day management duties I also carried out engineering and modelling analysis for a variety of water and wastewater reliability studies.This work included:- management of a team of consultants and permanent staff- development of the business case for the permanent teamReliability studies of: - UV treatment - Wastewater inlet escalator screens - Biological aerated flooded filters (BAFFs) - pH dosing equipment - chlorine dosing systems - Mid-point circuit breakers and primary transformers - PLCs and data collection systems - Activated sludge plants - CentrifugesThe team also developed a method of rationalising or consolidating the number of treatment sites the company had. The objective of this was to forecast how operating costs could be reduced over a long-term period. Show less

I was asked to supervise a small team of consultants from Cap Gemini Ernst and Young (CGEY) who had been brought in to introduce reliability modelling to the company. With my background in modelling and process engineering, I immediately saw an opportunity to extend this work to UU's submissions to OFWAT for capital and maintenance funds. After a successful pilot project modelling UV disinfection processes, the team was extended to include more consultants from CGEY and the project was extended… Show more I was asked to supervise a small team of consultants from Cap Gemini Ernst and Young (CGEY) who had been brought in to introduce reliability modelling to the company. With my background in modelling and process engineering, I immediately saw an opportunity to extend this work to UU's submissions to OFWAT for capital and maintenance funds. After a successful pilot project modelling UV disinfection processes, the team was extended to include more consultants from CGEY and the project was extended to cover a wider range of water and wastewater processes. We also reviewed two assets from the electricity distribution part of the business (the two assets were mid-point circuit breakers and primary transformers). The project continued for a further two years and, being deemed a success, UU formed a permanent team to take over from CGEY. I developed the new team and managed the hand-over. Show less

I worked in the Technology and Strategy Team developing models of wastewater networks for UU's AMP3 combined sewer overflow and DG5 flooding programme.I also compiled a database of intellectual property the R&D functions of the company had developed.

I wrote the asset design standard for UU's AMP3 combined sewer overflow (CSO) programme. This entailed forming and managing the steering group for the project, writing the document and ensuring the deadline for completion was met.UU's AMP3 CSO programme was very large and involved addressing over 900 unsatisfactory overflows. A comprehensive asset design standard was essential to ensure that a small number of modular "off-the-shelf" solutions could be developed. This increased the… Show more I wrote the asset design standard for UU's AMP3 combined sewer overflow (CSO) programme. This entailed forming and managing the steering group for the project, writing the document and ensuring the deadline for completion was met.UU's AMP3 CSO programme was very large and involved addressing over 900 unsatisfactory overflows. A comprehensive asset design standard was essential to ensure that a small number of modular "off-the-shelf" solutions could be developed. This increased the efficiency of project management and procurement of equipment.The asset design standard was delivered on time, approved first time and is still used (with amendments to address changing practices) today. Show less

I worked in the R&D department of North West Water, mainly developing mathematical models of water and wastewater treatment plant for fault detection, diagnosis and process analysis. this included:- simulation of rapid gravity filters at a major water treatment works- using statistical techniques to analyse bathing water compliance- developing a "soft-sensor" to estimate BOD5 on-line & in real-time- presentation of research papers at conferences

I worked as a Research Assistant (then Associate) carrying out research into the detection and diagnosis of faults in distillation columns.Part of this work entailed improving the performance of the binary distillation that was then in operation in the UMIST pilot plant. I designed a series of experiments that identified the optimum temperature setpoints for controlling the column. This raised the purity of the top product to consistently greater than 99.5% and of the bottom product to… Show more I worked as a Research Assistant (then Associate) carrying out research into the detection and diagnosis of faults in distillation columns.Part of this work entailed improving the performance of the binary distillation that was then in operation in the UMIST pilot plant. I designed a series of experiments that identified the optimum temperature setpoints for controlling the column. This raised the purity of the top product to consistently greater than 99.5% and of the bottom product to 98.5% (there was an impurity in the column that prevented the bottom product composition improving beyond that figure).I demonstrated the neural network models could be used to model the performance of the column and this formed my MSc thesis (awarded in1995). I then used these models to detect and diagnose real faults on line and in real time. This work became my PhD thesis (awarded in 1997). Show less