Aquaterra join the RPS Group (June 2010)

Aquaterra have joined the RPS Group, a UK based international consultancy group providing advice and support to Clients in the Planning, Environment, Energy and Water sectors. Aquaterra will remain headquartered in Perth, Australia. RPS have a long history of providing high level Planning, Environment, Energy and Water consultancy services in the UK, internationally and specifically have operated in Australia now for over six years.

In Australia, Aquaterra will form the nucleus for developing and growing the RPS Water business throughout the Australia Asia Pacific region, working with the existing strong RPS Environment, Planning and Energy groups to increase the geographical distribution of our traditional water and environmental services and to increase the range of services we can provide to our clients.

In the UK, Aquaterra will provide key strengths in water resources planning and management to the existing, long established RPS Water group.

Internationally, we will continue to support the resources sector in Asia, Africa and Europe, initially from our existing offices in the UK, Ireland, Mongolia and Australia but expanding the range of services we offer and the locations from which we will operate as we continue to grow and become more integrated with the RPS Group.

Overall, joining the RPS Group provides benefits and opportunities on many fronts, including continuing to grow our successful water resources business, developing an expanded international service capability and providing exciting new opportunities for our staff. We will be talking with all of our clients and industry colleagues in the coming months to provide more details on the merger and our plans for the future. In the meantime, details on RPS can found at www.rpsgroup.com.au or www.rpsgroup.com

Sustainable Energy Solutions

At Aquaterra, we are always looking at ways we can help our clients to develop energy efficient solutions and thus reduce their carbon footprints. We have been working in the UK for some years now on the investigation and development of ground source heating and cooling systems for the building and construction industries. The first two articles below provide some insight into the work we have been doing and also on how funding can be acquired for ground source heating and cooling systems.

As part of our long history of working with the mining industry, we are always looking at ways to improve water pumping systems design to provide practical, cost effective and energy efficient mine dewatering solutions. We also include below the abstract (and link to the full paper) of a presentation by Iain Rea (Principal Water Resources Engineer) to the AusIMM Water in Mining conference in Perth (Australia).

November 2009
Ground source heating system for sustainability centre in Lewes (East Sussex, UK)

The Railway Land Wildlife Trust is building a social and ecological sustainability centre in the heart of Lewes, known as the Linklater Pavilion. This architecturally innovative building is designed to withstand floods and will be a showcase in its minimal carbon footprint. The benefits of sustainability will be shared with the building’s visitors and the positive effects on the environment will be evident.

Aquaterra were commissioned to provide the geological and thermo-geological feasibility, costing and design input for a ground source heat pump at the centre.

The centre will require an 8kW heat pump, which is to be supported by a vertical closed loop heat exchange system.

Borehole depth, spacing and construction materials were optimised to suit the thermal conductivity of the geological profile. Drilling and equipping methods were then tailored to maximise the thermal properties of the boreholes.

Aquaterra have also been providing advice to the client on the availability of funding and grants for the installation. The Trust has now successfully secured 75% coverage of the schemes capital costs whilst a final 25% grant is pending.

If you wish to know more about our ground source heating and cooling services please contact our Lewes, UK office (or our closest office to you), or click here.

November 2009
UK funding opportunities for Ground Source Heating and Cooling Installations

Ground source heating and cooling installations allow householders to access £2,500 through the Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP) Phase. For non-profit organisations, eligible schemes can access 50% funding through the LCBP Phase 2, which has recently been extended to April 2011. The Community Sustainable Energy Programme can be match funded to the LCBP Phase 2, resulting in the potential for 100% funding on capital costs.

The government has recognised that new mechanisms are required if the UK is going to meet its target of deriving 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is the key driver by which the government aims to achieve renewable heat generation in the future. The RHI will set out energy tariff levels for a range of technologies, allowing consumers to increase the returns on their investment, reducing their payback period. Costs can be reduced further still by selling excess heat via a heat network.

The Government aims to publish plans for their RHI by late 2009, which will be followed by a consultation period prior to introduction in April 2011.

Aquaterra will be following these developments closely. Understanding the current and potential funding options available for ground source heating and cooling installations is a key part of our work and essential for the decision making process faced by anyone considering investing in this technology.

If you wish to know more about potential funding for your installation please feel free to contact our UK office.

September 2009
Dewatering Bore Pumps – Reducing costs and emissions by maximising pumping efficiency over time (presented to the AusIMM Water in Mining Conference, Perth WA)

Abstract
Pumping water for dewatering and water supply is a major component of electricity consumption at mining operations and hence is a significant contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.

Pump systems at a typical mine site can be broadly split between above ground centrifugal pumps (generally used for water transfer) and submersible bore hole pumps (generally for dewatering and/or water supply). In contrast to above ground pumps, submersible bore hole pumps can be subjected to varying duty points (total pumping head and flow requirements) as a result of changing bore water levels and yields, particularly in mine dewatering bores. Typically, much higher pumping rates are required at the commencement of dewatering to remove groundwater storage and to intercept sufficient groundwater throughflow to achieve target drawdowns. Once target drawdown levels are reached it often only requires much lower pumping rates to maintain target drawdowns. Pumps sized to remove the large initial volumes of stored groundwater often end up too large for the lower flow rate required for “maintenance pumping”. This often results in pumps operating inefficiently, a problem which can be made worse when pumps are throttled to reduce the pump output to better match the reduced bore yield.

Current standard operating practice places little emphasis on the electricity consumed by pumps, with the focus often being on minimising capital expenditure (“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”). Submersible pumps can have extended service lives of 10-20+ years. However as the capital cost of a pump typically represents only 5% of the life cycle cost, the vast majority of the life cycle cost is energy usage.

Through the implementation of a regular review of the operation of borehole pumps, significant reductions in electricity use and associated greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved without impacting the dewatering schedule. In most cases, the capital cost of replacing pumps is more than offset by savings in operating costs. These potential savings become even more significant when considering proposed future carbon tax levees.

This paper presents examples of the opportunities for significant reductions in energy, greenhouse gas emissions and overall costs that can be achieved for a range of dewatering scenarios.

To see the paper in full, please click here.