Scottish water cleaning specialist Panton McLeod has been celebrating after carrying out its first-ever contract with Folkestone & Dover Water Services.

The Borders-based company, who are the UK's leading drinking water cleaning engineer, carried out an inspection at a facility in Kent earlier this month which they hope will lead to more work in the region.

Panton McLeod, which already works with major UK water firms such as Severn Trent and Scottish Water, was hired to inspect an underground water storage tank - known as a Service Reservoir - to ensure it remained clean for the tens of thousands of households it supplies in the region.

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The facility is one of a network of structures, often hidden from public view, that are involved in delivering drinking water to homes and businesses across the Folkestone and Dover area.

Despite being out of sight, the large underground concrete reservoirs have to be maintained to the highest standards. Traditionally such tanks could only be closely inspected or cleaned if they were emptied to allow experts inside - a time-consuming process that can prove costly for water companies.

But Panton McLeod was able to swiftly and expertly carry out a routine inspection of the service reservoir by using a specialist underwater submarine - or ROV unit - which meant the work was completed without any need to take the reservoir out of service.

Paul Henderson, Operations Director with Panton McLeod, said: "The only other option other than using the remotely-operated sub was to drain the reservoir and have workers actually going into the tank to inspect it.

"Our technology means we can carry out a thorough inspection while ensuring the supply through the reservoir is totally unaffected. We remotely control the ROV unit and it is able to inspect the tank quickly and safely, while the water is still in use."

(GK/JM)