Thornberry Saved By MWH From Being Waste Deep In Trouble

Thornberry Animal Sanctuary was recently saved from a sticky situation by water treatment specialists MWH Treatment. The animal sanctuary, which is one of South Yorkshire’s most well-established animal rescue centres, and rehomes hundreds of animals every year, needed help following a failed maintenance installation by another company.

After having a new on-site sewerage plant system installed by this company, it soon became apparent that the facility was not operating as it was designed to do. To make matters worse, as soon as the treatment plant had passed its warranty period, the contractor that had carried out the sub-standard installation refused to return to site. This left Thornberry with sewers and drains that were backing up, creating significant hygiene problems.

Despite numerous calls for help and assistance, the charity was told that the company couldn’t help, and it wasn’t their problem anymore. This was deeply distressing for all at Thornberry as they had paid a significant amount of money from the charities finances and were left with literally a hole in the ground that was not fit for purpose.

With a live operating animal welfare premises, it is vitally important that the drainage system is always fully operational. However, every week Thornberry’s internal and external drains became blocked, leading to kennels and other areas being flooded with sewage. For an animal sanctuary that prides itself on maintaining extremely high welfare standards this was becoming a serious issue for everyone and all animals onsite.

On a weekly basis, the charity was having to have the sewage system pumped out by a tanker, at great financial expense, just to keep the site operational. However, following a very dry summer, and then a period of extremely heavy rain, the treatment plant completely failed. As it had not been installed on the correct foundations, the increase in the water table caused the tank to ‘float’. This resulted in the inlet and outlet pipes rupturing, meaning the system was now completely unusable

At this point the charity was running out of options and had to face up to the realistic prospect of closing the site. The implications of this did not bear thinking about

Then, at the last moment a member of staff reached out to a contact at Severn Trent and were put in touch with MWH Treatment. Following an initial phone call, MWH immediately came to site to assess the issue and offered their help to resolve the situation once and for all.

The following Monday, MWH and their specialist contractors arrived at Thornberry. Works commenced, materials were delivered, and the stress of the whole situation began to lift. Everyday progress was made and the prospect of the drainage system working properly for the first time since it was installed became real.

Helen Connelly, Thornberry’s General Manager said “All operatives and contractors were a joy to have on site and were always courteous, kind and went out of their way to help. Thornberry opened a free tab for them at our on-site café and they certainly enjoyed the food and drink on offer. It was a pleasure to have them here. After a week of hard work, it was all over, and we finally had a drainage system that worked and a sanctuary that could now operate without the daily worry of the drains blocking. This would not have been the case if MWH Treatment and their contractors had not offered to help. Thornberry cannot thank them enough for this wonderful gesture and it’s safe to say that they’ll always be welcome at the sanctuary. Thank you all so, so much.”