CIRIA have started work on a supplement to CIRIA c736 which was launched in 2014.

They are looking for feedback from industry. If you are involved in water pollution prevention, spill containment, site or drainage design and you have feedback this is your opportunity to participate.

The more feedback they get the more relevant and useful the supplement will be – you can complete the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GTPFXRZ\

The following is the official line from Owen Jenkins, Director at CIRIA.

Containment systems for the prevention of pollution  – Supplement to CIRIA Report C736 (2014)

Avoidance of water pollution remains a key environmental aim and many of CIRIA’s guides focus on this topic ranging from sewerage, surface water management, agricultural waste storage and containment systems for industrial storage installations. CIRIA is presently consulting industry in order to develop the scope of a supplement to its guidance on containment systems.

CIRIA first produced guidance on the Design of containment systems for the prevention of water pollution in 1997. This came to be widely used, but the issue of the second edition in 2014 accelerated its uptake by the industry. Regulators are increasingly requiring site owners to demonstrate compliance with this guidance.

The guidance has informed the approaches adopted by several site owners and their advisors over the past six year with its focus on pragmatic and cost-effective solutions to risk management.  However, as with any topic it is important that guidance keeps apace with latest development. The  supplement will therefore capture experience in the application and interpretation of the guide, identify advances in materials and technologies and report on case studies, particularly those that have yielded cost-effective innovation solutions.

Following preliminary consultation with users of the guide, the survey identifies a number of areas that could be expanded or updated and seeks views on how the risk-based approach set out in the guide can be better promoted. 

For instance, the first part of the document takes the reader through a risk based approach to identifying storage needs and options by which this can be achieved. However,  anecdotal evidence suggests that too often this is overlooked, with site owner and their advisors  referring to latter parts of the document  for guidance on conventional pre-determined solutions. Failure to consider the problem and opportunities holistically can lead to a sub-optimal solution in terms of operation and cost.

In terms of advances, new methods of testing the integrity of such structures have been developed that are acceptable to regulators. Likewise, advances in sealant systems are leading to solutions that provide improved fire resistance.

Given the range of sectors and sites, particularly those that have involved a change in use, other scenarios are emerging that could be  captured in a supplement. These include instances where tanks are built on pre-existing concrete slabs.

The survey will be open throughout June and CIRIA is organising a webinar to discuss some of the findings and present a number of case studies in mid-July. The survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GTPFXRZ