DOGGER
Credits where they are due and shouts to CJ really for originally hitting this place up, it certainly looked an odd setup but equally as fascinating for a modern concrete affair
The original sewer system looks to have been upgraded here in recent years, with the addition of this huge CSO and in-line Detention Tank system which has been bolted onto the nearby works..
With good reason; apologies for the shitty rushed pics SEE BELOW:
Now it's not often I feel uneasy in drains, but there is something about this place, which no matter how hard you try seems impossible to relax
(Final output pouring in from above? when in similar systems has just been machinery, fully automated flood gates/penstocks and some unknown pumping system overhead and a different breed of flow hawks never seen before)
Every piece of it is huge, from the outfall to the trunk sewer that thunders by further upstream
Something tells me this place could kick into action at any point, regardless of the weather
Also the height of the skid marks on the walls/pipes suggest this isn't somewhere to be hanging about in when it fills
Getting this done was a nightmare in all honesty amongst the rainfall, a couple of visits and major abortion as the system was at capacity one evening following a storm!
After wrestling with heavy liddage I dropped into a weird access chamber, which gave way to one hell of a st00py RCP from the outfall to the sewer much further upstream
(On my return trip to checkout what I now know to be the Detention Tank within the WwTW) I discovered a much easier way in/out
Despite the anxiety I really enjoyed poking about this place, although I would be somewhat reluctant to go back!
Below a non descript UU building is this trunk sewer as it thunders on down to the works
Ahead of the overflow weir an inspection landing and a metal door to the outside world
As well as a side passage to the screened chamber beyond
The other side, (now directly below the UU building) this screening chamber
Here 4 remote controlled penstocks guarding the overflow channels
(On my return trip all 4 penstocks were open)
One of which was open, yet blocked off by a conveyored screen
During both visits in here there was a steady flow of what appeared to be some kind of final output seepage from above ? :confusion
It was a little un-nerving to think they could close at anytime, allowing the unknown to flow through
Luckily 2 smaller concrete overflows either side allowed access to the 2nd overflow chamber beyond the floodgates
Every inch was covered in p00p, including my rucksack and the grates above the screens were draped in all manner of washed up extras
Other side of the Screening Chamber
(Here 3 sidepipes serve the final part of the CSO a few metres beyond)
Seven Way overflow
Here, the 3 side pipes on the left connect to the overflow chamber as seen above
The 3 on the right lead to the grilled outfall a good way down the st00py RCP I originally entered
And the 7th smaller RCP ran in the opposite direction to the outfall
(Props to Squelchy for edits)
It was at this point I called it a night, as more rain was due and the flow picked up ever so slightly, besides I had to be up at stupid o'clock
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I managed to return a week later for another poke about, sadly it had been raining hard for a couple of days and the outfall was in full flow!
Whilst looking for another lid into the other RCP that eluded me last time I spotted a convenient access
The shaft dropped in to raging torrent of rainwater and turds which was rising by the second, none the less I bailed, curious as to where it was all heading..
CJ was right, during heavy flows when the system is at capacity any flow from the CSO heads down to a detention tank located within the works
A much later re-visit revealed a somewhat drier overflow
So I followed the pipe down to the works where it eventually drops into a large tank below ground
At the end of the pipe, a large electronically controlled penstock
Which when closed allows the flow to be diverted via the other outfall into the nearby river
Stretching my tripod/camera over the barrier I attempted a shot of the tank beyond
(Here it is topside)
Also the grilled outfall, made up of 3 x Jamragged RCP's
