Chatteris manufacturer, Metalcraft, has secured a £170,000 contract to manufacture and install three automatic weedsccreen cleaning machines for Curf, Bensons and Westmoor pumping stations.

Austen Adams, managing director of Stainless Metalcraft, which is part of Avingtrans energy and medical division, said: “We developed the weedscreen cleaner nearly 15 years ago and are delighted it is still considered the design of choice to ensure that local screens can be quickly and easily maintained.

“Maintenance of weed screens is a major issue in many industries and automatic screen cleaning machines are a standard solution worldwide for a number of applications.

“As staffing constraints and health and safety considerations drive change across the UK, automatic weedscreen cleaners are now considered a critical item with their reliability and robust lifetime designs.”

The land drainage pumping stations are used to control levels by transferring water along drainage channel systems, ensuring that water is managed to provide either drainage of the surrounding land or irrigation, depending on the daily requirements of the local farming community.

Each of the pumps is protected by weedscreens that deal with unwanted floating or suspended debris, preventing damage to the pumps.

The cleaning system is fully automatic, enabling un-manned operation of the stations on a 24/7 basis. It employs an automated trolley that moves overhead from its parked position to a point above the weedscreen where it is lowered below the water surface. The attached grab closes hydraulically to collect the waste before being raised and traversing along a gantry to the waste collection point, where the weed is deposited. This procedure is repeated until the full width of the screen is cleared.