Isle of Wight building materials firm getting greener

Wight Building Materials (WBM) has now fully commissioned a state-of-the-art new filter press which will dramatically reduce the amount of water and land used in the processing of aggregate materials at St George’s Down.

WBM has been quarrying there for the past 80 years.

The press is the only such machine on the Isle of Wight and one of only a few in the UK used in aggregate production.

It was officially brought on stream last week by Cllr Jonathan Bacon, IW Council cabinet member for Climate Change, Environment, Heritage, Human Resources and Legal and Democratic Services and Cllr Suzie Ellis, the council member for Central Rural Ward, which includes St George’s Down.

Cllr Jonathan Bacon, Steve Burton of WBM and Cllr Suzie Ellis. (Image: Wight Building Materials.)

As well as using up to 70 per cent less water in the filtration process, the new equipment also uses far less land and so the large lagoons traditionally used to naturally filter water away from extracted materials at St George’s, can now be returned to nature.

WBM says the commissioning is in line with its ethos of investing in the latest technology to ensure its operations are as sustainable as possible.

Steve Burton, WBM general manager, said: “This is a huge investment for a company of our size, but we are determined to use the latest technology to help us operate in the most responsible way.

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“The filter press will see us use much less water and much less land because the huge lagoons we have used here to naturally filter out the water for the past 50 years will no longer be needed and can be returned to nature – a process we will undertake by working closely with local environmental experts.”

Cllr Ellis said: “WBM is an important local employer and I am delighted to see this sizeable investment being made to help the company continue to provide locally-sourced materials to the Island’s construction sector in a responsible and sustainable way.”

How does the filter press work?

The new British-made filter press comprises 220 plates which are shrouded in a filter cloth. Plates are pressed together using a hydraulic ram and silt is pumped under high pressure into the chambers between each plate. Water is ‘squeezed’ out of the silt passing through the filter cloth and sent for recycling.

The process is repeated up to eight times per day creating a steady supply of suitable material that can quickly be used for Wight Building Material’s WBM’s ongoing restoration work.

Restoration work such as that in schemes at St George’s and Prospect Quarry near Shalcombe has already been recognised in last year’s inaugural Bob Edney Countryside Conservation Award.

Steve added: “We are proud to be a local company and another welcome aspect of this project is that, wherever possible, we have used other local companies working in civil engineering, electrics, pipeworks, craneage, transport and construction to bring it to fruition.”