Start Up To Waste bag Replacement

The Start Up To Waste (SUTW) bag is a flexible membrane tank offering temporary or medium-term liquid storage that helps avoid the need for costly and carbon-intensive solid infrastructure. Although the bags are multi-use, Stonbury’s client utilised them to fast-track increased storage capacity under the SUTW Programme.

Stonbury was called to a site in Northwest England after the existing bag, which had reached its design lifespan, had perished.

After setting up the site and creating temporary access for machinery, the team detached the old bag from the pipework before removing the top layer of grit sand and the soiled geotextile membrane from the pad below it.

The stone sub-base was checked using a laser level and prepared to the correct depth and gradients, ensuring the centre was the lowest point. A new geotextile filter was laid, and the pad was topped with a new 50mm layer of sand to provide puncture protection.

The new bag was rolled out carefully onto the sand pad and manoeuvred into position, aligning the designed opening points with the existing inlet and outlet pipework before securing the bag with anchor pins in each corner.

The new bag was filled by the client to specified levels in staged for 24hrs to check for leaks. This process was continued until the bag was successfully filled and Stonbury signed off the programme as complete.

The new 1.8 tonne bag was installed and in service in under two weeks and involved no expensive groundworks or concrete foundations. It has provided a sustainable, cost-effective solution that expected to provide wastewater storage for at least 15 to 20 years.