Refurbishment | ARM Reed Beds

Washing reed bed gravel during bed refurbishment

ARM Field Services offer a unique refurbishment service for reed beds.

Reed beds by there very nature act as filters for organic matter, trapping them within the matrix of the bed. After a number of years, the reed bed may clog up leading reduction in treatment efficiency.

How fast a reed bed clogs up varies from site to site and depends on the operating conditions, previous maintenance and effluent characteristics.

Reed beds that have not had a maintenance regime, or those treating effluents with high organic matter will have a reduced working life. Refurbishing the reed bed to remove the organic matter will return the reed bed to optimal treatment efficiency.

A sustainable solution to reed bed refurbishment.

Developed as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Harper Adams University College, the Aggregate Recycling Machine provides a sustainable solution for the refurbishment of reed beds. In the past, aggregate removed in this process was sent to a landfill site, a costly and wasteful process.

The aggregate can be washed on site, recycled and returned to the same reed bed, thereby lowering lifetime running costs, extending the life of the bed and reducing the need for new gravel, a great example of ARM innovation at work.

The Aggregate Recycling Machine will clean most aggregate and can therefore be used for cleaning media in Biofilters.