Investment has Firm Focused on Life After Covid

As the pandemic continues, every sector is suffering, with the drainage industry no exception. Despite the downturn, resilience and a positive outlook are driving firms forward. One such is EDS (Environmental Detection Surveys) Ltd who have made a substantial investment in new equipment.

Established in the late 1980s and based in Southport, Merseyside, EDS is a specialist in water and wastewater management company undertaking Planned and Preventive Maintenance (PPM) programmes for Amey and Seven Trent Water and a range of commercial clients including McDonald’s and RoadChef.

Neil Brown, Operations Director, says that despite the pandemic, the business has remained robust. “We’re now busier than ever,” he explains. “There was obviously a downturn in PPM for clients such as McDonald’s during lock-down but since reopening we’ve been reacting to the backlog alongside securing more work for Amey and Seven Trent Water. We’ve been rewarded for our previous performance.”

Over the past year, EDS has bolstered its drainage fleet with the addition of seven van-pack jetters from Andy Guest Jetters and a 7.5t RioCom jet/vac combinationunit from Rioned.

Neil is full of praise for the new kit: “The 7.5t tanker is brilliantly versatile. The jetting and suction is much improved compared to previous models. The addition of invertors for the crawler camera and 100m pushrod system means not having to send out multiple vehicles to a job, which has also improved our carbon footprint and reduced man-hours and travel costs.”

Alongside supplying new 4-Series jetters, Andy Guest Jetters completed the conversions of the drainage vans, including lighting, welfare kits and invertors for operating CCTV cameras.

Neil says the new jetters are proving to be a more comprehensive solution: “They are much more powerful, with the increased pressure and flow reducing time on the job particularly when it comes to clearing FOG (fats, oils and grease).”

“With the camera systems, the units are also more efficient. There’s often no need to go back to sites, particularly with domestic jobs. When required we can use the RioCom suction capabilities to relieve any charged or blocked manholes, pipes and fat traps and to prevent FOG going into the main system.”

Each van-pack is fitted with a push-rod camera system, and EDS is rolling-out crawler units in all vans for better inspection capabilities. It’s part of the firm’s commitment to offer a full turnkey package of works.

“We’ve now been working with Amey and Seven Trent Water for over a decade,” says Neil. “In that time we’ve seen a lot of contractors come and go, so, it’s a good achievement for us to keep growing within the SCM Contract. I’ve also been working with Mark Cox at Rioned since 2013 and we have a really good working relationship. Both Mark and Jon (at Andy Guest) are a great help, anything I ask for is done. And it’s nice to see they’ve grown as we’ve grown. It’s great to have people you can rely on, especially now when we’re looking at our next stage of expansion.”

While the impact of Covid-19 on businesses is complex and far-reaching, there’s much to admire about the EDS approach. Long may they prosper!