A revolutionary and environmentally-friendly boat wash-down water recycling system has been installed as part of Noss on Dart Marina’s £75m redevelopment.

As part of the new boatyard facilities to clean boats, the system operates as a ‘closed loop’ meaning all debris and water run-off is collected, filtered through a three stage filtration system and recycled when a boat is lifted out for a high-pressure wash. This water is then stored in a holding tank ready to be recycled and used again for the next wash down. This ensures that no chemicals end up in the River Dart.

Director Nathan Hewitt said: “The Marine Wash Water Recycling System is based on 12 years of research and development. Our system is able to deal with copper, zinc, marine debris, silt and various proprietary additives contained in the paint.

“The process starts by removing large marine debris and paint flakes through bag filtration, followed by coagulation and settlement of free-floating particles. PH is then adjusted to precipitate soluble copper and zinc and the resulting cleansed water is passed through an activated carbon bed to remove trace elements. Water is also dosed with hydrogen peroxide and treated with UV light to kill residual bacteria”.

“The treated water contains copper and zinc with concentrations below 2mg/l and suspended solids of less than 100mg/l and can be reused for pressure washing. This is a considerable reduction from the incoming wash water, which can have copper and zinc levels above 2000mg/l and solids contents of over 20,000mg/l. The system is designed to accommodate an average of ten boats a day with an annual pump out of solids.”

Noss on Dart’s new boat wash-down water recycling system will be up and running when the new boatyard opens later this year.