In the wake of last year's floods, which left Cockermouth under eight feet of water, several United Utilities' water and wastewater treatment works were saved by swift action from ABB motor service partner, Central Electrical. Barepot and Yearl, for example.
Jonathon Deegan-Ross, North Lancashire water maintenance service manager for United Utilities, says: "We realised we had a major problem at 6.00pm on the Thursday. Motors at Barepot water treatment works were underwater, as were those at our Yearl site, which feeds Barepot."
Barepot has two 135kW motors and a 200kW motor, and Deegan-Ross says that, when the flood waters had subsided, inspection revealed that they needed to be replaced or repaired quickly - particularly for its industrial users, which have a water requirement of 35 million litres a day.
Central Electrical engineers found that, as well as motors, several fuses and a variable speed drive were needed. It immediately sourced stock from the partner network and arranged police escorts for vans to bring the equipment - which arrived at 2.00am on Sunday, just 15 hours after the initial call for assistance.
Says Deegan-Ross: "With Central's help, the floods meant supplies were disrupted only from Thursday to Sunday, which helped us maintain the confidence of some of our biggest customers."
