The Brief
Drockmill Pumping Station sits on Drockmill Hill Gut on the Pevensey Levels in East Sussex, a wetland protected as a SSSI, Special Area of Conservation and Ramsar site. It is operated by the Pevensey and Cuckmere Water Level Management Board. The original station was built in the early 1980s. Its two submersible pumps had reached the end of their working life and were not fish friendly, so the station did not meet the Eel Regulations 2009.
The Solution
ACE supplied and installed the mechanical plant, working with Stantec and Breheny Civil Engineering. Two Fishflow Innovations Archimedean screw pumps, each 1.8m in diameter, were specified to carry Environment Agency fish and eel safe certification. A Nordling R03 weedscreen cleaner keeps the 7.5m channel clear. AQUIKO supplied penstocks with AUMA actuators, HDPE flap valves and aluminium stoplogs, and ACE added an eel pass. The station is built around a modular precast concrete structure, made by JKH in a dedicated mould and modelled in 3D before anything was made.
The Result
Installation began in March 2026 and ACE commissioned the plant in late September. Casting the structure off site vastly reduced time on site and delivered the station well below the cost of the original in-situ design. The new station meets the Eel Regulations and gives eels a route past the pumps.
Achievements
01
Each screw pump delivers 750l/s, three times the output of the submersible pumps it replaced.
02
Fish and eel safe screws with no pinch points, meeting the Eel Regulations 2009.
03
The weedscreen cleaner lifts up to 210kg of debris with each grab across a 7.5m channel.
04
A modular precast structure designed in 3D, delivered well below the cost of the original in-situ design.
You Might Also Like...
Let’s Work Together!
Whatever your enquiry, we have a specialist team of friendly and helpful staff to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us using your preferred method, and we will be happy to help.
