Industries
Treatment-plant piping, tanks, clarifier bridges and filter packages for municipal and industrial water.
Quick answer
Structural Engineering Services supports Water & Wastewater projects worldwide with storage tank design (api 650), filter & coalescer skid design, piping design services, steel staircase & handrail design — delivered by senior engineers on licensed software to international codes.
Governing codes
Sector challenges
Water and wastewater plants are low-pressure but relentlessly aggressive: wet, chlorinated, partly buried and expected to run for decades with a small maintenance team. Materials, access and hydraulics decide the design as much as stress does.
Challenge 01
Chlorine, hydrogen sulphide and constant humidity attack carbon steel, fasteners and concrete fixings faster than any process plant.
How we answer it
Material and coating selection is fixed in the design basis — stainless, GRP or lined carbon steel by zone — with dissimilar-metal isolation details drawn on the detail drawings.
Challenge 02
Pump trips and fast valve closure create surge pressures and dynamic thrust that a static design never sees.
How we answer it
Surge pressures from the hydraulic report are carried into wall thickness, support design and thrust block loads, with CAESAR II used on critical pump and header lines.
Challenge 03
Large tanks and basins on soft ground settle differentially and drag connected pipework down with them.
How we answer it
Differential settlement cases are modelled with flexible connections, and tank nozzle loads are verified against API 650 Appendix P allowables instead of being assumed acceptable.
Challenge 04
Plants are run by small teams, and anything awkward to reach simply does not get maintained.
How we answer it
Access platforms, davits, removable spools and lifting points are designed in from the layout stage and shown on the GA, rather than left to the installer to improvise.
Relevant services
Designing vertical, horizontal, fixed and floating roof tanks to API 650 and related codes.
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Designing cartridge, multimedia, gas and coalescer filter packages.
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Developing complete piping engineering from layout and routing through to isometrics and BOM.
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Designing standalone and supported steel staircases, ladders, handrails and platforms.
ExploreTypical assets
From a single assembly to a complete package — the asset types our water & wastewater teams work on week to week.
API 650 water tanks, balance tanks, digesters and chemical dosing tanks.
Multimedia, cartridge, UF/RO and coalescer packages with frame and piping design.
Rotating bridges, scraper arms, weir supports and walkways.
Plant headers, valve chambers, supports and thrust blocks.
Structures and plinths for pumps and blowers, including vibration isolation.
Stairs, handrail, grating platforms and davit arms to local access rules.
Codes & specifications
The base code is only half the story. On water & wastewater work the client specification usually overrides it somewhere, so we agree a single reconciled design basis before any calculation starts.
Browse all codesWelded atmospheric tanks, including Appendix P nozzle flexibility on settlement-prone sites.
Water-specific tank standards where the client or regulator requires them over API.
Process and service piping thickness, supports and flexibility.
Environmental concrete: crack control and seismic sloshing for liquid-retaining structures.
Coating systems by corrosivity category — the single biggest life-cycle decision on a water plant.
Stainless steel design where the material selection matrix calls for it.
Free quote
Send the drawings or datasheets you already have. We will tell you what is missing and quote the scope in 24 hours.
Project lifecycle
Most clients bring us in at detailed design. We can start earlier, or pick a package up mid-stream — here is what you get from us at each stage.
Options, preliminary sizing and budget tonnage, before the scheme is frozen.
Hydraulic and layout options with preliminary tank sizes and plot requirements.
You receive
Design basis, load schedules and layouts good enough to price and procure from.
Design basis, material selection matrix and equipment or skid footprints.
You receive
Full analysis, code checks, 3D modelling and issued-for-construction documentation.
Tank and skid design, piping model, supports, platforms and IFC drawings.
You receive
Shop queries, RFIs and as-built updates while steel is being cut and erected.
Fabrication queries, site fit-up and commissioning support mark-ups.
You receive
Deliverables & handover
Municipal clients need an operations-ready set, so the handover includes as-builts, a material certificate index and the access and lifting arrangements their maintenance team will actually use.
| Deliverable | Format | Issued at |
|---|---|---|
| Design basis and calculation report | PDF, signed and checked | Detailed design |
| General arrangement drawings | DWG + PDF | FEED to detailed design |
| Drawing register and transmittal | XLSX + PDF | Every issue |
| Mechanical design calculations | PV-Elite output + PDF with code references | Detailed design |
| Fabrication and nozzle orientation drawings | DWG + PDF | Pre-fabrication |
| Package GA with shipping envelope | DWG + PDF | FEED to detailed design |
| Lifting, transport and foundation load data | PDF calculation + XLSX load table | Detailed design |
| 3D piping model and isometrics | Native + PDF/DWG, line-numbered | Detailed design |
| Stress report with support and nozzle loads | PDF + CAESAR II .c2 input | Detailed design |
| Tekla 3D model | Native .db1 + IFC 2x3/4 | Detailed design |
| Single-part, assembly and erection drawings | PDF + DWG, one sheet per mark | Detailed design |
| CNC files, bolt list and BOQ | NC1/DSTV, DXF, XLSX | Pre-fabrication |
| Material and coating selection matrix | XLSX + PDF | FEED |
| Tank settlement and nozzle flexibility check | PDF calculation | Detailed design |
Two-stage check
Originator, then senior checker signs off every sheet before it leaves our office.
Native files included
You own the model, so another team can pick the work up at any point.
Revision control
A revision table on every sheet; superseded issues are archived, never deleted.
Your transmittal route
Issued through your document-control portal with your numbering, or over secure FTP.
Directory
Jump straight to the market you build in. Every page sets out the governing codes, units and delivery window we work to there.
8 markets
Start your project
Free, no-obligation proposal from a senior engineer.