Paul Parker finds out about a Bradford firm which is helping big companies across the globe cope with their pollution using the quiet but effective properties of reed beds.

THE GREEN revolution has turned full circle. In the environmental awakening of the 1970s, people were mocked for trying to "save the world". Many of the pioneering ideas of Green people were before their time and ended up being mocked.

Governments allowed motorways to plough through miles of fields when the car was king, muti-national companies built bigger factories and pumped out excessive amounts of waste into the air, on land and in water.

But it is strange how things change. After years of campaigning people have started to take notice of the Green lobby.

Now governments and companies are turning to environmental consultants for advice and ideas on how to tackle the many problems caused by the way the West was run.

One of the firms which is heavily involved nationally and internationally in solving land and water contamination problems is Bradford-based Oceans Environmental which is using reed beds to help clean up contaminated water. Their clients include ICI, British Steel and Sainsburys.

Oceans is a subsidiary of ESU Services which was set up in the city in 1986 and works throughout the UK and abroad on pioneering projects. ESU is jointly owned by Professor Lucian Gill and industrial chemist John Barlow and is based at Cumberland House off Cemetery Road.

Bradford is a natural choice for the company's base as much of the contaminated land and water the firm deals with came about as a result of problems created by firms operating in the industrialised north.

Lucian Gill, 51, also has strong links with the city. Having been to St Bede's Grammar and studying chemistry and chemical engineering at the former Bradford Technical College, he went on to gain a string of qualifications including a PhD in organic chemistry and thermodynamics. His knowledge became expertise as it was used to deal with soil contamination difficulties.

When North Sea Gas was introduced in the late 1960s it left the problem of what to do with the acres of contaminated land where gas works had been.

At the time, Professor Gill was employed by the North Eastern Gas Board. Between 1966 and 1970 he worked with others to clear areas of contamination left behind by the changeover from one type of gas to another.

Over the years he developed partnerships with various bodies which led to the creation of ESU in 1986 and Oceans five years later.

John Barlow, 34, who is from Huddersfield, was working at Huddersfield University when one of the partnerships was formed with ESU. The two men discussed how they could expand the range of work carried out by ESU and in time he became managing director of Oceans. He has overseen some of the overseas work the firm is carrying out.

Zoe Burkitt, Oceans project manager, works at home and abroad and is currently involved in a water contamination project involving reed beds in Israel.

She said: "We have just upgraded our laboratory which has five staff at Cumberland House. The laboratory is used extensively to test soil and water samples for work on decontamination sites and carries out work for outside organisations and companies."

The firm has a design team which uses the latest hi-tech equipment to design reed beds and work out ways in which contaminated areas can be treated.

The company is expanding nationally and internationally and, having worked on 500 reed beds worldwide, its reputation for quality environmental work is also growing.

How reed beds work

How does a reed bed clean up contaminated water?

The reed bed consists of a shallow bed of soil in which reeds or other wetland plants are planted.

The bed is contained in a waterproof layer to prevent the waste leaking out of the system.

Micro organisms in the trade, or fungi and bacteria to you and me, developed in the reed bed help the reeds to get rid of pollutants in contaminated water.

Reed bed systems are being used throughout the world to treat various levels of sewage, agricultural sludge and slurries, effluents from food processors and paper factories, chemical and heavy industrial wastes, mine water and run-offs from roads and airports.

ESU and Oceans uses its wide range of experience to create and maintain the reed beds including expertise in effluent chemistry, horticulture, microbiology and soil science, engineering, chemical analysis, ecology and environmental monitoring.

Operation spread worldwide

Oceans and ESU use their skills for a number of top companies in the UK and abroad.

At home they manage two of the largest reed bed operations for chemical effluent in Teesside and steelworks effluent in South Wales.

The firm also runs the Sainsbury supermarket chain's Environmental Central Unit which involves assessing the environmental impact on the company's stores and keeping it up-to-date with Green legislation. ESU is also involved in the management and development of brownfield sites for the firm.

They also carry out work for smaller firms including a textile company in West Yorkshire.

Abroad John Barlow has been involved extensively in work with a steelworks near Adelaide. The firm has constructed a reed bed which treats the effluent stream from the coke ovens.

He has also been involved in a small reed bed system which was produced at low cost in Deepock in south Jakarta, Indonesia. "We were trying to do a system which could be managed by the people there and show that it need not cost a lot of money."

The firm is also involved in a research contract for Christchurch Council in New Zealand which involves investigating biological treatment of sewage and other waste waters.

The company is also involved in projects in India and Israel and in Europea has schemes in Germany, Bavaria and Austria.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.