Vappa Wastewater Treatment Plant.

There’s not much here that can rust. And that’s entirely by design.

A brand-new wastewater treatment plant is taking shape in Enköping. New, modern and built to meet the municipality’s needs for many years to come. NCC is responsible for the construction contract, and our customer NIFAB is one of the companies involved in building the facility. NIFAB – now officially the fibreglass kings.

Chemicals and metal aren’t always the best of friends.

A wastewater treatment plant is one of the more aggressive environments out there. Chemicals mixed with waste make for a wonderfully corrosive cocktail. One of the chemicals used in the treatment process is sodium hypochlorite, which is used for purposes including disinfection and oxidation. Great at its job – less friendly towards materials that don’t particularly enjoy chemically exposed and corrosive environments. Which, to be fair, is most materials. Tricky. But not for the fibreglass king. (That’s NIFAB, by the way. Not us.)

Together with NIFAB, we at Safestep have supplied a complete base structure with GRP grating, as well as complete GRP stair structures. Load-bearing profiles, stringers, stair treads and grating – pretty much the whole package. Everything in 100% corrosion-free and chemical-resistant GRP. Well, okay. 99%. We let the fasteners be metal. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Built to stay. For a long time.

GRP doesn’t rust, doesn’t need painting and offers excellent resistance in many chemically exposed environments. The grating also provides a slip-resistant, free-draining walking surface, while the structure combines low weight with high strength. That means less focus on future corrosion and maintenance – and more focus on what a wastewater treatment plant is actually built to do.

NIFAB has simply chosen a solution that suits the environment from day one:

• Corrosion-resistant structures
• Minimal need for ongoing surface maintenance
• Slip-resistant and free-draining walking surfaces
• Low weight in relation to strength
• Stairs, profiles and grating in the same material

New treatment plant. New material choices.

There’s something particularly exciting about being involved when an entirely new facility takes shape. When you don’t have to adapt to “this is how we’ve always done it”, but actually have the opportunity to choose materials based on how they need to perform over time.

That’s exactly what NIFAB has done here. They build. We supply the GRP. And the sodium hypochlorite can get on with its job without the structures taking offence.

Great to be a small part of a brand-new, fresh and modern wastewater treatment plant in Enköping!