Monmouth firm Siltbuster, one of the UK’s leading water treatment specialist, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Construction News Specialist Awards 2015.

The company is a finalist in the Equipment Supplier of the Year category, in recognition of its level of innovation in 2014, the high profile projects it has worked on and the applications for its equipment.

During 2014 Siltbuster helped ensure that water running through Wimbleball dam in the beautiful Haddeo Valley in Exmoor National Park didn't get polluted during the dam’s massive grouting maintenance programme.

This involved Siltbuster treating more than 1.4 million cubed metres of water.

Other projects Siltbuster has worked on include Crossrail, A465 Heads of the Valleys and the Copenhagen Metro. In addition to these, Siltbuster has worked on hundreds of smaller construction projects.

Siltbuster has been shortlisted for its levels of innovation too. In 2014 Siltbuster launched its “Site Essentials Range” making industry leading treatment solutions accessible and more affordable to even the smallest construction firm so that they can treat and dispose of potentially polluting water which arises on site. It also unveiled its pHD unit which helps more contractors deal with the highly polluting washwater generated during concreting. Such concrete water, whether arising from concreting works or cleaning down equipment such as mixers and chutes, is a major issue for builders as it has a very high pH level, equivalent to oven cleaner. This makes it very toxic to aquatic life so it cannot be simply allowed to flow into water courses or released into the sewer, untreated.

In addition to product innovation, Siltbuster is continuing with its major educational programme around the UK, providing training to the construction industry to enable a better understanding of the potential risks from, and treatment options for, polluting water on sites.

Dr Richard Coulton, CEO of Siltbuster, said: "Our team has worked really hard this year to support all aspects of the construction sector, both the biggest contractors and the smaller ones – as it is only by coming up with solutions which work for the whole industry that the best environmental standards can be maintained. So it’s great for our expertise and innovation to be recognised in this way."

The winners of the Construction News Specialist Awards will be announced on March 18 at the Hilton Park Lane, London.