A WATER supply infrastructure company is expanding its management team after it secured another important contract win.

Wearside’s Fastflow Pipeline Services has landed a deal with Northumbrian Water worth an estimated £1.3m. Following the latest success, the company is creating two senior posts – a commercial manager and a project engineer.

In March, the firm, which employs about 280 people, won a ten-year contract with Northumbrian Water, worth £200m, to become the utility company’s sole clean water contractor with responsibility for carrying out new connections, repairs and metering works.

It is also involved in a six-year project with Anglian Water subsidiary Hartlepool Water, estimated to be worth £5m, and includes utility firms Scottish Water and National Grid on its client list.

Fastflow, which is based in Washington, Wearside, will use its award-winning trunk mains cleaning system to fulfil the latest contract in Newcastle and Northumberland.

The European-patented system is capable of operating over distances of up to a kilometre, resulting in fewer excavations and pipe interventions, saving substantial amounts of time and money while improving safety and reducing environmental impact.

The use of innovative technology such as an £80,000 CCTV camera, one of only two of its kind in the UK, provides high-quality images from deep within the pipeline, enabling the technicians to carry out a thorough assessment of the condition of the main and develop a detailed cleaning and repair plan.

The remote controlled spray head uses only a fraction of the water required by more traditional flushing methods, making it much more environmentally sustainable.

Fastflow chief executive Neil Armstrong, who took ownership of the company through a management buy-in from the Northumbrian Water Group in 2005, said: “I am delighted that we have won this contract.

“We spent a lot of time and money developing our unique trunk mains cleaning system and we are now starting to see the fruits of our labour.

“2010 has been quite a year for us and to finish it off with another contract win is excellent.”