CASE STUDY: United Utilities

A huge part of our work at Barkers is to make the UK and wider world a safer place for people to live and work. Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) makes up some of the most important buildings and facilities with the UK, tasked with ensuring the day-to-day running of national systems.

Within CNI there are 13 major sectors, including the Water sector. These water facilities are responsible for providing potable water for the whole nation.

Every day United Utilities provides high-quality drinking water to approximately 3.2 million homes, factories and offices, serving 7 million people across the North West of England. They have over 80 sites across the North West where raw (rain) water is treated and disinfected to kill any harmful germs that may be present.

Water Sector’s Critical National Infrastructure – The Challenge:

United Utilities have to regularly assess the risks that could affect the quality of the drinking water. They have to rank their treatment facilities on the likelihood and consequences of hazardous events, using a matrix to give a numeric score.

Water and wastewater services companies such as United Utilities must operate on a prevention-first methodology, ensuring that if threats arise, they are primed for early intervention and be able to quickly get critical services up and running again in the event of an attack.

With a constant risk of chemical attacks, water companies must ensure that their security is highly effective, this includes their perimeter and access security.

CNI & Water Sector – The Solution:

Following the risk assessment of one of their sites, United Utilities selected Barker’s StronGuard™ SL2 Palisade, which provides heavy-duty resistance and protection against experienced attackers.

The StronGuard™ SL2 Palisade is able to withstand attacks from tools of a higher mechanical advantage, such as bolt cutters, claw hammers and drills, for over 3 minutes after rigorous testing by LPCB to LPS1175 SL2 (previously SR2).

This high-security perimeter fencing system makes it an ideal solution for locations at a higher risk of attack, such as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

The high-security fence also works to keep all staff and individuals that are on-site safe from intruders, who may otherwise be put at risk. Thanks to the palisade security fencing structure, the StronGuard™ SL2 is flexible to its installation environment and unique ground conditions, making it much easier to install and providing the highest security.

It delivers the classic visual deterrent of standard palisade, but with a level of security that’s seldom available in the commercial market. To enhance the aesthetic of the fence it was powder coated at our in-house facility in green to match the rural surroundings.