Source January 2013

january 2013 | thameswater.co.uk

‘Bin it – don’t block it’ sing sexy flushers in Gangnam-inspired rap

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Praise for volunteers as Network Challenge sparkles Renewable energy is a breeze for sewage works ‘Turning Thames Water customers into fans’ Arla Dairy project was straight forward ‘on paper’ Colleagues remember Alan Daw and Bill Minter Fresh history to rival Sir Joseph Bazalgette

SCADA: Wonder software keeps smaller sites InTouch

Editor’s column I hope you are all glad to be back at work after Christmas. And, yes, I am the turkey.

The Gagnam-inspired Sewerman Style video shoot took place on December 4 in central London. I was chased down Blackfriars tube station by a quartet of shaded-up flushers, angry that fat off big birds block Sir Joseph’s sewers. We attempted the dance in the shadow of the London Eye and Houses of Parliament, all while promoting the very serious message of ‘Bin it – don’t block it’. If you haven’t seen the video, check it out now on our website.

Also featured this month is one man’s six-year study into the history of London’s trunk mains – Chris Reichl interview from page 15. The crucial age data will help determine when a main could burst and will dictate renewal programmes. It is asset management planning – most water companies in the country don’t know this data to the level we do which is amazing as we are the oldest.

Stuart stuart.white@thameswater.co.uk

2 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

Life-savers named first heroes of 2013 We start the New Year with a double Hero of the Month award for two Thames Water stars who helped save the life of a girl involved in a car crash.

Reading sewage treatment worksbased tech ones James Baillie and James Harris were nominated by maintenance field performance manager Liam Crook for their quickthinking and supportiveness.

The pair were out on a call-out in rural Berkshire when they spotted a distressed young lady by the side of the road who had crawled out of a ditch to look for help as her friend had been thrown from the car.

Liam said: “They comforted the girls while calling emergency services to the scene. It became apparent that the badly injured girl was the daughter of a colleague’s close friend. The parents are extremely grateful for the assistance James and James provided as, if they had not done so, doctors informed them their daughter would no longer be with us.”

See who else has been living the Thames Water values on page 8.

Heroes James Baillie, left, and James Harris at Reading sewage treatment works

Be safe this winter Don’t take the lead from these three now the weather has turned

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ealth and safety has fallen off the radar of these ‘drainage experts’ from Leeds.

This old postcard, sent in by archivist Graham Minchinton, shows water industry workers advertising their business back in 1906 under the heading of ‘E Wooler & Son, Drainage Experts, Leeds’.

Besides not donning hard hats, gloves or hi-vis vests, Graham said he couldn’t think of anything worse than wearing what looks like a semi-suit arrangement for this kind of work.

“EVERY ACCIDENT IS A SERIOUS ONE AND WE NEED TO DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO PREVENT THEM” Health and safety, of course, is a serious issue and chief executive Martin Baggs has sent a clear message to the business to take responsibility this winter.

Martin said: “Every accident is a serious one and we need to do whatever we can to prevent them. This is particularly important at this time of year as the weather conditions change and we need to take more care – the majority of our accidents are slips, trips and falls.

“Please take the time to think about what you are doing, look after yourself and others. If you see something that you are not happy with it is your responsibility to do something about it. It could save someone’s life!”

Turn to page 12 for the health and safety calendar winners.

Sewermen Dave Dennis, Martin Wall, Rob Smith and Kevin MacKenzie say no to turkey fat!

Anti-fat flushers release Gangnam Style-inspired Christmas ‘plop’ video

includes the line: “People put wet wipes and food fat down the drain, blocking up sewers and for us that’s a pain. Of turkey fat and Christmas puds that set in big fat bergs, clogging up sewers that are meant to take just turds.”

BY NATALIE SLATER Thames Water spends £12 million a year clearing around 80,000 sewer blockages hames Water’s Singing Sewermen across its 109,000km of sewers in London released a Gangnam Style video on and the Thames Valley. In some cases these YouTube urging people not to wash blockages cause sewage to back up into drain-blocking grease from people’s homes. turkey dinners down sinks.

Rob Smith, Thames Water’s chief Watch The comedy video, entitled flusher and rapper, said: “Our video the hilarious ‘Sewerman Style’, stars the is a bit of festive fun with a very Sewerman Style company’s burly sewer ‘flushers,’ serious message. Sewer flooding video at www. whose job it is to keeping the results in people literally getting thameswater. bowels of London running. their own back. It’s horrific. It’s co.uk now! got to stop. That’s why we’re hell“OUR VIDEO IS A BIT OF bent on getting people to take heed of the Sewerman’s war cry: ‘Bin it – don’t block FESTIVE FUN WITH A VERY it’. Got it?

SERIOUS MESSAGE” “The tunelessness of our singing is inversely The self-professed pioneers of the ‘plop proportional to our determination to put an music’ genre are seen singing and dancing end to sewer abuse – putting anything other both above and below the streets of London, than human waste or loo roll down drains.” including in the historic brick sewers under The amount of fat dumped in Thames Blackfriars, and in front of the London Eye Water’s sewers over a typical Christmas and Houses of Parliament. period averages 500 tonnes, the equivalent The rap, the latest low-budget reheat of of one million Christmas puddings and 25% Korean artist Psy’s global hit Gangnam Style, higher than average.

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London certainly had its eye on this lot

www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 3

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT Liz Banks was “delighted” to collect the Jubilee Cup for Thames Water

Network Challenge sparkles Thames Water’s sterling work with secondary schools in Hounslow wins the Jubilee Cup at Spark’s 26th annual Partnership Challenge awards

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he community investment team was rewarded at the Spark! Partnership Challenge 2012 awards for the shining success of the Network Challenge.

The Jubilee Cup recognises the outstanding work of secondary schools and community partners in work-related learning and business links projects, and is awarded by Hounslow Chamber of Commerce.

Spark’s Ruby Mir said: “It is your hard work and dedication which makes you stand out and the work you do for young people is outstanding.

You are a great example to all the businesses we work with.”

“OUR FANTASTIC EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERS HELP BRING ENGINEERING TO LIFE AT OUR EVENTS” The Network Challenge is Thames Water’s flagship engineering activity with secondary schools. It allows students to experience working in a competitive setting while problem solving a real life task. In Hounslow, the event is held annually at Kew Bridge Steam Museum.

Joint winners of the award Rivers Academy, along with other schools in the borough including Chiswick, Isleworth & Syon, Lampton, 4 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

St Marks and The Green, all said they have enjoyed working with Thames Water on the project over the past year.

Rivers Academy wrote in their nomination: “Thames Water’s annual design technology challenges are embedded into the curriculum, providing enrichment, team building and problem solving activities for students.

“Ambassadors from Thames Water act as facilitators and run workshops for careers and industry days. Students with known talents flourish, but significantly, these high quality activities act as a catalyst to other students who display capabilities and leadership qualities otherwise untapped.”

Community investment and education manager Liz Banks said: “The Spark! team helped us to promote and develop the Network Challenge, and we are still reaching young people across the borough and exciting them about engineering, maths and technology more than 10 years later.

“I was delighted to accept this award for the team and our fantastic employee volunteers who help bring engineering to life at our events.”

Spark! work with partners, including Thames Water, to open up opportunities that inspire and enlighten, helping to forge secure futures for young people by giving them real focus and direction.

‘I wish there were more activities like this’ Ian, a Year 11 student at Rivers Academy, talks of his experience of taking part in the Thames Water Network Challenge My teachers always knew I had an aptitude for engineering and problem solving. I love getting into projects, thinking and working with my hands. I have dyslexia and yet I am in top sets for everything.

In the challenge I was able to organise the team to do the things I was not good at, in order for me to do the things I am good at. The people in my team had confidence in my ideas and my instructions, and we worked together really well as a team.

At the moment I am completing my GCSEs and looking at modern apprenticeships. The Thames Water Network Challenge made me a leader in my class when we came back to school, having won the competition.

People ask me for ideas and advice when we are completing research and design briefs. I wish there were more activities like this during the year. We don’t mind doing them after school because they are so interesting.

NEWS

Renewable energy is a breeze for sewage works One of Britain’s biggest sewage works gets set to welcome this 78.5 metre tall wind turbine to east London

BY NATALIE SLATER

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his time next year a £5 million wind turbine will be whirring at Crossness sewage works.

In the right weather conditions the 78.5 metre-high machine will provide enough energy to power 1,300 homes.

This power will add to the renewable energy already being produced by the energy-fromwaste plant and the solar panels to power 29% of the sewage works – which treats 2.5 million people’s sewage.

John Gilbert, Thames Water’s energy and carbon manager, said: “Our green energy activities generally involve us using parts of our sites that would otherwise stand redundant.

“THE TURBINE HAS BEEN CAREFULLY CONSIDERED TO OFFER THE BEST POSITION FOR ENERGY CREATION” “This cuts our overall carbon footprint and reduces our reliance on the non-renewable mainstream energy market and its price fluctuations. So as well as being good for us, it’s good for our customers because it keeps their bills down.

“The turbine has been carefully considered to offer the best position for energy creation, while not interfering with any local television or mobile phone signals, or navigation beacons for London City Airport.”

The turbine will power four per cent of the site, making Crossness the only sewage treatment works in Britain to harness the power of the wind, the sun and of human waste.

The renewable energy made at the site will be enough to treat waste from nearly 10,400 homes.

The energyfrom-waste plant, which burns the solid leftovers from the sewage treatment process to make heat to then make electricity, makes enough energy to power 7,000 homes. The

The turbine, which will look like this one, is being made in Germany and shipped to the UK in parts. It is expected to be operational by November

solar panels create enough for another 400 homes.

The turbine at Crossness is part of a wider programme by Thames Water to expand its renewable energy production, guarding against future price fluctuations in the nonrenewable mainstream energy markets.

The company has plans for a similar wind turbine at Beckton sewage works, also John Gilbert in east London. Both turbines should be up

and running this year, at which point Thames Water will be applying to take advantage of Government feed-in tariffs to incentivise green energy production (Renewables Obligation Certificates, or ROCs).

Last year Thames Water produced 14.3% of its total energy needs from renewable sources, cementing its status as the largest non-commercial green energy producer inside the M25.

Each year Thames Water spends £98m on one million megawatt hours of electricity treating and transporting 2.6bn litres a day of water to nine million people and treating and returning to the environment 4bn litres of sewage from 14 million people. Of its total annual power use, the company aims to selfgenerate 20% by 2015. www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 5

CUSTOMER SERVICE Half-year results: record investment continues

Step into our cu

Customer service director NATALI new feature to Source magazine w of feedback received from Thame

BY SIMON EVANS Thames Water has carried out £17 billion of upgrades to its networks since privatisation in 1989, chief executive Martin Baggs announced on December 3.

Britain’s biggest water firm remains on track with its current record £1 billion-a-year programme of essential improvements to it pipes, sewers and other facilities, the company’s half-year financial results confirmed.

Operating highlights for the six months to September 30 were: • Leakage remains lower than Ofwat reduction target for seventh successive year • Customers and environment benefiting from continued investment in infrastructure • Started boring the Lee Tunnel, largest single water industry project since privatisation • Effective drought management • Customers’ bills remained the secondlowest in the industry, at 93p per day per household • Contributed to delivery of successful Olympic Games Headlines from the company’s half-year accounts for 2012/13 included: • £498.6m spent on improvements to pipes, sewers and other facilities • On track to maintain investment at record £1 billion per annum for third year running • Underlying operating profit reduced by £22m, including £8m increase in bad debts • Post-tax profit for the period fell by £19m (13%) to £127.6m (2011: £146.6m) • As previously reported, the Kemble Water (which owns Thames Water) group paid a dividend of £74.5m to external shareholders in June 2012 (2011: £82.5m).

Martin said: “We have spent £17 billion on improvements to our water and wastewater infrastructure since privatisation in 1989.

“As a direct result of this investment, the quality of our customers’ tap water and the environmental compliance of our 350 sewage works are better than they’ve ever been, and leakage from our 20,000 mile network of water mains remains close to its lowest-ever level. This transformation would never have been possible under public ownership.

“However, we face significant cost challenges brought about largely by external factors such as rising inflation and customer bad debt. Despite this, we are determined to continue delivering record levels of investment to improve services for our customers both now and in future.”

6 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

I

know we have incredible people in our business and when we do the right thing for our customers and pull together we win for us and for them.

I also know that if every one of us steps up and

Pat Orza, Hemel Hempstead RECOGNISING DEBBY CORRY

Many people are quick to complain but often good service goes unmentioned. I would therefore like to commend the attitude of two of your staff.

Yesterday there was a problem with my drain and my patio was flooded with sewage. I called Thames Water and a young lady answered my call. She was very kind, reassuring, promising to get the premises inspected as soon as possible.

This morning a gentleman called Sunil arrived and took some time to solve the problem. I truly felt these two members of staff actually cared about my situation and certainly did all they could to make me feel better about it.

The problem is solved and I would like to say well done on providing a very real customer service where the customer counts!

James Stoker, north west London RECOGNISING CHARLIE ROBERTS

I’m writing to thank you for the successful resolution of a long standing problem with the drains of our house and to commend the assistance provided by Charlie Roberts.

Our drains have been problematic all summer. It proved difficult to get the required team to get the blockage cleared and we had to endure nearly two months of disgusting sewage smells and daily pump outs.

However, I am happy to say that after

I called your contact centre and spoke to Charlie matters progressed very quickly.

Charlie took clear ownership of the matter, escalated it to the required level and was able to get the required experts out to mitigate the issue and finally resolve it. All the way through she took care to keep us informed, was understanding and sensitive, and very effective.

This is what good customer service is about; taking an issue where a customer is very dissatisfied and resolving it to bring about a complete turnaround in the situation.

ustomers’ shoes

IE BECKERMAN introduces a which looks at real-life examples es Water customers takes ownership, accountability and puts ourselves in our customers’ shoes, we will make a difference.

Below are real-life examples of feedback received where we have turned Thames Water customers into fans…

Adrian Major, Didcot RECOGNISING JAMES DEVINE

I can’t quite believe I am writing to Thames Water to compliment them. We have experienced endless problems with waste water flooding over the past eight years. This has meant endless phone calls and letters to resolve the matter.

Throughout the whole process only one of your team has seen this problem through to a satisfactory resolution. He kept us informed at every step of the way, even if that meant telling me something I didn’t want to hear.

James Devine is a valuable asset to Thames Water. If others had applied the same professionalism and desire to own the problem I feel my opinion of Thames Water would be so much more positive.

Patchimutu Suppan, west London RECOGNISING PAUL WINSOR Thank you for your letters. You have responded speedily. Excellent results as far as customer relations are concerned. Many thanks for your appropriate action taken – an excellent piece of work to keep up the company’s image.

Katharine Ampomah, London RECOGNISING GEOFF PARKER

Paul Winsor, Kelly Trussler, Geoff Parker and James Devine’s manager Zee Choudary at Kemble Court

I wanted to give you an update on our medicinal-tasting water problem. The plumbers finally came in and fixed non return valves to the dishwasher and washing machine, and we found an almost immediate improvement to the taste of our water – much to our relief.

I hesitated to contact Thames Water as I wasn’t sure what response I would get.

I’m so glad I did. You have made a material difference to the enjoyment of our new home and saved me the cost of buying bottled water. Thank you so much for being so helpful.

Prepared ‘if’ disaster strikes

BY REBECCA IMISSON The business resilience and security team put Thames Water’s recovery contract with SunGard Availability Services to the test recently.

The aim was to make sure that if a real disaster happened at one of the big office sites the company could recover effectively and efficiently, with customer service at Walnut Court in Swindon a priority.

Following two days of technical set-up, five customer agents spent the day working from the SunGard office in Theale, Reading.

As well as carrying out back office activities, they took a small number of live customer calls to prove the recovery process worked.

Key people involved in the test were business continuity specialist Suzanna Smart, the Wipro project team, business services manager Nik Harman, Ravi Kumarvg, who supported the telephony set up, Karen Schofield, who enabled the agents to participate, and agents Tony Roberts, Tina Seward, David Burgess, Dawn Langford and Tanya Brown.

SunGard Availability Services provides IT operations support to ensure business viability by keeping mission critical information and applications up and running.

‘Children love poo questions’ Thames Water’s five new education facilities are on course to open early this year.

Education centres manager Paul Hampton has been busy behind the scenes to make sure the sites are geared up for teaching younger customers about the business of water.

Paul said: “There’s been a lot of work already to make sure that the sites are equipped and safe for pupils as young as seven-years-old to visit.

“SCHOOLS ARE ALL VERY EXCITED TO SEE THE SEWAGE WORKS” Timothy Hill, north west London RECOGNISING KELLY TRUSSLER

I wrote in September with a complaint.

Since then, your colleague Kelly Trussler has most efficiently and amiably seen to the work being carried out. The leak has been repaired, the pavement re-instated and cleaned.

This would not have happened had Ms Trussler not taken charge and I am grateful for her diligence.

“Having spoken to a number of schools, they are all very excited at the chance to come and see the sewage works – it might not be everyone’s idea of a great day out but the children love asking lots of poorelated questions.

“And it really does help them understand the science and technology behind what we do for our customers every day.”

The education sites are at Didcot and Slough sewage treatment works, Rye Meads in partnership with RSPB Rye Meads, Hogsmill, including the nature reserve, and Maple Lodge. www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 7

STAFF AWARDS

Who’s been living

THE VALUES?

Source will now be featuring some of the best stories highlighted in the EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION SCHEME every month – right up until awards night in June

PURPOSEFUL

Robert Stokes, Streetworks team manager, Nominated by Siobhan Bannister

PURPOSEFUL Suzanne Lauri, network engineer in south London Nominated by George Hesmondhalgh and Gary Izatt Both Gary and George nominated Suzanne for the same thing. Over the Olympics her region had a shortage of NSTs on standby because of the staff who went to work at the Games.

She volunteered to give up the majority of her evenings and weekends to be on call for over half of the weeks during last summer. She covered a huge region virtually by herself.

In that time a lot of pollutions were reported and she worked tirelessly to give the response needed on the ground and protect the environment.

George said: “She has shown she is one of the most purposeful members of the team and on the way to being an expert network engineer.”

SUPPORTIVE Networks planning team at Kemble Court (used to be at Cricklewood) Nominated by Leonie Karakatsanis Leonie nominated the network planning team for being hugely supportive to her and each other during the roll-out of WAMI. She said they have found it really tough and faced a lot of challenges along the way but soon figured out the best way to utilise the system to fit their requirements.

Leonie said: “I am very proud of the way 8 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

Anybody can nominate now on the portal.

Alternatively, email Rory Broughal or call him on 47689

DELIVERING OUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Electrical services team at Beddington sewage treatment works Nominated by Jim Emmines When a fire broke out in the Beddington power house, the team knew that this incident would have a major impact for the company and local environment. It needed a fast response from an organised team to protect the site and reduce the impact of untreated sewage being emptied into the River Wandle.

Even though the event happened late at night and none of the team were on standby they all worked through the night, into the next day and throughout the next couple of weeks to safely return power to the plant.

Included in the nomination were Nick Green, Peter Bundy, Rob Knight, Slav Preradovich, Colin Barnwell, Ian Prior, Liam James, Nick Green and John Smith.

Jim said: “They each demonstrated high levels of professionalism and technical expertise and were not overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.”

NOMINATE

Craig Williamson, Mark Bryant and Louise Gates

they have all pulled together, adapted to change and resolved any issues as one team.”

Siobhan nominated Robert for the excellent job he does to maintain good relationships with the highways and local authorities. She said that she regularly receives letters from stakeholders praising him for his excellent work.

He keeps in touch with the highway authorities regularly to ensure everything is running smoothly and when needed sorts out issues quickly. Siobhan is delighted because her department usually deals with the payment of fines for highways activities we don’t do so well. She said it makes a welcome change when they are happy to be dealing with us.

Twitter – one good, one bad

BOREHOLE

Happy: Just had on e of your engineers out – wa s professional and never stopped until the leak was fixed

with media manager Simon Evans

Unhappy: So @th ameswater has time to create a twitter page but no time to com e and fix this pipe! #soritout

Each month BH drills down on the news and issues affecting Britain’s biggest water firm

Les Mis hose us a debt of gratitude

Dodders wins nerd glory

olks are currently flocking to cinemas to see Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and other such talent in Les Misérables.

Little do they know, however, that they have Thames Water to thank for this cinematic gem.

It was our premium-grade product, fired from multiple high-velocity jets, which turned the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich into a rainsoaked Revolutionary French street scene à la 1787.

Although not without controversy.

For the film was shot back in April,

Ed is turkey

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shortly after the hosepipe ban came in following the driest two-year period on record.

This attracted the attention of the Mail on Sunday, whose reporter said the filmmakers must be brought to book for illicit use of hoses to douse the set.

Britain’s best-loved water firm said at the time: “While the use of hosepipes on film sets is not included in the 11 activities which a water company can prohibit under a Temporary Use Ban, we would urge any such use to be as sparing as possible.”

Anne Hathaway wanted the hosepipes turned off

Ed Dodman, a stakeholder engagement operative based at Thames Water’s Reading HQ, edged into a new category of cerebral elitism when he recently won the Daily Telegraph’s cryptic crossword competition. BH’s reaction: “Nerd.”

BH was troubled to see the Source ed dressed as a giant turkey (page 3). Still, two hours in the oven, a bit of cranberry sauce and maybe he’d be quite tasty.

How journalism works It’s important to remember not to take things too personally, particularly when it comes to press coverage, BH always thinks. Two months ago a well-known Sunday paper ran a critical front-page story on us not paying corporation tax.

We got the unfair end of the deal after a prominent MP briefed the paper against us, with dubious levels of accuracy. Following a face-to-face chinwag, the same reporter who did the unhelpful tax story filed a helpful one – outlining the environmentally damaging perils of misconnected sewers and how we’re keen for Government to give companies greater powers to help tackle the problem. So, no hard feelings. Hacks just like a good yarn, regardless of who it upsets.

What the Dickens!

Clive Dickens, the talismanic Olympic monk (Source passim), has now progressed to the role of chief fixer.

The hi-vis and hard hats are long gone. Today big Clive can be seen striding round the London area in a crisplytailored suit.

Bojo’s euphoric theory

Long-lasting effects of flood damage

London mayor Boris Johnson, in an extract from his new book The Spirit of London, published in the Sunday Times, put forward theories on how “a sort of euphoria took hold of the population” as the Olympics unfolded. “As though we had been crop-dusted with endorphins or Thames Water had added serotonin to the supply.”

Spare a thought for our customers whose premises are still not in order after a burst main flooded Kilburn High Road, north west London, last July.

Tony Fogah (pictured in his store with boxes piled high) runs Sounds, an independent music shop. He has received some initial damages payments for lost stock but the builders have yet to start repair work.

Next door is Tony English (pictured in his deserted shop), boss of Kilburn Furniture. He is not yet back in his property. Repairs have yet to begin on his damaged basement and ground floor.

Of the 20 insurance claims being handled

by Thames Water resulting from this incident, nine have been settled so far, BBC London reported.

It takes an awful long time to sort out flood damage. But as we said on the day this burst took place, this is our fault and our responsibility to put right. Our position is unchanged.

www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 9

NEWS Deephams will remain fully operational while the upgrade is built in several phases

Deephams plans ‘exciting’ Final two contractors asked to submit plans that are efficient, cost-effective and sustainable

BY CRAIG RANCE

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hames Water has narrowed down its pool of potential contractors to rebuild and refurbish one of London’s largest sewage works.

The final two contracting groups, Tamesis (a joint venture of Laing O’Rourke and Imtech Process) and AMK (AECOM, Murphy and Kier), will now work with Thames Water to design the upgrade.

Both of the contractors in Thames Water’s early contractor involvement (ECI) process will be submitting plans in March that demonstrate the kind of innovation and smart thinking to give customers the best value for money.

Before then, the groups will collaborate with Thames Water to come up with an upgrade design that is efficient, cost-effective and sustainable, and will reduce the impact on the local community both during construction and after completion. The plan is to announce the Mogden’s £140 million upgrade is nearing completion with construction work on track to finish by the end of March.

Delivery manager Matt Warburton confirmed his 300-strong team are gradually switching on each part of the extension and that progress made so far has been “truly remarkable”.

“It’s a huge achievement for the

selected contractor in the first half of 2013.

Capital delivery director Lawrence Gosden said: “Innovation, collaboration and sustainability are the three pillars by which we want to deliver this project and we’re excited to see what Tamesis and AMK come up with.

“Once plans are submitted in March we’ll begin the final stage of our ECI process to choose a contractor to build the upgrade.

“WE’RE INVOLVING THEM EARLY IN THE DESIGN PROCESS TO MEET THE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES POSED BY A MAJOR PROJECT SUCH AS THIS” “We’ve chosen to involve contractors early in the design process in order to meet the significant challenges posed by a major project such as this.”

Lawrence said early involvement maximises

the time for innovative solutions to be developed and ensures health and safety is at the core of proposals.

He added: “A safe working environment is vital as the site has to remain fully operational while the upgrade is built in several phases.

“We’re also taking the whole life cost into consideration, so running and maintaining the site is going to be just as important as the delivery. Making the work as costeffective as possible means we can pass benefits onto our customers.

“Challenging projects like this are why we get into engineering and we’re right on track to deliver a new and efficient sewage works for north east London.”

Much of Deephams sewage works, in Edmonton, was constructed in the 1950s and 60s. New infrastructure is needed to make sure the site is able to meet new sewage treatment standards set by the Environment Agency to improve water quality in the River Lee. The works’ capacity also needs expanding to cope with the projected population increase to 2031 – where it will treat sewage for almost one million people.

Countdown to Mogden completion dedicated team who have worked really hard since the start,” he said.

“It’s a meticulous and complex operation and we’ve already put a number of the new treatment tanks into service.”

The extra treatment capacity means existing uncovered primary tanks have been taken

10 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

offline so they can be refurbished and covered. One by one, they will each be brought back into operational service by the spring.

Engineers are now working full steam ahead to switch on the remainder of the new works, which on completion will significantly reduce the need to discharge

partially-treated sewage into the River Thames.

The remainder of the project will also see the site’s western embankment landscaped, which will be carried out in line with plans approved by the London Borough of Hounslow. Work to shape the mound has already begun and will be finished at the beginning of this year.

DEVELOPER SERVICES

Team made of white stuff The Arla Dairy water and waste requisitions project looked pretty straight forward on paper, says WILLIAM CHAN The Arla Group are currently constructing their £150 million ‘mega’ dairy. It will be the first billion litre milk dairy and is aiming to be the first zero carbon milk processing facility in the world.

Thames Water’s developer services team have been working closely with Arla since 2010 when they announced their preferred site to the west of Aylesbury.

Studies were completed to ensure the required amount of water could be supplied and their waste received and treated.

As project manager, it was my job to liaise with and draw on the expertise from all internal stakeholders including the key customer team, trade effluent, waste and water operations, environment and heritage, network modelling, asset planning and legal to name a few.

“WORK WAS GOING WELL UNTIL I RECEIVED AN UNEXPECTED CALL FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGIST” It has been a real team effort to get a solution for Arla, who basically required a new 300mm water main, 3km long, and a new 450mm sewer connection, 1.5km long. A couple of pipes from A to B through fields – a contractors dream project on paper.

The Arla Group obtained planning permission in September 2011 and pressed the ‘go’ button. We designed the mains in house and started on site with our construction team in November.

Having agreed with landowners the routing of the mains and obtained the necessary consents and approvals for our method of working – what could go wrong?

The construction team’s first activity in the first week was to clear the working strip and compound areas.

This would pave the way for us to ‘crack on’ in an attempt to meet our target for water supply by the end of February. The weather was fine, with stripping work progressing very well until the end of the week when I received a call from the archaeologist: “We think we may have found a Bronze

Elmstead Lane

Working round clock to fix leaks

William Chan says everything is on track despite the discovery and wet weather

Age roundhouse.”

Since the initial discovery the structure has since changed to a square Roman house and, finally, with evidence of cremations and urns, a cremation or mortuary building. The team also found a number of old metal coins and pottery which will be donated to a local museum and work had to be postponed while experts carried out a full-scale site survey.

All this excitement was over in two weeks and the teams moved into their accommodation and to get back working in earnest. The county archaeologist commended the construction team (Optimise, Prospect Archaeology and Arcadis) for their appreciation and understanding in working with them on this historical matter.

There is a long way to go but the team is working really well and we are still aiming to supply Arla early in the New Year.

A Thames Water team worked through the night to get this eight-inch burst main fixed by 9.15am the following morning.

This dramatic picture of Elmstead Lane, Chislehurst, was sent by a customer to the News Shopper paper on December 4.

And below is the moment a gang pulled out a leaking 20-inch main in Tilehurst Road, Reading, at 2am recently.

Tilehurst Road

WaterAid Lottery The winner of November’s WaterAid Lottery jackpot of £800 is Mark Willcocks.

Runners-up in the monthly draw, each receiving £25, were: AG Crouch, GNR Dixon, Daniel Bourne, PM Watkins, Caroline Lee, Stephen Wilkinson, Jill Jones, Stephanie Harrison, Mark Manktelow, Nolanne Wright, IM Larkins, Paul Bridgens, HL Pretty, Daniel Gorman, Danielle Jarvis, Mark Gilbert, Mark Wickstead, GL Renaud, Valerie Parsons, A Stedman, SG Jackson, Maria Rivers, JM Tranter and Cassie Rudwick. www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 11

WORKING IN AN OFFICE: Edward Martin, one, son of Dave Martin, developer services

KEEPING FIT AT WORK: Danielle Southall, daughter of Graham Southall, commercial

WEARING THE RIGHT CLOTHES: Jordan Pearce, 10, son of Melanie Pearce, customer service

WORKING ON SITE: Abigail Jesko, eight, daughter of Kirsty Telling, external affairs

Health an calendar H

ere is a sneak preview of the superb health and safety images in this year’s Thames Water calendar – all designed by young family members of staff.

Business communications executive Alice Cowie said: “Huge congratulations to the winners. We had over 50 entries, and the judging was very tough – so well done to everyone who entered.”

WORKING BELOW GROUND: Oscar Atkins, seven, nephew of Jon Clutton, external affairs

EATING HEALTHILY: Charlotte Taplin, 11, god daughter of Karen Goodlake, asset management

12 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

2013 CALENDAR KEEPING EACH OTHER SAFE: Charlie McLaren, seven, son of Davi d McLaren, operations, Beckton

WORKING WITH CHEMICALS: Dominic Martin, eight, son of Dave Martin, developer services

nd safety winners The imaginative designs will be on a double-sided calendar along with WaterAid images and messages raising awareness of the struggles people face in Bangladesh on a daily basis.

Order your team’s calendars by filling out the online form on the portal now. A £2 donation to WaterAid is recommended for each one ordered.

WORKING AT HEIGHT: Brett Robinson, 10, son of Linda Robinson, streetworks

WORKING WITH VEHICLES: Megan Harris, eight, daughter of Claire Tyrrell, asset management

WORKING WITH WATER: Kristin Harvie, nine, niece of Nick Sumption, commercial

SITE: WORKING ON A CONSTRUCTION Mike of hter daug n, Katelyn Lenander, seve yor surve tity quan , Lenander

www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 13

IN MEMORY

The leakage planning team after finishing ‘Alan’s Wood’ at Farmoor

The leakage planning team planted trees at Farmoor reservoir recently in memory of much-respected former colleague ALAN DAW

A

lan Daw, a senior demand planner in asset management with more than 20 years service for Thames Water, died at the age of 52 in September 2012 after valiantly battling amyloid disease for six years.

He was a keen angler, among his other interests, and spent many happy hours fishing at Farmoor reservoir.

His colleagues in the leakage planning team considered it fitting to pay their respects by planting a small copse on some

“ALAN WAS LOYAL, CARING, KIND, UNDERSTANDING, ENCOURAGING, DETERMINED AND DEPENDABLE” open space to the east side of the reservoir, having received a donation of 120 saplings from the Woodland Trust.

They were joined by Alan’s

‘A wonderful manager, colleague and friend’ partner, Polly, to plant, stake and rabbit-proof the young saplings on November 14.

Demand and leakage analyst Frances Ward said: “The saplings planted are all native species, rowan, silver birch, wild cherry and others, and we hope it will be an attractive feature and attract even more wildlife than at present.”

With the planting complete a glass of bubbly was raised in Alan’s memory. One of the tree-planters described it as “a great way to remember our good friend”.

Thames Water has also made a contribution to the funds raised in his memory, and the team plan to add a memorial bench to the site

Dave Clark wrote this poem as a tribute to BILL MINTER, who died aged 55 on November 4 shortly after retiring from Thames Water due to ill health. The avid West Ham fan was a strong supporter of WaterAid and served as a network service technician in north east London for more than 30 years. Fellow NST Dave read this poem out at Bill’s funeral on November 15 on behalf of all the team who turned out in force to pay their respects 14 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

Alan Daw at Ascot last year

in the spring of 2013.

Alan was much loved by a great many people both within

and outside the company and is greatly missed.

As Andrew Oakes, his manager, said at the time of his death: “Alan was a wonderful manager, colleague and friend. He was loyal, caring, kind, understanding, encouraging, determined and dependable. He was a great judge of character, had strong principles and was always looking out for others.”

Amyloidosis (or amyloid disease) is a rare condition which currently has no cure, though research is ongoing. The funds raised for Alan, after the cost of the memorial bench, will be forwarded to the Amyloidosis Research Fund at UCL Medical School, where he was being treated.

‘Bill had a heart of gold’

Bill Minter will be missed

I have known Bill for many years.

There has been lots of laughter, And very few tears.

Bill would at times get on your nerves and drive you mad, But at the same make you smile and be glad, To have known someone that was more than your regular ‘Jack the Lad’.

To others Bill may have appeared brash and bold, But to us, our Bill had a heart of gold.

He was a West Ham fan through

and through, a genuine claret and blue.

Bill used to love his food, not always eating with his knife and fork.

As Bill would say “well you can’t educate pork”.

As Bill heads for those pearly gates, we say goodbye to our special mate.

Up there in heaven he will keep them on their toes, as only Bill knows.

As it leaves me to say a fond farewell as he goes on his way.

FRESH HISTORY TO RIVAL BAZALGETTE

The story of Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s sewers are celebrated worldwide, but the tale of London’s clean water supply has remained a mystery. Until now. Source editor Stuart White met with CHRIS REICHL to hear about his six-year study into the history of the capital’s trunk mains he has passed over to Thames Water

B

The trunk main is lowered into position in Melton Street outside Euston Station

efore we get started, Chris Reichl is not a geek. He is 35-years-old, married with two young girls and roared when Sergio Aguero fired his beloved Man City to the Premier League title last season.

He is a former Thames Water north London operations man who joined in 2002 before leaving in 2008 to design and build a leak location device. He is not an anorak, just a bloke with loads of enthusiasm you would share a pint with. So why, you ask, did this man devote six years of his life to the study of London’s trunk mains?

“Because it is a story that rivals Bazalgette,” he said quickly, and I just listened. “Bazalgette is known worldwide, and all the sewers are still there and are expected to be there for another 200 years, but we didn’t know much about the water supply because most of information has been lost over the years. It is all so old but I believe the company should know about it, and shout about it.” www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 15

Pipelaying in Tottenham Court Road in 1834

And I barely needed to ask another question.

Chris is so passionate about his study, all in his own time, the vast majority for free, that he just wants it on the map.

“I worked through the board minutes of each of the old water companies in north London and discovered the majority of trunk mains supplying inner London were all laid prior to 1900 – there can’t be a water company in the world like that,” he said. “The ages are astounding. It is all the original stuff, all in the ground, all still going.”

The reason for this is that smaller, private firms used to supply different parts of London in Victorian and Georgian times – not a single water company.

“The complexity is phenomenal – Thames doesn’t get enough credit really. Other water firms don’t have the number of big mains Thames does – there are thousands of miles of them. It is such a unique company.”

His obsession started following a series of Chris Reichl spent six years on his fascinating trunk main study

16 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

conversations with the late Dave Alkins, who used to run the archives at Clearwater Court and who sadly passed away in 2011. He knew a lot about the company’s history prior to 1900 and pointed his apprentice in the right direction.

“THE MAJORITY OF TRUNK MAINS SUPPLYING INNER LONDON WERE ALL LAID PRIOR TO 1900” From there it grew. Chris has now gone through most of the relevant archives, finding the dates of when the big water mains were laid in north London and simultaneously discovering how the capital city expanded.

“That was my focus. How did London growup? Why do we have treatment works where they are? Reservoirs? I was interested in why the system looks like it does. Nobody knew how old anything was. It was very fragmented. That got me going.”

The 36-inch Nunhead to Tower Subway main laid by Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company in 1900

TRUNK MAIN HISTORY Main laying at St John’s Wood

N

orth and south of the Thames, our present day water network is based on an amalgamation of a number of companies operating in the 100 years from 1805. Hygiene standards were poor and a piped supply of water was exclusively for the affluent. Sensing a profit, a number of new companies formed to each take a slice of the action: New River Company of 1613, Chelsea Water Works, Grand Junction WW, West Middlesex WW, East London WW and, the oldest, London Bridge WW. Established in 1582, the firm used several large waterwheels mounted in London Bridge and was able to pump a pressurised supply to the wealthier inhabitants and industry of central London over several storeys.

It was the UK’s first large planned pumped distribution system, and also the first which ‘billed’ users for their water use.

“I WOULDN’T DO IT FOR ANY OTHER WATER COMPANY, AND I HOPE IT DOESN’T GET LOST BECAUSE NOBODY IS EVER GOING TO DO IT AGAIN” The London Bridge Water Works pioneered pumping and distribution technology and is the grandfather of the system Thames Water uses today.

“The water companies were highly competitive and competed aggressively for customers, often laying their water mains down the same roads. It resulted in widespread incidents of foul play,” Chris discovered.

Sadly the poor were often left out. The lucky ones were supplied by a miserable, single communal standpipe, while the others had to make do the best they could by carrying their water in buckets up from street pumps or the rivers.

The water quality supplied from 1800

to the 1850s was highly variable between companies depending on where they derived their supplies. Some filtered their water, others didn’t. Poor quality water helped spread several major cholera epidemics which killed many people across the city, and which eventually helped lead to nationalisation.

Chris said: “There were incidents of gangs changing over an existing water supply to a house without permission at night. Frequently when employees of each of the companies met in the street there was trouble. It was chaos and they almost all went bust.”

Eventually a truce was negotiated in 1815 and the companies agreed boundaries and retreated behind them. These are the same water zones we see in Thames today, 200 years later.

But it was only in 1903 that the companies – who continued to expand with London – amalgamated into a single public water utility, the Metropolitan Water Board.

“From this point, we know a lot about what was done and where, as the MWB had an army of clerks recording everything,” said Chris.

Most of the company’s records between 1903 to the present day are kept in the library in Clearwater Court. The information used in the study into Thames’ early history is all housed in the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell, which is where the BBC film genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? “There is over a kilometre of records,” said Chris. “It is an amazing place and one of the largest collections there is Thames Water’s. I didn’t know what to look for, or what I would find. There is no detailed index – I had to flick through everything. It takes forever and you have to have the drive.

“I wouldn’t do it for any other water company, and I hope it doesn’t get lost because nobody is ever going to do it again.”

Freezing winter of 1947, Blitz chaos and GJ No.1 The years of research uncovered some amazing stories from the past. Just after the infamous harsh winter of 1947 when the Thames froze, there was a rapid spring thaw in the River Lea Valley and the big treatment works at Lea Bridge, the predecessor to Coppermills, had to be shut down for 10 days.

Chris said: “It was inundated by melting water and they were forced to turn the pumps off. It was reportedly the biggest emergency in peace time in the UK and the Government mobilised the army. There was no running water to anywhere supplied today by Coppermills, a population of over a million at the time.”

He also discovered the challenges of running a water company during the Blitz of World War II. “Can you imagine?” he said.

“You can’t shut the water mains off during bombardments. They all had to be kept on to fight fires.”

“CAN YOU IMAGINE 98 BIG MAINS BURSTING AT ONCE DURING A BLACKOUT, SURROUNDED BY AN INFERNO” On the night of May 10, 1941, 605 water mains were hit by bombs, 98 of them over 12 inches. “When we have a big one burst in central London it is national news. Can you imagine 98 big mains bursting at once during a blackout, surrounded by an inferno and desperately trying to keep the reservoirs full? What an achievement, they were such brave men and women.”

And the explanation behind the GJ No.1 which runs straight down Oxford Street and was the first big trunk main laid by the Grand Junction Water Company in 1812.

“Nobody knows why we call it that name,” he said. “During a recent Crossrail project a gang had it exposed, so I had to have a look.

It had big reinforcing hoops on it and looked like a cannon on a galleon warship.

“When you shot a cannonball the pressure is so enormous the thickness and hoops stopped it cracking – a perfect design for the early big water mains.

“The Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson’s victory was in 1805 so just think how old that is. There can’t be many water mains in the world that old and Thames has lots of them.”

Bomb craters in Bayswater Road

www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 17

SAP+

Goodbye WAMI, hello SAP+ Thames Water is launching a new project to make SAP work more effectively after the last of the mobile field devices were issued in December – marking the end of the WAMI project

BY ANNI GRUNER

How can I find out more?

T

To help spread the word on performance recovery, Jerry White and Jon Regan also hit the road in November and December on their ‘Roadshow to Recovery’ tour. This served as a reminder of why WAMI was so important to the business and gave a stabilisation update, including what has been done to make things better.

here are now 1,700 people in the field using a device on SAP as well as 3,000 office based users.

It was a mammoth effort from the WAMI team and many others right across the business over the last three years to make this work. And it has not been without its challenges, as big changes in any business take effort and commitment.

Why WAMI? WAMI is a business-led, IT enabled project to deliver sustainable change in the way Thames Water operates.

The change is designed to meet the needs and expectations of customers more effectively, provide better data to enable industry-leading asset management, improve the efficiency of field operations and replace a multitude of obsolete or ineffective IT systems.

There’s no doubt WAMI has brought about big changes across the business and it’s not unusual, faced with these, to see performance dip.

Stabilisation and performance recovery

Head of WAMI programme delivery Jerry White

We’ve been tackling challenges across water networks and above ground by setting up two performance recovery teams. They have been getting to the bottom of the challenges faced and understanding how to get WAMI really working for the business, its people and customers. Focusing particularly on people and processes, the idea is to make sure everybody knows what their job is, how to do it and how it fits into the bigger picture.

WAMI tales…

Tim Stares, functional analyst, below ground “It was very exciting at first, collating everyone’s requirements for mobile forms, but we didn’t really know how they were going to turn out, and the software seemed to not be as flexible as we had hoped. The mobile forms we delivered originally were ok, but not brilliant.

“That’s why I’ve been so pleased to be involved in this recovery phase where we get to review the forms with the real users, work out what’s good, what’s bad and what’s ugly and make the forms easier to use. The feedback we’ve had from the field guys this time round has been great.”

18 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

What’s next?

Moving up a gear, we’re now at the start of the ‘optimisation’ phase of the project and on November 19 SAP+ sprang into action.

What is SAP+?

The SAP+ programme will be delivering further improvements to our SAP system, including for example changes to the scripts in our customer centres – see Shantelle’s story below.

Since we first delivered the customer centre scripts, over a year ago, many of the processes have changed and therefore we need to update the scripts to reflect the way we work now, making it easier for our contact centre people and improving the service to our customers.

What if I’ve got a bright idea, need to make a change request or ask for help?

SAP+ is being led by Jon Regan, and delivered by the Business Intergation Centre (BIC) team in IS. If you have an idea your first port of call will be the appropriate ‘business user group’ (BUG). Check out your BUG, they’re located on the IS quick links on the Thames Water portal.

Shantelle O’Callaghan, functional anaylist, customer “By working closely with the business we have identified that there are further improvements we can make. This includes a new account overview screen enabling our customer service agents to view all of the customers’ case and interaction history on one screen.

“It’s been a great opportunity for me to learn more about the wider business and how all our processes fit together to deliver the level of service our customers expect. I still think it is an amazing achievement to deliver such a large change programme affecting all areas of our business within 12 months, but we still have a way to go to realise its full potential!”

Wonder software keeps sites InTouch Improved site monitoring, control and visibility, reports RICHARD STARKEY

T

he SCADA team completed an important milestone recently with the handover of 15 Thames Valley production sites.

Known as HMI (human machine interface) sites and some of the smaller Thames Water ones across the region, they were perfect for testing out a variant of the new SCADA system – Wonderware InTouch.

Wonderware InTouch is an award-winning HMI SCADA software that provides graphic visualisation and brings site facilities to life on computer screens. They replace the existing systems and offer a far more comprehensive view of these sites.

Kathryn Moore, SCADA senior workstream lead, added: “As these were the first site SCADA systems to be installed it was a bit of learning curve for everyone. We needed to harness the valuable knowledge of the local teams to ensure the installations were successful.

“The sites are working very well and we’re grateful for the support of the local operations and instrumentation, control and automation teams who went the extra mile to help get these sites delivered.”

Visit the SCADA pages on the portal for more information.

SCADA What is SCADA? SCADA is the name for the computer systems which monitor and control all aspects of Thames Water’s water and wastewater treatment, collection and supply, and how they’re performing across the network. The existing SCADA systems are being replaced as many are old or obsolete and can provide inconsistent data, leaving the business at greater risk of compliance failures and site visibility loss.

The SCADA programme is running throughout AMP5 and will have an impact on around 45% of Thames Water employees.

Latton team manager Carl Thomas stays InTouch at Blewbury water treatment works

“UPGRADING THESE SITES WILL MAKE SUCH A DIFFERENCE” And it’s not before time for some of our operations teams. “I was more than happy when my team was asked to help SCADA with the installs at our Thames Valley sites,” said Kristian Smith, production manager for the western region.

“We were finding the old systems were becoming increasingly less reliable, data was often 24 hours old by the time it came through, and some sites were requiring visits more and more often.

“I’ve seen the new Wonderware InTouch system in action and upgrading these sites will make such a difference in terms of improved site monitoring, control and visibility.”

The reeds given an extra clean to the treated discharge leaving Uffington sewage works for the River Ock

Reed bed keeps village ‘green’ Treated wastewater flowing into the River Ock is now cleaner than ever six months after natural reed bed filters were installed at Uffington sewage works.

Thames Water’s £115,600 installation is helping to preserve the natural environment by providing a green solution to the

“SINCE WE INSTALLED THE REED BEDS WE’VE SEEN GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE QUALITY OF WATER THAT WE DISCHARGE INTO THE RIVER OCK” treatment of sewage in the area while maintaining the high quality of the outfall pipe that discharges into the Ock. The outfall already met consent guidelines

before the project, but since the installation of the aerated reed beds, early indications are that they are removing significantly higher levels of suspended solid particles and ammonia that would have discharged into the river.

A Thames Water spokesman said: “Since we installed the reed beds we’ve seen great improvements in the quality of water that we discharge into the River Ock. “The new reed beds also offer a fantastic potential habitat for nesting birds and amphibians which we hope to welcome on to the site in future.”

Uffington’s sewage works discharges its treated effluent to the River Ock, a tributary of the River Thames. Work started on the upgrade In November 2011 and was completed in March 2012. www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 19

NEWS

Truckers help bring home the Mo-ney The big shave-off on December 1 marked the end of another fuzztastic Movember at Thames Water Ant Tyler ran the Valencia Marathon dressed as a matador and ran a Mo Quiz at the labs at Spencer House

Another mo-numental effort from immaculately groomed men across the business has seen thousands banked for Movember.

More than £7,500 was raised by Mo It Yourself – Six, the Thames Water in-house team, plus around another £1,500 from other independent teams all involved in mouth brow sculpting.

And with the company charities committee pledging to double anything up to the value of £10,000 the figure will rise close to £20,000.

Chief ‘Mo Bro’ Mick Tutton said: “Once again we have been able to unlock the generosity of our friends and family through the simple art form of a mo.

“There were some great styles again this year, from the regent (favoured by Hungarian princes) to the trucker – which seemed a popular choice this year.

“But there is a serious message. This is all about men’s health – in particular prostate and testicular cancer, and these are the charities that our kind sponsors are contributing to. Thanks again to all the sponsors and ‘Mo Bros’, and remember it’s only just over 10 months to Movember 2013.”

On top of the amount mentioned, a further £2,000 was raised by Kirsty Telling and Amanda Harvey-Smith through a raffle and sale at Kemble Court.

North east London network engineer Simon Clifford.

Above, five guys from the property searches team raised over £350

Customers to benefit from pilot scheme New Advise2Save scheme provides support for people struggling to pay their bills and helps save water

BY ANDREW BOYD

A

one-year pilot project funded by Thames Water aims to increase the help available to customers struggling with debt and affordability issues in the London boroughs of Haringey and Southwark.

The company launched the Advise2Save initiative, thought to be the first of its kind, with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). Customers approaching the CAB for help with money problems can now receive one-to-one advice, as well as a home makeover to save energy and water. Even if the customer does not have a meter, or does not want one, the scheme will still save money by reducing the consumption of hot water, one of the most expensive uses of water in the home.

Technical analyst John White has led the project, with water efficiency manager David

20 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

Grantham. It links with an existing GLA initiative offering energy-saving advice, which now also involves the free installation of watersaving devices.

John said: “Haringey and Southwark are two areas with a high proportion of people with financial problems. The CAB are fronting the

“CUSTOMERS CAN RECEIVE ONE-TO-ONE ADVICE AS WELL AS A HOME MAKEOVER TO SAVE ENERGY AND WATER” campaign in their local offices and outreach centres, such as public libraries, offering debt advice and a free telephone number people can ring as an independent contact point.

“They are also promoting the scheme through retail outlets, residents’ associations and local councillors.”

Among the top tips to help cut water bills,

the scheme suggests customers: • Take shorter showers • Run a bowl full of water when washing up rather than leaving the tap running • Always fully load their washing machine or dishwasher before using • Don’t leave the tap running when brushing teeth The package of energy and water-saving devices, installed as part of a home makeover, could save up to £300 a year on bills, where the customer is on a metered supply, and guidance will be given as to whether the customer could reduce their bills by opting for a meter.

Helen Newman, head of corporate responsibility, said: “Customers struggling with their bills can already apply to the Thames Water Customer Assistance Fund, and we also sponsor some debt management advice, including the CAB through the Thames Water Trust Fund.

“What is great about this scheme is that it provides support for people who may be struggling to pay their bills and it helps us save water, so everyone gains.”

TWEET INTERVIEW

‘I WANTED TO WORK FOR THE BEST WATER COMPANY’ Leakage engineer KRISTOFRE MORTON, who is based at Ashford Common water treatment works, turned 30 two days after Christmas to cap off an exciting year It’s fair to say 2012 was a year you will not forget.

Yes, being part of the Olympics opening ceremony was amazing, and now I’ve just turned 30!

Kristofre Morton as an Olympic miner

You moved to the UK from Malaysia two years ago, so do you feel settled in now?

My granddad is from South Shields and I have family in Oxford which helps. I wanted to move here to work for the best water company.

“THE INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA IS NOT AS MATURE AS THE UK” And has working for Thames Water lived up to your expectations?

It is great experience for me to learn and I really enjoy what I do in the optimisation team at Ashford.

You have three years experience of working in the water industry in Malaysia.

That must help?

Yes, but here it is very different.

The industry is not as mature as in the UK. So what is different?

Thames is much more advanced in a number of fields, like data Thames Water is starting a scheme to increase the amount of green electricity it produces from sewage at its works in Aylesbury.

The £16 million project will also see big improvements to the plant’s processes to improve water quality in the nearby River Thame.

These upgrades will cut operating costs, reduce the company’s carbon footprint and benefit wildlife living by the river.

The project is the second biggest in the company’s fiveyear investment programme of more than £5bn over the five years between 2010 and

management and the systems in place.

And the weather, of course.

Contrary to the general mindset, I do enjoy the cold. We should count ourselves lucky as there are no natural disasters.

We must talk about the Olympics? How did you get involved?

I saw it advertised on e-brief. I

wanted to volunteer for something and what can be better than London 2012?

What role did you play then?

I was a miner and came out of a tower when they pulled up a tree for the switch from the meadows to industrial revolution.

So did you have to do any fancy dance moves?

Power up in Aylesbury 2015 in the Thames Valley.

Lawrence Gosden, Thames Water’s capital delivery director, said: “The improvements will benefit our business, the natural environment, and our customers.

“By producing more renewable energy, we reduce our reliance on non-renewable power in the mainstream energy markets.

This protects us against price fluctuations which can lead to an increase in operating costs and an upward pressure

on customers’ bills. And by increasing the capacity of the works and improving its processes we will further improve the quality of water in the nearby River Thame, which is good news for the wildlife it supports.”

The renovations will make the Buckinghamshire site 14 per cent greener by producing an additional 300,000 kilowatt hours of power in the energy-from-waste plant. This involves burning biomethane from sewage sludge – the solids left over

No dancing, but it was still three months of training to learn the choreography.

And your own cameo role in the ‘greatest show on earth’.

Unforgettable experience and truly blessed to part of it. I’m the second in the family as my uncle played hockey at the Barcelona 92 Games. from the sewage treatment process – which is then burned to generate electricity. The upgraded site will be making enough green energy to power nearly 750 homes, or to boil the kettle for 84 million cups of tea.

When finished, the capacity of the works will also have increased by 27 per cent in anticipation of a population growth of 28,000.

There will also be a new storm tank which will enable the site to handle high volumes of sewage during heavy rain.

The work is due for completion in September 2013.

www.thameswater.co.uk january 2013 | 21

NEWS

Computer upgrades go live The whole business is set to be brought up to speed from February

BY CHRIS SMITH

U

pgrading your computer is the third piece of the Smart IT puzzle that will bring the business more up to date. And make it easier to do our do our jobs.

The upgrade will include: Windows 7; Excel, Word and PowerPoint 2010; Internet Explorer 8 and Outlook 2010 replacing Lotus Notes email. Since the start of last year, we have already launched Documentum and IP Telephony as part of the Smart IT programme.

SO WHAT’S IT LIKE? Having had a few days to get used the first desktop PC to be upgraded, we asked Mike Humphrey, a planner working in asset management in Maple Lodge, how things were going.

Mike said: “My new PC is definitely a lot quicker, starting up in seconds rather than minutes like my old one.

“The new Office applications are user friendly, and although I’ve not used this version before I’m getting used to it pretty quickly. Outlook is the biggest change – it’s pretty intuitive though, and I’m already very comfortable with it.”

The first new and upgraded laptop belongs to David Gable, an asset integrator in capital delivery, also based at Maple Lodge.

His upgrade experience came with some challenges but still had some good points. David said that the floorwalkers on site were “really fantastic, very helpful, and dealt with everything very quickly”.

He describes his new laptop and software as being “a lot faster and slicker than my eight-year-old laptop, and the new email system has more features than Lotus Notes”.

David has found the new ribbon menus a bit of a struggle at times too, but the interactive tools on his new laptop were very useful in helping him to find the old menu items.

“THE NEW EMAIL SYSTEM HAS MORE FEATURES THAN LOTUS NOTES” The first upgraded laptops were collected in Maple Lodge and the first desktop PC delivered to its happy owner at the end of November as part of a pilot.

Over 250 people took part in the pilot, across a range of sites and teams. They have provided valuable feedback which will make the process smoother for the rest of the business who will be upgraded from February through to the spring.

Ankush Kumar helped David Gable (left) and Mike Humphrey with their upgrades

Help is here There are training courses you can attend across a number of sites and a wide range of e-learning and support material on the Smart IT: Upgrading your computer portal pages.

This includes interactive guides to the new style menus (known as ribbons), videos, a Q&A document and information about the order in which sites will be upgraded.

Make the most of the training that is on offer – people in the pilot said that they found it useful.

Innovation team top of the class University of Surrey recognised Thames Water as the Employer of the Year in the face of stiff competition from a range of global multi-nationals including pharmaceutical, food and beverage and oil and gas companies.

The honour reflects the long-standing links the innovation team, part of commercial, has

with the university.

Dr Philip Holmes, the university’s senior tutor in chemical engineering responsible for professional training, said: “The university is justifiably proud of its UK number one ranking in terms of graduate employment and we continually strive to increase our links with industry partners.

From left, Philip Holmes, student Thuwa Sarvananthan, Thames Water’s Nick Mills and Rupert Kruger, PTCC chairman Neil Ward, student Clive Shaw and Paul Rutter 22 | january 2013 www.thameswater.co.uk

“Every year, all the senior tutors are asked to nominate a company as Employer of the Year in their discipline. This year, I was delighted that the Professional Training and Careers Committee confirmed Thames Water as the 2011/12 Employer of the Year in chemical engineering from a field of seven companies covering the process equipment, engineering contracting, electrical goods and chemical industries.”

The University of Surrey is one of a number of leading higher education institutions to be awarded a proportion of the £60m investment from the Government to help turn best science ideas into good business.

Students who nominated Thames Water for the award said they grew in confidence and described their placement as a “truly excellent experience”. They said the company’s “continued dedication to improving the careers of young scientists and engineers should be appreciated”.

Lego-block Beckton build saves time and money

NEWS

Innovative construction techniques shaving time and money off project to expand Britain’s largest sewage works

BY SONIA RANA

M

assive new treatment tanks have been built at Beckton sewage works in half of the normal time – saving over 100,000 man hours.

In the same way Lego is quickly and simply fitted together using modular sections, engineers used pre-cast concrete panels to build more than 20 enormous tanks covering a total surface area bigger than the Olympic Stadium.

Prefabricating the concrete panels in controlled factory conditions, rather than building them from scratch on site, can also

achieve savings of between 10 and 15 per cent of the construction costs of the tanks.

Lawrence Gosden, director of capital delivery, said: “This innovative approach is saving time and customers’ money, as well as reducing disruption and significantly improving site safety – and we’re ending up with better-constructed pieces of kit than using traditional construction methods.”

“INNOVATIVE THINKING IS TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE’RE DELIVERING OUR CAPITAL PROGRAMME” Some of the larger tanks, which need thicker walls, have been made by sandwiching together the largest single pre-cast concrete panels ever used in the UK. This is the first time this twin-wall approach has been used to build water retaining tanks of this scale in Europe, and possibly the world.

Contractors Tamesis, who have invested in a pre-cast manufacturing facility over the years, were also challenged to make use of this technology for the expansion of Crossness treatment works, over the other side of the river.

Nick Fawcett, head of programme

delivery, added: “Innovative thinking is transforming the way we’re delivering our capital programme. This is definitely the future of the industry. Our innovation journey is just beginning.”

The £190m extension at Beckton, to be complete in 2014, will boost the site’s treatment capacity by 60 per cent, so it can treat increased flows during heavy rain, preventing the need to discharge sewage into the River Thames. It will also be able to cope with the extra London waste brought into the works by the Lee Tunnel, and the proposed Thames Tideway Tunnel.

Price review ambassador invitation is still open Around 50 people from all across the business have now signed up to become price review ambassadors

BY FRANCIS EGLETON

E

arly in 2014 Thames Water will give its draft proposals to Ofwat, outlining the work the company believes it needs to do in the following five years to maintain and improve service to its customers.

There’s plenty going on to prepare the plans and the ambassadors will play an important part in keeping colleagues informed.

Walnut Court-based local/regional government liaison Huw Thomas, 42, has worked for Thames Water for 16 years and was one of the first to put his name forward.

“I WANT THE WHOLE BUSINESS ENGAGED WITH THE PROCESS” He said: “The price review is one of the key events that shapes our business. It has a real and direct effect on our customers and the service we offer. It makes the business focus on what needs to be done to stay efficient and to keep raising our game.

“I want to learn not just the outcomes of the price review but also to be part of it, to see how we develop our plans as they take shape. I want the whole business engaged with the process.”

Fellow ambassador, Beckton-based incident avoidance analyst Caitlin Rogers, added: “I wanted to get more involved with the process after hearing about it in a meeting.

“I would like to understand how much of an influence an individual team can have on the price review process, in particular how pollution prevention is accounted for in the review. I also want to know how the price review fits into the company’s 25 year plan.”

It’s not too late to sign up and you too can help spread the word about preparations for the next five-year business plan.

The team are particularly interested in hearing from staff based at major operational sites like Hogsmill and Crossness.

If you’re interested, or would like to know more about the role, email ask.pr14@thameswater.co.uk.

Huw Thomas is keen to be part of the price review process www.thameswater.co.uk januaryCaitlin 2013 | 23 Rogers

BUSY LIZZIE

steps up a gear

BY CHARLIE MONGER

C

onstruction of the £635 million Lee Tunnel is gaining real momentum. Busy Lizzie, the 120-metre-long tunnel boring machine, is set to leave Beckton at the end of this month at speeds of up to 34 metres per day.

Thames Water’s monster-machine had been travelling 20 per cent of her potential speed since tunnelling began last year, while being carefully stacked into the shaft and pieced together.

The drill has now completed phase one, joining up two 85m deep shafts at the works. Rail tracks have also been built in the tunnel to allow train deliveries of materials and staff.

So far, Busy Lizzie has travelled just over one sixth of the 6.9km journey and is expected to reach her final destination at Abbey Mills, in Stratford, at the end of this year.

At 75 metres deep – the height of a 25 storey building – the Lee Tunnel will be London’s deepest, and prevent 16 million tonnes of sewage entering the River Lee, a tributary of the Thames, each year.

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