WELSHAREANEWS
Welsh Area Innovation Awards By Maureen Taylor
The evening of 22nd November saw us arriving at the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff for our annual Innovation Awards ceremony. This was our 7th year for the event and everyone was anxiously awaiting the results. The awards had been launched back in March which had attracted 31 entries, our biggest number of submissions to date. The weather was awful with the rain and wind virtually blowing the guests into the drinks reception. Nevertheless, this was again a sell out event with over 300 guests arriving in their black ties and evening dresses. The theme for the awards was ‘James Bond’ as this year these remarkable films celebrated their 50th anniversary. The scene was set and we all made our way into the banqueting hall. Our host for the evening was our Area President, Steve Wilson. Steve did a magnificent job and held everyone’s attention whilst awaiting for the awards to be confirmed. After everyone had finished their sumptuous meal the time had come for the awards to be announced. The short listed entrants were shown on screen with a short introduction being presented of each of their innovations. The awards, which were sponsored by Dŵr Cymru, were presented by Nigel Annett, Managing Director of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. The winners for the five categories were announced as follows:-
Customer Services/People Category Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. Drop 0 – Developer Services Transformation Project A project which has provided customers with better access to 24-hour online and telephone services, reducing letters and incoming calls and reducing the payment process handling steps within the Developer Services team
Product Category WRc and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. Potable Water Treatment Simulator for Production Technician
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instituteofwater.org.uk
Training Programme WRC, with Welsh Water, has developed an innovative training approach combining a high level of trainee interaction with simulated operational experience.
processes and training programmes, coupled with a renewal of the vehicle fleet has improved safety performance, improved productivity and operational efficiencies, reduced C02 emissions and maintenance costs and protected Welsh Water’s reputation.
Capital Project Delivery
Chairman’s Award
Grontmij / Morgan Sindall. Brickyard Lane SPS – Groundbreaking use of Gas lining Technology The twin fourteen-inch rising mains from Brickyard Lane SPS were identified as requiring replacement, following frequent bursts and pollution incidents. The team challenged the need to replace the mains in their entirety promoting instead the use of rehabilitation techniques incorporating woven liners and resulting in significant cost savings.
Operations Category Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. Pollution Reduction Strategy The Pollution Reduction Strategy is targeted at reducing pollutions to watercourses from Welsh Water assets. The Predictive Pollution Reduction project identified sewers that were at high risk of causing pollution. This was followed by innovative use of GPS equipment by the River Rangers to collect asset condition and performance information for sewers adjacent to watercourses.
Process and Systems Category Daniel Contractors Limited. Supporting Best Value through Safer, Sustainable and Innovative Driving Practices The introduction of new driver systems,
The final award of the evening was the Chairman’s award. This is for a submission that has caught the imagination of the assessor group but maybe hasn’t scored quite as highly as the winning submissions. The very popular winner of this award was: Geraint Williams of Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. Jetting and Camera Guides Geraint had used his initiative to think ‘outside the box’ and come up with a simple tool to help position hoses or cameras in sewer lines within chambers which are deep. Both Nick Ellins, National President, and Kathy Auld, National Chair, were in attendance. Kathy was on hand to reveal the winners of the WaterAid raffle, which raised the sum of £1,490. Keeping with our ‘James Bond’ theme the final event for the evening was the opening of the Casino tables. Everyone had been given free chips to gamble and a prize was awarded to the person who managed to win the most at the end of the evening. The event was again, a tremendous success, this was thanks to a huge effort by the area subcommittee. The ‘bar’ has been raised and we are already thinking of how we can top this next year..!