Institute of Water 187

AUTUMN2015 ISSUE187

IN THIS ISSUE: RETAIL COMPETITION THAMES TIDEWAY TUNNEL ASSET OPTIMISATION ATTRACTING PEOPLE TO THE WATER INDUSTRY INSTITUTE OF WATER JOURNAL

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

12 suppliers can work even better together to create a water industry fit for the 21st Century.

The challenges around future water abstraction, treatment and supply are complex, involving and effecting many different players.

We need to work hand-in-hand with each other and with the communities we serve if we are to meet them.

Cambridge was a deliberate choice of location for our conference. It is an excellent example of somewhere using collaboration and innovative thinking to transform itself for a new century, and has inspired some of history’s greatest thinkers and doers to become a world class centre of excellence.

Every Institute of Water president over our proud 70-year history will have considered how best to sustain and secure the future of the Institute, and how best to extend its role, reach and relevance at times of significant change. I am no exception as I begin my own year as President.

I believe this to be a defining and exciting moment for the IOW, as our industry faces its biggest change and set of challenges since privatisation.

In common with my predecessors, I want to help grow the influence and reach of the Institute. We must be as relevant to an apprentice starting and building a career as we are to our top experts and scientists working towards more professional qualifications, and as important to helping the industry adapt to the revolutionary effects of new technology as we are to managing the changing expectations of both customers and employees.

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So these are among my top priorities for the coming year.

Features

First, is to achieve real momentum by sharing the information and outputs from our conference right across our membership and to bring to life through wider discussions and events the big challenges of doing business in the new world.

Key to success is supporting and encouraging the vital work of our area committees and asking them to lead from the front.

16 Diversity 18-24 Retail Competition 26-29 Thames Tideway Tunnel 36-37 Flood Control 42-83 Asset Optimisation 86-87 Attracting people to the

Second, is to demonstrate that the Institute of Water is a place for people of all talents and abilities. A practical professional body that attracts talent, actively promotes opportunities for improving skills, broadens professional qualifications and encourages the development of long-term careers in the industry.

Third, is to grow the membership of the IOW. To broaden and deepen our reach, but at a pace that delivers sustainable growth.

And fourth, is to see even greater integration between water companies and their business partners. We depend on each other, and outstanding customer service depends on how well we collaborate and work together.

These themes helped shape the agenda for our AGM and Annual Conference. Record numbers of members and guests joined us in Cambridge as I began my term as President. Thank you to all those who made the event such a success.

The world around us is changing fast. Let it be the Institute of Water that leads by example and shapes the future for water in the 21st Century. Together, we can put water at the heart of a whole new way of living.

Business in the New World proved an appropriate and timely theme, with a big focus on how water companies, regulators and key

Peter Simpson

Water Industry

Regulars 4 Members Update 5 Environment News

6 Engineering News 6-11 Science News 12-14 Wateraid 98-106 Area News

President, Institute of Water

Institute of Water HQ: 4 Carlton Court, Team Valley, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear NE11 0AZ Website: www.instituteofwater.org.uk President: Heidi Mottram Chairperson: Dermot Devaney Chief Executive: Lynn Cooper Editorial, Marketing & Communications Manager: Dan Barton Tel: 0191 422 0088 Fax: 0191 422 0087 Email: dan@instituteofwater.org.uk Advertising: Martin Jamieson Tel: 0845 884 2333 Email: martin.jamieson@distinctivegroup.co.uk Designed and produced by: Distinctive Publishing Tel: 0845 884 2383 Email: production@distinctivegroup.co.uk

The Institute of Water is the only professional body solely concerned with the UK water industry. We can support and develop your career whoever you are and whatever you do. We do this by providing a unique learning, developing and networking framework. For details on how to join visit www.instituteofwater.org.uk today.

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MEMBERSUPDATE Welcome new Company Members...

ABLE INSTRUMENTS ABLE Instruments & Controls was founded in 1985 with the vision of providing instrumentation and control solutions for both the Process and Research Industries by applying the most suitable available technology for any given application.

With access to a comprehensive range of instrument technologies, from the traditional to the very latest, ABLE can offer the best available solution to meet the demands on the measurement.

Key services include: n Bespoke design, modification and manufacture n Equipment hire n Training (Unique hands-on instrument training facility at Reading HQ) n Odour Surveys n Flow Surveys Key products include: Arizona Instrument Jerome Patented Gold Film Portable Hydrogen Sulphide Analysers Single digit PPB monitoring for nuisance and trace odour monitoring.

Ultrasonic Clamp-On Flow Meters WideBeam ultrasonic clamp-on (non-intrusive) liquid & gas flow meters for temporary (portable) or fixed (dedicated) installations.

ABLE Magnetic Level Gauges Clear indication of liquid level in any chamber configuration required to suit process connections.

United Electric (UE) One Series Electronic Digital Pressure Switches Industry standard 4-20 mA output + programmable switch for process monitoring and control. Typical application: Critical pump protection on sewage sludge dewatering and mechanical compression systems, where reliable set-point retention is vital.

For more information, please contact Dave Quelch, Business Development Manager. Tel: +44 (0)118 916 9407 or E-mail: dquelch@able.co.uk.

MACKENZIE CONSTRUCTION Mackenzie construction was formed in 1980 and now has an annual turnover in excess of £25million. The directors support a collaborative approach involving all employees and participation in Client and Industry improvement schemes and now has an enviable list of long term private clients as well as key government bodies including all Scottish local authorities, Scottish Water, Scottish canals and Glasgow housing association.

dedicate over 1000 days per year to training .It is a testament to this training regime that our highly professional and well trained staff and workforce carryout 95% of our work load.

Our expertise covers a number of disciplines including civil engineering, refurbishments and structure repairs which we carryout out throughout Scotland.

Our track record in health and safety is significant and our dedicated health and safety team continually train and advise our site staff on industry best practice as well as all relevant and upcoming changes in legislation.

We invest heavily in the development of our people and annually spend over £30000 and

We operate a fully accredited integrated health, safety and quality management system that ensures the business operates consistently at the highest level and enables us to respond quickly and efficiently to our client needs.

Our areas of specialisation includes: Asset

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75 members attended our 70th Annual General Meeting which saw some major changes to our Board of Directors. Peter Simpson succeeded Heidi Mottram as National President, with Martin Baggs elected Vice President, Ian Limb took over from Dermot Devaney as National Chair and Natalie Akroyd joined the board as Vice Chair.

There were two other new Vice Presidents: Sam Phillips (former National President) was elected as VP Engineering - replacing Michael Fowle who had served in the role for seven years - and Ian Barker joined the board as VP Environment.

Six people with a total of 37 years’ service retired from the board: Bob Mills, Michael Fowle, Maureen Taylor, Kathy Auld, Roger Harrington and Richard Barton. Special thanks to them all for their fantastic service and dedication to the Institute of Water. Most of them will remain active in other roles and we are extremely fortunate to benefit from their continued support.

There was one late addition to the board - Tim Wagstaff. We invited Rising Stars, past and present, to apply for a seat on the board to represent our next generation of members and bring a different approach and new ideas to the board; Tim was the successful applicant.

The board for the Institute of Water now comprises; Peter Simpson, President Martin Baggs, Vice President Ian Limb, Chair

LSC GROUP LSC Group offers a unique blend of asset management professionals and technologists and have been enabling clients to realise value from their asset information and enhancing asset information strategies for over 25 years.

LSC Group combines data and information savvy analysts, deep subject matter expertise across asset management disciplines and a commitment to innovative technologies, working with clients to derive best value and competitive advantage from their asset information.

NEW BOARD ELECTED AFTER 70TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING IN CAMBRIDGE

Natalie Akroyd, Vice Chair Robin Price, Vice President Science Information Standards (Led development of ISO8000 – data Quality), Data Visualisation and Analytics, Data Management and Assurance, Data Science, Advanced Collaboration, Mobile Worker Apps, Decision Support Tools, Business Intelligence and Data Scorecards, Knowledge Management Solutions, Lifecycle Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Risk Management (ISO31000).

For more information please contact Andy Perry, Business Development Manager – Utilities, email andrew.perry@lsc.co.uk, tel: 01543 446800

Sam Phillips, Vice President Engineering Ian Barker, Vice President Environment Heidi Mottram, Past President Dermot Devaney, Past Chair Tim Wagstaff, Board Member Lynn Cooper, Chief Executive Marie Whaley, Board Member Chris Loughlin, Board Member Tim Boldero, Board Member

ENVIRONMENTNEWS

WELCOME IAN BARKER, VICE PRESIDENT ENVIRONMENT In addition to welcoming our new VP Engineering, we also welcome Ian Barker as Vice President Environment.

Ian has worked in the water industry since before privatisation. He started his career as a hydrogeologist with the then Yorkshire Water Authority, carrying out groundwater resource investigations and source protection work. He then took responsibility for water management in Yorkshire and at privatisation in 1989 opted for a career with the environmental regulator, before heading off to join the National Rivers Authority in Wales (where he still lives) as Water Resources Manager. After a spell as Head of the National Water Demand Management Centre in Worthing, he became Head of Water Resources for England and Wales at the Environment Agency. Over the next few years his advocacy for the need for an integrated approach to water management was rewarded by his role progressively expanding to include water quality, and then fisheries, biodiversity and land management.

As Head (Director) of Water, Land and Biodiversity Ian was responsible for overseeing water management, regulation and planning across England and Wales, for all sectors. His job included setting water companies’ environment programmes in AMP 5 and 6, and oversight of their Water Resource Management Plans, as well as the annual reviews which report on companies’ performance on permit compliance and pollution incidents. He was regularly invited to give evidence to Select Committees, and routinely advised government officials and ministers.

In 2014 Ian decided it was time for a change, and left the Environment Agency to set up an independent consultancy – Water Policy International Ltd – where he finds himself still working with many of the same people on many of the same topics. It’s a small world in water! He also advises the OECD in Paris on international water governance and regulation, is a nonexecutive director of Waterwise and of the Water Industry Forum, and has just been appointed an Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter.

And a word from Ian July was a very busy month, where I was honoured and delighted to be elected Vice-President Environment at the AGM in Cambridge. Later that evening, some of you will have seen me sitting in the hotel bar looking very focused and slightly nervous (and very sober!) as I had my professional interview for registration as a Chartered Environmentalist. A few days later I joined a Council of SocEnv meeting feeling a bit of a fraud since I didn’t know whether I had been successful – until the end of the meeting where to my surprise the President presented me with my

Third, to meet as many IWater members as I can (and to encourage non-members to join) and to hear what you have to say. And ask you to think about how you’re working for the environment – whether you’re in academia, the supply chain or a water company - and to apply for registration for Registered Technician or Chartered status with the Society for the Environment.

I’m hugely looking forward to my time as VicePresident, and want to thank Tim Boldero as outgoing VP who has been incredibly supportive and will be a very hard act to follow.

Ian Barker VP Environment

Ian Barker certificate of registration. And July was rounded off by the University of Exeter making me an Honorary Professor in the Department of Water Engineering. Quite a month!

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION

Having worked in water all my career I was already familiar with the camaraderie in the sector, but where the Institute of Water scores is in the way it brings people together, irrespective of where they work or the job they do. I’ve been made to feel very welcome already, and am looking forward to visiting each Area over coming months to get to know as many people as I can.

I’ve been asked what are my priorities as VicePresident Environment? After all, everybody who works in water is contributing in different ways, often without really thinking about it, to protecting and improving the environment (as well as the imperative of protecting public health). So, my role ought to reach everybody in IWater and this shapes my three aims.

First, to work with colleagues so that they see their role in a wider context. Either what they are doing in the catchment(s) within which they work, or how their job supports folk who happen to be focused on a different part of the water cycle. Water is all about having an integrated perspective, and that makes our jobs more interesting and helps us do them better.

Second, is about change. You won’t have failed to notice the unprecedented amount of reform and change happening or planned from government and regulators. Retail market opening, abstraction reform, upstream (wholesale) reform, Ofwat’s Water 2020 programme, resilience, evolving European directives on catchment management, bathing waters and flooding... all these, and more, are coming our way. Together with increases in population and urbanisation, and increasing extremes of weather as climate change impacts start to make themselves felt. All of these pressures will interact and require us all to operate and think differently. In the midst of all this, we need to ensure that we have the skills to join them up and still deliver an essential job.

Olabamiji Olagoke MWH, Process Engineer I first became aware of the chartered environmentalist route through a colleague and later through my line manager following which I did some research and was convinced that it was the right route for me – I believe that my registration as a chartered environmentalist will help to affirm my passion, commitment and skills for environmental improvement, sustainability and efficiencies in energy consumption across a wide range of applications, processes and industries.

I find the processes starting from the initial application, report submission and the interview very straightforward and easy to follow. The communications from the IoW were brilliant. I attended my interview at a location close to me.

I will definitely recommend the route to others who are aiming to gain professional recognition.

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SCIENCENEWS

NEW CHIEF INSPECTOR OF THE DRINKING WATER INSPECTORATE Marcus Rink has been appointed as Chief Inspector of the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) for England and Wales by the Secretary of State for Environment, Elizabeth Truss, and the Welsh Government’s Minister for Natural Resources, Carl Sargeant AM. Marcus took up this post from 1 August 2015 replacing Professor Jeni Colbourne MBE who was in this position since 2003.

Marcus has been a strong advocate of the Institute’s work on scientific development, and Robin Price, Vice President – Science congratulated Marcus on behalf of the Institute of Water, and spoke to him about his new role and his thoughts on the future.

How long have you been in the water industry and what roles have you held?

I came to the water industry in a rather circuitous route; initially starting in medical research and then working for the health authority some thirty years ago. It was through this that I received a solid scientific training in medical microbiology, a training that I use until this day. I moved into environmental microbiology as a scientist in a supervisory role followed by working with a Public Analyst some three years later. It was this move which eventually led me to where I am today.

The business was bought by Severn Trent and whilst I was initially managing the microbiology laboratory at the Public Analyst, I subsequently became the Microbiology and Cryptosporidium Manager at STL and responsible for consolidating a number of laboratories and work across several water companies. After nearly ten years, I joined the Drinking Water Inspectorate as an Inspector in 2002 and by 2008 I had become the Deputy Chief Inspector responsible for Operations in England and Wales.

What does the role of Chief Inspector of the Drinking Water Inspectorate entail?

The role of the Chief Inspector is to provide independent scrutiny of the water industry ensuring the safety and quality of water and public confidence through a robust regulatory framework.

This extends to ensuring that Local Authorities take action in respect of private supplies and the provision of UK data to the European Commission to demonstrate UK compliance with the Drinking Water Directive. The role encompasses a range of statutory and non-statutory functions, discharging the duties of the Secretary of State and the Welsh Government to ensure companies meet their regulatory requirements. This is through direct regulatory powers for compliance assessment, investigation and audit as well as policy functions such as managing the research programme for drinking water quality, providing scientific

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and technical advice to DEFRA and Ministers and involvement in developing water quality standards and guidelines. To deliver this, the Chief Inspector directs a multi-disciplined team of experienced Inspectors, (largely drawn from the water industry), as well as data and administration specialists.

You’ve been a strong supporter of the Institute of Water and our work on scientific professional development – why is this so important for you?

The regulatory duty to provide wholesome water and the protection of the public health is secured by the competency of those who work in water companies, their contractors and regulators alike.

We must possess the skills, knowledge and the qualifications to effectively carry out our work to the highest standard, through structured training, mentoring, sharing and continuing professional development. The Institute of Water provides the platform for those in our industry to develop and measure themselves against a common framework. It is our collective responsibility to support this for the wider benefit and our common goals.

What do you think are the challenges facing scientists in our industry?

The water industry in current times is facing multiple competing demands for limited resources. These are driven by: financial and business objectives, innovative and new technologies or solutions often as a result of environmental pressures and reduced skills availability depreciated by corporate memory loss as experienced staff leave. With a diminishing pool of scientists, those with the right skills who have made it into our industry face the challenge of attempting to further develop their skills through training as well as increasing their knowledge across a wide range of disciplines.

This is all whilst competing for time availability, reduced funding and what little corporate experience remains.

What are you most looking forward to about your new role?

I am very passionate about water quality and I am particularly looking forward to working together with the industry to mirror this passion. It is my aspiration that companies and private suppliers always deliver safe, clean and wholesome water to their customers through employing the highest standards in treatment processes, the most appropriate technology to manage risk and best trained staff to facilitate this.

ENGINEERINGNEWS We’re delighted to announce that former President, Sam Phillips, has taken up the post of Vice President Engineering.

Sam is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast. In 1981 he joined Ferguson McIlveen LLP, Consulting Engineers and worked mainly on water engineering projects. Sam became an Associate in the firm in 1988 and a Partner in 1992. He became a Director with Scott Wilson when it acquired Ferguson McIlveen in 2006 and when URS (now AECOM) acquired Scott Wilson in 2010 he became Director responsible for Water & Infrastructure Engineering.

Sam has over 30 years’ experience as a consulting engineer and has worked on a wide variety of projects in UK, Ireland, Africa and the Russian Far East. He is married and has one daughter. Sam is a Board member of the North West Zambia Development Trust and is a passionate advocate for its work.

We look forward to working with him in his new role with us over the coming years.

New standards introduced for Chartered Scientist The Science Council has updated its assessment criteria for Chartered Scientist (CSci) to bring standards of chartership in line with the new career framework for professional scientists, independent of discipline. The Institute of Water is one of 29 professional bodies who are licensed to award CSci status.

The Chartered Scientist register was first launched in 2004, since which time the scheme has recognised the achievements of 42 members of the Institute of Water.

New standards representing career progression in the professional practice of science were published in 2011, which included the Registered Science Technician (RSciTech) and Registered Scientist (RSci) designations. Over the last 18

months, the Registration Authority has consulted with professional bodies, employers and registrants to update the CSci standards as well.

The Institute of Water was involved in the consultation, which ran over the course of 6 months, led by the Science Council’s Registration Authority.

Dr Bob Chaplow, Chair of the Registration Authority, says of these changes: “There has never been a greater need for professional standards in science and we have been delighted by the positive response through the consultation phase from the Licensed Bodies.

The changes we have made to the Chartered Scientist standards will ensure that they are relevant to employers and clear to applicants.

This update completes our professional standards framework and will help to make career progression a reality for scientists, irrespective of their background or route in to science.”

Dr Robin Price, Vice President - Science, welcomed the new standards, saying: “We plan to introduce the new standards almost immediately so that we can make the most of the opportunity that they offer. The new Chartered Scientist competencies now align perfectly with those of Registered Science Technician and Registered Scientist. The path from starting a career in science, proceeding through RSciTech, RSci and ultimately on to CSci has never been clearer, and I’m delighted that the Institute of Water is able to offer this opportunity to any of the thousands of scientists who work within our industry.”

CONGRATULATIONS NEW CHARTERED SCIENTISTS! professional in my field. Becoming a Chartered Scientist endorses that I have demonstrable knowledge, experience and commitment to science, as well as perhaps enhancing my career prospects.

I have aimed to achieve Chartered status since joining the Water Industry. I felt that with my scientific education and experience in my professional work in the water industry I could demonstrate that I complied with the requirements to become a Chartered Scientist.

I know I enjoy learning and continually improving my understanding of scientific aspects in life and being able to use the knowledge to improve our lives. This is the main reason I applied for Chartered Scientist as well as to gain recognition for the work that I have already done and currently undertake and to assist in promoting science in future.

Ceris van de Vyver Business Efficiency Manager, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water I applied to become a Chartered Scientist as I believe it’s great to be recognised as a

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Looking back at the process, the most difficult part was actually making the initial commitment to myself to say the time was right to send the application, then completing a simple application form and asking my sponsors to be my sponsors! Once I had made the contact

with my sponsors and verbalised my intention, it flowed after that.

There is a three month time commitment to complete and submit the final professional review paper so I knew I was then working to a deadline. I put a few weekends aside to complete the review and then sent it to my sponsors for comment and authentication.

Once the date of the interview was set, I re-read my submission but apart from that I could do very little preparation. The interview itself was great as it focussed on my life, my developments and my beliefs. A long chat!

By taking time to reflect on my past achievements, understanding their impact, actually writing them down and allowing others to review them has given me much more confidence. I am absolutely thrilled to have achieved Chartered Scientist status!

Achieving registration as a Chartered Scientist is professional recognition of a commitment I have made over many years and will continue to make to science in future.

SCIENCENEWS

Karen Gove Process Engineer, Anglian Water I am very pleased to become a Chartered Scientist and was delighted when the certificate arrived in the post! After maternity leave in 2011 I wanted to refresh my CPD record and continue my development. I studied from 2000 to 2006 for a part-time PhD in Environmental Geochemistry from BirkbeckUCL Research School of Earth Sciences and wanted to complement it with a professional qualification.

Jonathan Cannon Process Science Manager – North Wales, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water.

I decided to apply to become a Chartered Scientist when the Institute of Water was awarded a licence by the Science Council to offer this registration. As I had been a longterm member of the Institute the fact that an organisation, with which I was very familiar, could now provide this accreditation made the process seem much more accessible.

My application for registration as a CSci reinvigorated my interest in Continuous Professional Development (CPD). It encouraged me to constantly develop my professional technical skills and experience. I recently swapped roles with a colleague to take on a new challenge as the Process Science Manager for 27 water treatment works supplying a million customers and leading a team of Process Scientists. Prior to this, I was the Water Quality Manager for Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, accumulating over twenty three years’ experience in potable water quality science and sampling. I have found that CPD has been an invaluable tool in planning my development and in the evaluation all my learning outcomes in both my professional and personal life. I am encouraging my team to plan and assess their professional development through the use of appropriate CPD templates. Each week, in my new role, there are varied and interesting learning opportunities!

The Institute has now made the registration process even more accessible with the launch of the Registered Scientist and Registered Science Technician accreditations. I therefore encourage all colleagues, who work in scientific roles within the water industry, to apply for one of these registrations in order to further develop their professional skills. By reflecting on their CPD learning experiences, the enjoyment, self-development and satisfaction they gain from their careers in the water industry will be significantly enhanced.

Through my employment experience as a Water Recycling Process Engineer for Anglian Water I completed my Professional Review using examples of my work such as my Fenton’s reagent laboratory trial for solids and biochemical oxygen demand removal, catchment investigations to detect infiltration and my bioaugmentation trial using bacteria to reduce hydrogen sulphide in pumping station wet wells. I used the Science Councils core competencies table as a guide and checked regularly whilst writing the report that I had fulfilled the required criteria. My colleagues: Hugh Ballard, Pascal Harper, Peter Caldwell and Malcolm Taylor Griffiths reviewed my report before submission and with their Chartership experiences were very helpful.

For the Professional Review I prepared by reviewing current scientific research particularly within the water industry but also in other disciplines too. I also researched current environmental concerns for instance fracking, climate change and renewable energy. I enjoyed my Review as it gave me the opportunity to discuss my Professional Report and my career as a scientist, particularly where it all began – which started as a five year old mixing toiletries together in the bathroom to see what would happen! I now hope to encourage fellow colleagues to become Chartered Scientists and to teach my son the beauty and wonders of science.

I now hope to encourage fellow colleagues to become Chartered Scientists and to teach my son the beauty and wonders of science.

Kelly Rowe Catchment Solutions Engineer, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water I was inspired to apply for Chartered Scientist status after attending a talk given at one of our larger team meetings

by Phillippa Pearson, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water’s first Chartered Scientist with the Institute of Water. Although I have no higher qualifications, I have a wide variety of industrial scientific experience which is equally as valuable and I thought that obtaining Chartered Scientist status was a recognised way of demonstrating technical expertise.

I feel very proud that scientific colleagues within my field have reviewed my scientific work, projects and experiences and deemed them worthy of professional recognition.

Reflecting on the process, initially as I don’t have a Master’s Degree, the thought of having to write a Masters Equivalence Report may have delayed my application slightly, but once I actually started it, it wasn’t too bad at all. I also found having the completed CPD log to hand made it easier to find examples of projects/work to address the CSci competencies for the report. I have to admit I was a bit nervous before the interview, but I needn’t have worried, the interviewers were really personable and friendly and I just chatted through all the different types of science roles and projects that I had completed, the time flew by. I would honestly say ‘don’t let the thought of an interview at the end of the process put you off’.

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Shelley Williams

Louise Atkinson

Steve Youell

Water Quality Compliance Manager, Southern Water

Senior Scientist (Chemistry), Anglian Water

Inspector, Drinking Water Inspectorate

I found early on at school that I had a natural aptitude for 3 things, sports, art and science.

Although passionate about all 3 I could only see myself pursuing a career in science and after working hard to finance myself through university I graduated with a 2.1 (Hons) in Palaeobiology and Evolution in 2000. I began working for Portsmouth Water shortly after and although a small company it was here I developed a passion for science within the industry. Portsmouth Water was always supportive of my desire to push myself and allowed me to pursue additional qualifications plus provided opportunities to gain varied experience across a number of scientific fields. This supported me well in my move to Southern Water where my scientific career has blossomed and my development has continued to be supported.

Achieving Chartered Scientist status, is a great personal achievement and provides recognition for the work I do at the Anglian Water Central Laboratory.

As part of my annual continued professional development review I identified it would be beneficial to achieve a professional benchmark and although I am already a Chartered Environmentalist I felt the need to achieve the same distinction in science. Working in a specialist area such as water quality, obtaining a professional recognition in science would help gain the trust of my colleagues, customers and regulators which is critical to success.

I think being a Chartered Scientist shows I am committed to the field I work in, demonstrates an external validation of my competency and has benchmarked me against the scientific ‘gold standard’. As a manager of a large team of scientists I regularly recruit new staff and individuals that have invested in themselves to a sufficient level to gain Chartership always stand out from the crowd so I am sure it also enhances career prospects. The process is straightforward with 3 main requirements – provide evidence of continued professional development, demonstrate competency via a report and attend an interview to support your competency against the chartership standards using a combination of knowledge and experience.

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I started my CPD back in 2012 to coincide with my current role as senior scientist, after a while I found I was looking for a way of demonstrating the knowledge that I had gained over the years. I decided the best way to do this was by gaining a professional registration, so I read through the different levels of science registration with the Institute of Water and decided to go for Chartered Scientist. I started out by bullet pointing everything and it took off from there, the hardest thing was condensing it all down to around 2000 words. The process included an interview where I discussed my application and other areas of interest within the Laboratory and wider business.

I found the process very empowering, it made me realise just how much I had been involved in over the years and how rewarding it is when a particular project is successfully completed. My next goal is to become an assessor.

I would encourage anyone to work towards a professional qualification and it is good to see so many staff doing so, at all levels within the Laboratory. Their hard work has paid off and they are an inspiration to others.

Ever since I was given my first chemistry set at 6 years old I have loved science and this passion has grown as I progressed through school, college and university. However it wasn’t until I started as a Laboratory Technician at Portsmouth Water that I discovered that a combination of science and the water industry was even more stimulating.

My time at Portsmouth Water was spent in different science based roles and I through these roles I was able to gain a good range of knowledge and experience to enable me to take up an Inspectors position within the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) last autumn, a role I had always aspired to achieve.

Having achieved Chartered Environmentalist in 2008 I was equally as keen to achieve Chartered Scientist and therefore I begin the registration process once it was made available through the Institute of Water. The journey through this registration process is simple yet well-structured; the Professional Review Report enables the key competencies to be identified whilst the Professional Review meeting (more a discussion on science rather than a conventional ‘interview’) allows you the opportunity to highlight and showcase your skills and experience.

Being recognised as a Chartered Scientist is an invaluable achievement to have as part of my role within DWI as it demonstrates that we, as the regulator, are committed to our role to protect water quality. Personally it re-enhances the importance of professional development and CPD whilst giving me additional confidence to continue to learn and develop within a field that I can proudly say I have been part of for my entire career.

With the Institute of Water now being able to offer Chartered Scientist along with Registered Scientist and Science Technician I would encourage all scientists working in the water industry to achieve recognition in a field that I believe is the mainstay of the water industry.

SCIENCENEWS

Congratulations new Registered Science Technicians!

Chris Bevan

Hayley Guest

Paul Dellar

Assistant Scientist (Chemistry), Anglian Water

Assistant Scientist (Chemistry), Anglian Water

Technician (Chemistry), Anglian Water

I applied for Registered Science Technician, as there is a strong emphasis for CPD within our laboratory. Also because I don’t have a degree in Science, I wanted a way to demonstrate my knowledge and understanding as an Assistant scientist. I wanted to start with Registered science Technician and build my career up with a view to becoming a Chartered scientist, I am currently working my way towards RSci. Also as it was quite new at the time I wanted to test the water so to speak‌!

I was keen to apply for the Registered Science Technician, as an additional qualification in recognition of my work in science over the past 4 years.

Having the chance to become an RSciTech shows my commitment to career development and continuous improvement, and demonstrates to stakeholders that my skills and achievements are measured by a set standard in the water industry.

I started off by bullet pointing each section and then built it up with examples and my understanding. I found for some of the competencies, I would write and then rewrite it several times as my knowledge and understanding increased whilst filling out the framework. When I had finished, it had grown from a few bullet points to a 35 page document!

To finally achieve RSciTech after I started it nearly two years ago is really rewarding. I now have something to show for my skills and experience and its something that is recognised nationally and it means even more coming from a non degree background.

I started my career with Anglian Water, as a Technician in the Wastewater Lab back in 2011.

For me the Registered Science Technician is a really good way of demonstrating the skills and knowledge that I have developed during my time with Anglian Water. It has also it has built on what I learnt at University, when I studied for my degree in Chemistry and Mathematics.

I recently became an Assistant Scientist and I am now responsible for mentoring new technicians within the section. I am keen to use my experiences with CPD and working to towards Registered Science Technician to inspire and support them to do the same.

Hopefully the qualification will open up new opportunities and avenues that were not previously open to me, enabling me to broaden my knowledge of the water industry. Also it will allow me access to training and the potential of networking that will develop my career further and move me forward as a professional in the water industry. I would encourage anyone to take up this chance as a way forward to enhance their career.

I am now looking forward to further building my CPD and am currently working towards Registered Scientist.

I now have something to show for my skills and experience and its something that is recognised nationally and it means even more coming from a non degree background.

Chris Bevan

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11

All images: WaterAid/Emily Fyson

Tapping into warm heart of Africa Heidi Mottram, Northumbrian Water’s CEO and our past President, has seen first-hand how the work of WaterAid is saving and changing lives. Heidi tells us about her trip and how important it is to support this exceptional charity.

WaterAid organised the trip to Malawi, known as ‘the warm heart of Africa’, to give me the chance along with other senior executives from other water companies and businesses, and individuals who support the charity, to learn more about how it operates and the incredible impact it has on peoples’ lives.

Malawi has a population of 17 million, two million people don’t have access to safe water, ten million don’t have a toilet and 3,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by drinking unsafe water and poor sanitation.

We visited urban and rural areas in the south-east African country and spent time with communities that don’t have access to a tap and toilet and areas that do. The contrast in peoples’ lives is stark.

I found it very frustrating that Malawi has a huge amount of water in Lake Malawi and in rivers and yet there are millions of people who can’t access it. It was very difficult to see the suffering caused

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by something that we take for granted every day in the North East.

One of my most difficult experiences during the trip was visiting Linyanga Health Centre which is extremely remote, accessed by unmade roads and serves 29,000 people. A very small team of medical staff work in the four or five small rooms.

The delivery room had one bed and up to three women can give birth there at the same time,

my niece is a midwife and I wondered what she would make of the room. The most shocking thing is that, in this day and age, this health centre doesn’t have a water supply. This really reinforced the importance of the remarkable work that WaterAid does.

Building and maintaining strong partnerships and having respect and a deep founded knowledge of different cultures are key to WaterAid’s

WATERAID

WATERAID SUPPORTER

success. This charity empowers individuals and communities by giving them the knowledge, understanding, skills and enthusiasm to become self-sufficient and look after water pumps and latrines themselves.

We visited Bomo Primary School in Kasungu Village where this partnership approach is working well. There are 5,000 children in this school, aged six to 16, and they now have one toilet for 166 children as opposed to one for every 300 children. I was very inspired by the teacher I met, called Mrs Eness Chilipapa, who runs the WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) club. Eness truly embodies what WaterAid enables people to do. She is charismatic and makes hygiene education engaging and interesting, which is vital so that the next generation understand the importance of good hygiene.

We met some amazing people in Malawi who are driven, articulate and intelligent; they were just born in a different place in different circumstances to us. I have nothing but respect for these individuals and if we were to lift these communities into our world they would thrive and succeed.

It was satisfying to see that once WaterAid has intervened, people do want to become independent of the charity. Sustainability is at the core of everything the charity does, ensuring people understand why they need access to safe water and sanitation and why hygiene education is so important. I have utmost respect for WaterAid’s approach, their team and their passion to give people basic human rights.

The trip has inspired me to keep working with WaterAid and to do everything that I can to help make sure that we live in a world where everyone, everywhere has access to safe water and sanitation.

I would encourage all of you to get involved with this incredible charity, to find out more please visit www.wateraid.org

Image by: WaterAid/Zoe Norfolk Samantha Cameron presenting a Point of Light award to George Rosenfeld WaterAid supporter George Rosenfeld has received a Points of Light award, presented to him by Samantha Cameron at a Downing Street reception. The award recognises his outstanding contribution to WaterAid - for raising awareness,and almost £150,000, for WaterAid’s work in some of the world’s poorest communities.

The Points of Light award recognises outstanding individual volunteers who are making a change in their community and inspiring others. Every day, someone in the country is selected to receive the award to celebrate their achievements.

George started supporting WaterAid four years ago when he held a host of fundraising events in the run-up to his Bar Mitzvah, raising £13,000. Since then, he championed WaterAid to be his school’s charity of the year – raising an incredible £120,000. He also recorded a charity album with his group The Four Sons, selling over 1000 copies, and has been an active campaigner with the global action/2015. All this, and he’s still just 16-years-old.

George has seen WaterAid’s work first-hand.

While WaterAid was the City of London School’s charity of the year he travelled along with a schoolmate, friend and school teacher, to Zambia to see the results of his fundraising efforts. George was deeply affected by the projects he saw there. He says, “the moment

that will stay with me the most was when the girl turned to me and said, ‘When I wake up, I worry about if I will live or if the water will kill me.’”

This experience spurred George’s fundraising efforts even further and he has continued to be a remarkable ambassador for WaterAid. George does not just focus on fundraising: he is an active campaigner, delivering talks about WaterAid’s work around the country. This year he represented WaterAid, alongside 14 other 15-year-olds, at the launch of the action/2015 movement to end extreme poverty.

Barbara Frost, WaterAid's Chief Executive said: “George is passionately committed to a world without poverty, where everyone has access to safe water to drink and decent sanitation. He has been a tireless supporter of our work and is a fantastic advocate and public speaker. I am incredibly proud of all he has achieved.“ George is determined to continue supporting WaterAid, and encourages others to do the same. He says: “People often mistakenly think my generation doesn’t care about the huge issues facing the global population. I am passionate about changing the fact that we live in a world of such inequality and injustice.

I hope that through my work, others will be inspired to get involved.”

Find out how you can join George and support WaterAid at www.wateraid.org

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WATERAID

CORPORATE SUPPORT OF NGOS AMOUNTS TO MUCH MORE THAN FUNDRAISING A broader approach To achieve universal access to WASH we will need to work with new sectors, such as housing, water and wastewater management, and urban planning – areas in which private sector experience and expertise might exceed our own. We need the skills, capacity and insight of these partners to enable us to move further and faster together.

WaterAid’s Private Sector Advisor Hannah Greig explains Since the water industry founded WaterAid in 1981, we have helped to deliver clean water to more than 23 million people and safe sanitation to more than 21 million people in some of the world’s poorest and most marginalised communities.

We have achieved this by working with partners in our country programmes – private utility companies, local non-governmental organisations and local and national government departments – to address the specific needs of communities and develop lasting solutions. To reach everyone everywhere by 2030 we must carry this method through all our work.

That means thinking differently about how WaterAid works with the private sector here in the UK. Financial support is, and will continue to be, vital to enable us to deliver safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), but money is only part of the story.

Our partnership with the water industry demonstrates this evolution of a partnership approach. Like all water companies in the UK, Yorkshire Water knows the value of water. Every day they supply more than one billion litres of drinking water to the Yorkshire region, and treat around one billion litres of waste water before returning it safely to the environment. As one of WaterAid’s founding partners, they also understand the fundamental role clean water plays in overcoming poverty, and every year employees raise funds, volunteer their time and support our advocacy work. Last year Yorkshire Water raised £281,000 for WaterAid, enough to help 18,730 people access safe water.

But in 2013 the partnership moved beyond traditional fundraising targets and Yorkshire Water fully embedded WaterAid in its corporate social responsibility policy, with the inclusion of global safe water as a business objective in their Blueprint for Yorkshire corporate strategy. The company committed to raising £1 million in five years to fund water and sanitation projects across Ethiopia, and agreed to support WaterAid across six key areas, including capacity building.

International training In June 2015, three Yorkshire Water technicians and engineers spent a week with Bishoftu Town Water Supply and Sewage Enterprise to assist training, as part of WaterAid Ethiopia’s capacitybuilding project with 20 urban utilities.

In consultation with the utilities and local government, asset management, leakage and

water quality were identified as critical challenges – challenges well understood by Yorkshire Water.

Although, of course, not all challenges and solutions are the same in Bradford as in Bishoftu, the Ethiopian utilities managers learned about the practicalities of tackling these challenges thanks to the Yorkshire Water employees’ handson approach to training.

The employees visited the water authority and their assets before running training with 20 water utility managers, regional and national government officials. The training focused on demonstrations of equipment such as listening sticks, ground microphones, and chlorine testing, and on sharing experiences of district metering, logging callouts and working with regulators.

Joel Tidswell, one of the Yorkshire Water technicians said: “The trip was an amazing experience and I enjoyed every minute. The big issue for my colleagues in Ethiopia is the lack of records. I was able to share my knowledge of developing schematic drawings so they can start recording where their assets are.

“We met many Ethiopians and were treated so well during our visit it was a shock to see that many live in conditions we could only imagine in Yorkshire. Our colleagues from Bishoftu were very keen to learn and put our knowledge into practice and I hope this will ultimately make a real difference to people’s lives in Ethiopia.

Mutual experiences For David Stevenson, Head of Water Distribution at Yorkshire Water, the benefits of his team’s participation in the capacity building are clear, including the new relationships the three engineers have made in Ethiopia that will continue and develop. “They have demonstrated skills acquired in Yorkshire that can be taken for granted, and supported engineers and technicians in Ethiopia to deliver safe and reliable water supplies,” he said. “They have all developed personally and professionally from this fantastic experience.”

The trip was an amazing experience and I enjoyed every minute. The big issue for my colleagues in Ethiopia is the lack of records. I was able to share my knowledge of developing schematic drawings so they can start recording where their assets are Joel Tidswell

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FEATURE: DIVERSITY

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Robin Price, Diversity Champion.

The Institute of Water's first Diversity Membership Survey was completed in April 2015, with 377 of our members taking part (equivalent to around 20% of our membership).

This return rate compared favourably with other professional bodies; many thanks to those of you who participated.

1. Gaining commitment

2. Starting your journey

Declaration

3. Resource planning

Key highlights: n The survey broadly matches our own data on gender and age profile. n 73% of respondents were male and 27% female. n 11% of respondents were under 30, with 44% between the age of 30 and 49 and 44% of respondents aged 50 or over. n 62% of respondents described themselves as English, with 14% Scottish and 9% Northern Irish. 4% of respondents were from Black or Minority Ethnic (BME) background.

4. Undertaking an audit/self-audit

Benchmarking & Monitoring

5. Establishing a baseline

Benchmarking & Monitoring

n 2% of respondents considered themselves to be disabled. n 9% of respondents are part-time workers. n 8% of respondents are retired (or preferred not to give their working pattern). n 75% of respondents view the Institute as a diverse and inclusive organisation (with 24% answering ‘Don’t Know’).

6. Developing a plan n

Deciding what works for you (characterising focus v activity focus)

n

Setting priorities and objectives

What are we going to do next?

The Science Council have produced an outline roadmap for professional bodies. We are now at Step 7 – Communicating Priorities.

A significant proportion of the verbatim comments noted that the whole industry is regarded as not diverse, with any perceived lack of diversity within the Institute being symptomatic of this. The Board have discussed this observation in detail, and have agreed that our focus should be on ensuring that the Institute focusses on providing opportunities and a fantastic membership offer to everyone in our industry, ensuring that no-one is excluded or deterred from joining us.

What will our priorities be?

7. Communicating priorities

Declaration

Declaration

8. Working towards your goals

The Board have agreed the following priorities: n We will continue to profile under-represented groups within the Institute, including women, the under 30s, BME and disabled members through journal articles and during our first ever Diversity Month in November. n The three Vice-Presidents (Science, Environment and Engineering) will continue to look at how we can use the survey information to increase the diversity among our three types of registrations to ensure that no-one is ‘missing out’. n Area Committees will continue to ensure that events are open to disabled members, and that events are held at times which allow attendance from part-time workers (given that almost 10% of our members are part-time). n We are delighted that Averil Liemon, a consultant specialising in gender diversity and leadership, was able to join us at our Annual Conference in Cambridge, and has produced a short video to support Area Committees with ideas for diversity-related events.

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9. Evidencing success

Benchmarking & Monitoring

10. Celebrating and communicating success

11. Evaluating, reprioritising and redeveloping

Benchmarking & Monitoring

GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

What is it and how do we measure it?

An IWA UK Governing Member workshop on Customer Service 10 September 2015 London, Mary Ward House, WC1H 9SN www.iwagreatcustomerservice.co.uk You are invited to come and join an exciting event in the inspirational city that is London.

We are delighted to invite you to the International Water Association 2015 international workshop on the specialist topic of customer service.

The key topic area to be discussed is what good customer service is and how we can measure it. There will be a special focus on best practice customer engagement and governance and the role of technology.

The event will provide a forum for an international audience to explore and share best practice in customer service.

OUTLINE PROGRAMME 09.30 – 10.00 10.00 – 10.10 10.10 – 10.25 10.25 – 11.45

Registration. Tea and coffee Welcome to the workshop Key Note Address – TBC Theme 1 – Measuring Customer Service and Best Practice How Ofwat has shaped and driven customer service measurement and improvement. Richard Khaldi, Senior Director, Ofwat Delivering excellent customer service in developing countries using innovation and technology – pipe dream or reality? Julian Jacobs, Senior Consultant, Atkins Measuring great customer service. Kathryn van der Graaf, Business Director, Nike TBC A review of customer service in Australian utilities.

Paul Freeman, Sydney Water TBC What is unrivalled customer service and how do we measure it? Danka, Denmark TBC Panel discussion

11.45 – 13.00

Coffee with an expert – Using technology in customer service 13.00 – 14.00 Lunch and time to browse exhibitions 14.00 – 14.15 Key Note Address – Tony Smith, CCWater 14.15 – 15.30 Theme 2 – Customer Engagement and Governance Involving customers in everything we do. Ian Donald, Market Reform Director, NWG The unusual situation of reaching a customer satisfaction threshold. Victor-Lucian Croitoru, SOMES Water, Romania In a changing world, what do our customers expect from their water utility? Carmen Snowdon, WRc. Panel session and feedback 15.30 – 16.00 Break with tea and coffee 16.00 – 16.15 Concluding Remarks 16.15 Close

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE Tony Smith, Chief Executive, CCWater the statutory consumer body.

Richard Khaldi, Senior Director, Ofwat the economic regulator for the

water sector in England and Wales.

Julian Jacobs, Senior Consultant, Atkins.

Zoe Blake, Head of Customer Service, Kelda.

Ian Donald, Market Reform Director, NWG. Carmen Snowdon, Head of Customer Engagement WRC.

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Can the past predict the future?

Pondering an article on the Future of Water has made me think…this is my 35th year of working in the water industry. In 1979, I was recruited as a graduate civil engineer by what was then the Severn Trent Water Authority. Wouldn’t it have been a great help for my employers if I could have predicted 35 years in to the future for them, then?

Wholesalers Professor Ruth Allen of RSKW Ltd looks at the Future of Water

Marketing Operator

Having said that, in 1979 many of the big challenges were the same as those we face now. There was not enough money in the annual budget to deliver all the capital schemes we wanted to build, there were big floods and serious droughts, sewer flooding was a problem, energy was expensive and we needed customers to use less water. However, we didn’t really feel we had a skills shortage, technology issues were more about accepting it than relying on it, and, communications were largely face to face. Has the industry changed?

Certainly. Has it been for the better? Most probably. In the last 35 years we have seen privatisation of the sector, capital investment of over £100bn, a vast programme of environmental enhancements, better tariff structures, significant improvements in drinking water quality and a reduction in leakage of one third. Whilst the industry has been making these achievements we have seen many changes in water company ownership, enormous changes in technology and an ever increasing range of obligations from all the industry’s regulators. Average bills remain at little more than £1 per day.

So how about the next 35 years? That will take us to 2050. What will the industry look like? There were some big changes in the approach to the business plan submissions for the current PR14, with an emphasis on customers and a new focus on Totex. Now the industry is dealing with the challenges of implementing those plans. In addition, the prospect of retail

REGULATORS

EUROPE

Rising Energy Costs

Totex

Price Control Durations

Resource Costs & Availability

People & Skills

RCV

Access Pricing

RETAIL COMPETITION

Population Growth

Water 2020

Customer Profile and Expectations

Capital Maintenance Planning

Investor Confidence

Affordability

Figure 1 - Water 2020: Key Areas for Consideration

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LEGISLATION

Customer Engagement

Outcomes & Performance Commitments

Ageing Assets

PUBLIC PERCEPTION

16 18

Availability of Finance

Climate Change

Environmental Legislation

SHAREHOLDERS

GOVERNMENT

Retailer

Customer

Customer

Use & Charge Informtion

Retailer

Customer

Operational & Service Information

Customer

Money

Figure 2 - Flow of money and information post- April 2017 (source: Open Water market architecture plan)

competition following market opening in 2017 in England is getting closer. All of this is happening alongside the ever present problems of climate change, resilience and changing regulation. So how does the industry set its priorities for the future?

The development of Outcomes and associated Performance Commitments for PR14 triggered a number of companies to review ‘futures’ for the UK to allow them to do scenario planning for their business strategies. Ofwat’s Water 2020 programme for determining the form of the 2019 review of water price controls further encourages the analysis of the long term challenges and uncertainties facing the sector. Water companies are involved in making contributions to this programme in a number of areas. These key areas are shown diagrammatically in Figure 1.

In addition to ensuring preparedness for the long term challenges and starting to plan for those now, there is a very immediate challenge for the industry –preparing for upcoming Market Reforms as a result of the Water Industry Act 2015. This will see the biggest changes to the industry since privatisation in the late 1980s.

Over the next 5 years and by 2020, market reforms are to be introduced in two phases. The first phase will see the opening of the non-household retail market to new entrants in England (the position in Wales is still undecided) in 2017 and the second (expected in 2019) will introduce upstream competition measures.

Under the retail market reforms in 2017, every non-domestic customer will have the ability to switch water and sewerage service supplier. This will aim to increase the level of competition among all customer-facing services (i.e meter reading, billing and enquiries) and will inevitably have a substantial impact on the way all water sector trading parties interact and operate in years to come.

FEATURE: RETAIL COMPETITION The transition to a competitive retail market is now well underway. Open Water has published a substantially complete set of codes, processes and agreements as part of the latest Market Architecture Plan (MAP3) and water companies, retailers, the regulator and market operator are working to meet the people, process and system requirements of the new arrangements. Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) has been appointed as the Market Operator and is in the process of procuring the central IT systems on the basis of MAP3 specifications. Figure 2 sets out the flow of information and money between water retailers, wholesalers and the market operator as of April 2017.

Incumbent Water Companies n Adapting systems and processes to allow the exchange of information with the Market Operator; n Evidencing compliance with new market and regulatory arrangements; n Reporting against Market and Operational Performance Standards; n Strengthening completeness of customer and supply point information; n Training staff on the new arrangements; n Changing the terms and conditions of staff and negotiating arrangements; and n Making changes to IT systems.

Adapting to the breadth of new operational changes is no easy task and it will be important for all parties to keep up the momentum in order to be fully prepared for the Retail Market Shadow Operation in 2016. The most immediate priorities for the newly established Market Operator and Incumbent water companies is summarised in Box 1.

The second phase of market reform, expected post 2019, will bring its own opportunities and challenges. In comparison to the retail market reforms, these measures will encourage a greater level of competition in the sourcing and distribution of water supply, as well as in the treatment of waste-water.

Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) n Delivering the central IT systems that will enable registration, customer switching and settlement between wholesalers and retailers; n Fulfilling the role of the market operator and supporting a range of market transition and business readiness activities; n Management of the market rules, co-ordination between participants for information and data flow; n Working with the Open Water Programme to develop and implement an effective framework for providing assurance in relation to the implementation and operation of the market.

The next 5 years will be a challenging time for the industry. Even though consideration has been given to the potential impact of the proposed changes at a national level, and water companies may have factored some flexibility into their business plans, there will inevitably be “teething-troubles� to address.

So, can the Past Predict the Future? At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that the big challenges facing the industry now have not really changed since 1979, although I do think we are getting better at dealing with them. The last major industry reform was privatisation in 1989. I think we can conclude that customers have benefitted from that. So how will the next stage of market reform affect customers? Reflecting on the past, I think that so long as the reforms are developed and implemented in a way that allows the water sector to continue to address the long-standing big challenges effectively, then we are looking at a continued success story.

Box 1: Immediate priorities for the newly established Market Operator and incumbent water companies (source: adapted from Open Water, MAP3)

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17 19

BRIDGEALL

CHALLENGES IN THE COMPETITIVE WATER MARKET As momentum gathers apace towards 1st April 2017, when non-household customers in England will be able to choose their water supplier, all water companies are readying themselves for the competitive market. Attention has to be rightly focused on the market processes and obligations and the consequent impact on company culture, internal teams, processes and systems.

Article by Stephen Beer, Managing Director, Bridgeall Experience from the competitive market for water in Scotland since 2008 and the UK electricity and gas markets in the UK from 1998 shows that market processes and data transactions will change every 6 months. Whilst system reliability is a given, flexibility and agility are also key for efficiency.

Data quality in these markets has presented challenges and will do so again in the English water market. In a faultless world the data within a Wholesaler/Retailer will match perfectly with the Central Market Operator Platform (CMOP) view of that data. In practice the 2 views will drift apart for a whole range of reasons. When data does drift then expected vs actual settlement will differ and may result in significant financial

exposure for the Wholesaler/Retailer. Similarly, issues will arise with compliance and resultant penalties from the Market Operator (MO), and their reputational impact, will be very important for senior executives.

An enlightened water company must maintain and understand its’ own internal “market view” of data and know and understand the differences with the MO view. Validation of settlement invoices received monthly from the MO must be undertaken and data corrected using market data transactions so that differences are resolved before the settlement window crystallises further down the line.

Readiness plans should not just be focused on market opening but ought to be about envisioning and delivering an efficient business operation supported by a flexible systems platform. trevi.bridgeall.com

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GEMSERV

Clear thinking in water

Gemserv has extensive experience in the water sector, operating at market level with government, regulators and trade bodies, and also at participant level, supporting individual water companies.

By Paul Witton-Dauris, Business Development Manager – Water

We designed and delivered the world’s first competitive water market on behalf of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) in 2007/8, and have provided support to a number of Appointed Water Companies in relation to the current WSL and associated Customer Transfer Protocols, including assisting a Licensee in switching the first ever pan-GB customer in the >5ML competitive water market in 2012.

More recently, we have worked with water companies to assist them in developing retail strategies that look forward to the changes in

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the retails market scheduled for 2017 and have provided compliance, readiness and assurance services in preparation for retail competition in the non-household sector.

But, what is the difference between readiness and assurance, and how can companies demonstrate it? Simply put, market readiness is a summary term to encompass all the activities needed to be undertaken by companies and other stakeholders to ensure the market can open on time, and operate successfully.

Market assurance is a term to encompass a series

of techniques to assess and measure whether a stakeholder is on track to be ready for market opening. These techniques can potentially be used by central programme authorities or regulators for assessing preparations for the new market, and/or they can be used by individual stakeholders to measure their own progress for readiness.

Stakeholders will be exposed to substantial risks if they are not able to ensure they are ready to play their part in the new market arrangements.

Incumbent water companies are particularly at

FEATURE: RETAIL COMPETITION risk if they are perceived to be the reason for costly delays or chaotic market opening.

of delivery to operate under the new market architecture for go live in April 2017:

The following risks exist for companies not ready for market opening:

1. Project Governance/ Implementation Assessment

n Potentially in breach of licence conditions;

2. Business Solution Assessment

n Delayed market opening and potential regulatory fines for late opening;

3. Integration Testing Assessment

n Constraints on out of area marketing until in-area market is open; n Customer switching problems, including Erroneous transfers and Customer complaints; n Reputational damage; n Referral to competition authorities by new entrants; and n Legal disputes.

Not only must the incumbent retailer be ready for market opening, the wholesaler must also be prepared and there is much to do. In fact, the readiness and engagement work required by the wholesaler has been underestimated by some, perhaps a misinterpretation of the term “Retail Market Reform”.

There are also some specific operational market readiness activities that could be undertaken by companies to ensure that key areas have been covered and can meet the minimum standards

4. Data Connectivity Testing 5. Market Scenario Testing With the new English water and waste market due to open in less than 2 years, and only 13 months until the “Go-Active” date of October 2016, market participants need to be ready in shadow mode for testing and trialling activities.

The central market programme has delivered MAPv3 Technical Appendices which provides many of the details of the market design and legal infrastructure for the new market operation. One of the missing elements is the policy on the extent to which central agencies will audit and test market participants’ readiness.

Whether the market adopts a pro-active or passive approach to assurance and readiness, it makes sense for market participants to manage the risks and put in place their own strategies for readiness and we are committed to supporting water companies in becoming ready to operate in the new market, and happy to address any concerns they may have.

Gemserv, established in 2002, are a specialist market design, governance and assurance service provider, delivering high quality impartial advice to a wide range of clients, including pan-industry bodies and trade associations, sector regulators and government departments throughout the UK and Ireland.

We provide high quality consultancy to water, energy and environmental markets, delivering “end to end” services in all stages of a project from policy development and initial governance frameworks, to solution design, build and maintenance, as well as accreditation and assurance schemes.

We also have an information security practice which advises global, blue-chip corporations, government bodies, telecommunications and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on a wide range of issues, including security strategies, benchmarking to quality standards.

Our clients include, Open Water, Ofwat, Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS), Affinity Water, Severn Trent Water, United Utilities, Ofgem, DECC, and BT. www.gemserv.com

instituteofwater.org.uk

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OPEN WATER

2017

Prepare NOW with the Experts in Billing and CRM solutions to support Market Reform.

OPERATE • LEARN • COMPETE

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SELWOOD

Selwood - the success story The Selwood pump success story is one of continuous growth, innovation and enterprise.

The company’s core S100 and S150 super silent pump sets are now close coupled resulting in reductions in both noise and vibration. This is just part of Selwood’s ongoing programme to continually improve its existing product range and a particular focus in the development of its pump range is due to engine emissions legislation. In order to meet the emission requirements for diesel engines in Europe, North America, Canada and Japan, Selwood is developing its range of pumps with the latest Stage IV/Tier 4 Final engines.

To this end, Selwood is pleased to announce the launch of the new improved Tier 4/Stage IV Seltorque S150.

The backbone of hire fleets the world over, the S150 is now driven by Isuzu T4F/Stage IV engine technology, meeting emission limits for both US Tier 4F and EU Stage IV operations.

In combination with the new driver package, Selwood’s engineering team have improved the performance of the S150 with an increased head and flow and the pump is now capable of speeds of up to 1800 rpm. The unit features improvements in access and layout for those all important, site service, cleaning and maintenance tasks.

Commonality of components is key to Selwood’s strategy and the super silent canopy is designed to accept other models and engines.

The electronic control panel has many functions enabling the pump to operate at peak performance or only when required making for a more fuel efficient operation. Fuel level indication, fuel usage, temperatures and pressures are all available to read from the large back lit LCD display. The automatic shutdown system will monitor the coolant level and running temperatures to minimise the risk of damage. Auto stop/start can easily be provided with the provision for a “bolt on” telemetry package that would then send Isuzu fault codes direct to the operator to identify any problem should it occur.

Further expansion of the panel capabilities is possible with the ability to read pumping pressure, vacuum and flow. Also available are Selwood’s optional packages to tailor additional features to the needs of the application.

Selwood is also developing a 150mm medium head solids handling pump designated as a S150M. This will complement the new family of ‘H’ range medium and high head pumps offering increased efficiencies that will allow the use of smaller engines and reduced fuel consumption for customers Selwood’s Seltorque range offers the best solids

handling capacity available today with up to 100mm free passage of soft solids. This means that these pumps are ideally suited to handling raw sewage containing rag and are used by Water Authorities and Utilities throughout the country at pumping stations, sewage works and over pumping sewer mains.

Selwood’s range of contractor’s pumps was originally designed and developed for its own hire fleet, which is why the pumps are so popular amongst rental companies around the world. As the rental market continues to change, Selwood is well placed to take advantage of new opportunities and creative joint ventures with its distributors and business partners around the world.

www.selwoodpumps.co.uk

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All systems go for 'Super Sewer'

With planning permission granted, construction contractors identified and investors secured, it’s ‘all systems go’ for the long-awaited Thames Tideway Tunnel (aka super sewer).

A Thames Water employee for 40 years, Phil Stride, led the project’s public consultation process, mobilised in 2008, when the Government first instructed the company to take forward a tunnel-based solution to the pollution of the tidal stretches of London’s river.

After seven often exhausting years of making the case for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, through the development and planning phase, it’s hard to describe the sense of anticipation everyone working on the project feels about the prospect of actually making it a reality at last.

We are unwavering in our passion for tackling the unacceptable discharge of untreated sewage into the tidal river Thames. The statistics speak for themselves: n In 2014 alone, 62 million tonnes of untreated sewage spewed into the river from Chiswick in the west through to Greenwich in the east.

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He is now External Affairs Director at Tideway, the delivery organisation tasked with financing and delivering this landmark project, under the ownership of Bazalgette Tunnel Limited, the newly-appointed ‘Infrastructure Provider’.

Here he looks at the challenges that lie ahead for the engineers and other specialists in their historic work to modernise the capital’s Victorian sewerage system and maximise the wider benefits.

Even in just a typical year the figure is 39 million tonnes, enough to fill the Albert Hall over 450 times. n Bazalgette’s magnificent interceptor sewers, which still form the backbone of the capital’s sewerage network, were put in place over 150 years ago. They were designed to serve a population of four million. That figure has now topped eight million and continues to grow. n Even light rainfall can trigger a discharge of sewage into the river. n It can take up to three months for sewage that has entered the uppermost reaches of the

Thames Tideway to reach the sea.

The solution to this unacceptable, unsustainable situation is a tripartite one: Thames Water is well advanced in delivering the other two components; the Lee Tunnel, tackling the single largest overflow point near the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, will be commissioned next year, and the expansion of the five sewage treatment works on the tidal Thames is already complete.

But what are the obstacles and opportunities that lie ahead in delivering the final, most complex and biggest part of the jigsaw, the Thames Tideway Tunnel?

FEATURE: THAMES TIDEWAY TUNNEL

The scale is huge. The tunnel needs to intercept the 34 combined sewer overflows points through central London that the Environment Agency has identified must be tackled in order to ensure compliance with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

It will be the largest waste water project in the northern hemisphere, a tunnel 7.2 metre wide and 25 kilometre long , to be burrowed largely under the Thames, through varying ground conditions, deeper than virtually everything else that lies beneath the capital, including all tube line, utility cables and foot tunnels.

We have still some work to do before main tunnelling work can begin next year. Before that we need to prepare the sites, for example by installing power supplies for the tunnel boring machines, which will be lowered underground through specially created shafts.

Innovation and collaboration At the outset, we have established what we hope will prove to be a pioneering delivery Alliance, involving all our contractors and Thames Water, to ensure that a spirit of collaboration prevails at all times. From a procurement perspective we have split the main constructions works into three packages – East, West and Central – but in driving value for money for customers, it’s imperative we share best practise across the project. Not least in terms of health and safety, where for us a zero compromise approach is non-negotiable.

Our preferred contractors are already thinking hard about how they can innovate to improve delivery of the project and minimise the impact on communities close to construction sites.

Key to this is our commitment to use the river to transport material excavated during the tunnelling phase, no matter how logistically challenging that may be. We are firmly focussed on trying to beat our target of removing of 90 per cent of this ‘spoil’ by river. Every barge taking that waste away on the water means 50 less lorries on London’s already congested roads, so it’s a

goal worth pursuing with vigour. This increase in river freight necessitates an enhanced process of training the additional crew and boat masters, who will be needed to deliver the marine logistics.

All important in this and other endeavours will be a top-to-bottom culture of promoting innovation.

It’s an approach that over time has already reduced both the length of tunnel required and the number of sites needed, saving both money and disruption for Londoners. It will be a watchword for us every step of the way over the next seven years.

Jobs and skills Given that our project will create about 9,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, the project’s broader social and economic potential is not to be under estimated.

The challenge of training a new generation of engineers able to help us is one we find particularly inspiring. Through close liaison with the education sector and wider construction industry, our project can and must be the essential catalyst needed to unlock a vast wealth of as yet untapped, home-grown talent. A first step has been to prescribe that our one in every 50 jobs on site is held by apprentice. This will see between 280 and 400 apprenticeships being completed on the project.

There is a wide spectrum of professions we will need to enlist. Not just engineers and tunnellers, but also marine specialists, environmental experts and financial managers.

Our intention is that through their association with the project, young people of today will be equipped to take on the world, driving long-term economic growth.

Where gaps exit between the availability of skilled individuals and the demand required for the project, we will support the development of relevant skills and sectors, for example by supporting the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy , established by Crossrail.

In an industry that’s long been dominated by men, we are clear too of the need to encourage more women to pursue careers as engineers.

More broadly, we are working hard to ensure that females represent half the team by the time our work is done in 2023. That admittedly will be no mean feat, but there is little point in setting a target that is easily achieved. Our ‘Returners’ programme shows we mean business; whilst open to both sexes, it particularly helps women, who are more likely to have a career break to get back into employment following periods away for caring responsibilities. The seven-strong first cohort who joined the project for 12 weeks have all secured longer term positions with us.

Reconnecting Londoners with the River Thames Arguably our biggest aspiration is the hardest one to measure.

Put simply, we want to make sure that the river assumes its rightful place at the forefront of the capital’s psyche; that it comes to be seen as asset that is treasured and enjoyed, not just a physical barrier that splits the capital in two. Our work to create new areas of public realm, for example at Blackfriars Bridge, are a major opportunity in this respect.

Sewage fouling any of coastal Britain’s beaches was rightly met with protest and anger, prior to solutions being put in place. Yet even in 21st Century the contents of London’s toilets end up on the foreshore of the Thames on pretty much a weekly basis, largely without comment.

That’s a state of affairs all the project team whatever our specialism - are determined to address, for example through the careful design of new spaces of public realm.

Treating the Thames as a sewer was not is not and never will be right.

We look forward to working with all those who share our goal to make it a part of London’s past, not its future.

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THAMES WATER 





INVESTORS LINED UP TO FINANCE 'SUPER SEWER'  

    Thames has selected a preferred bidder to Water   deliverthe Thames Tideway Tunnel, also known as   – the 'super sewer'.             The newly-created, special purpose company      Bazalgette Tunnel Limited, whose shareholders    are a consortium of investors comprising funds           managed by Allianz, Amber Infrastructure Group,   Dalmore Capital Limited and DIF, is in line to own,  and  finance deliver the landmark project. The   appointment of the Infrastructure Provider will be  subject formal designation and licensing by the to – 

  

        Ofwat. It will be responsible for delivering the   Thames Tideway Tunnel, which is required to   tackle the discharge of untreated sewage into the    tidal River Thames through central London and to   significantly increase the capacity in the London    sewerage network.     Along with the recently completed upgrade of  -

five sewage treatment works on the tidal Thames

  (including at Beckton, East London), both the Lee     Tunnel and the Thames Tideway Tunnel are needed   to stem the 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage     water industry’s economic regulator, Ofwat. that overflow into the tidal river in a typical From left, Andrew Freeman (DIF), Vanessa year from the capital’s overstretched, Victorian     This unique opportunity has attracted global Menzies (Allianz Infrastructure), Alistair Ray sewerage network.   interest and the competition to be appointed  (Dalmore Capital), Martin  Baggs (Thames  the Infrastructure Provider has been keenly The Infrastructure Provider’s responsibilities Water), Gavin Tait (Amber  Infrastructure) at  contested.

Twelve parties were invited to tender will include managing the contractors, who will         the Institution ofCivil Engineers, London  culminating in two highly competitive bids         construct the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The tunnel          received in the final ‘revise and confirm’ round. will stretch 25 km (15 miles), largely beneath the   run a process to select the contractors who will  bed of the River Thames, from Acton in the west     Balancing the interests of customers, investors the project.

The highly competitive nature    build     to Abbey Mills near Stratford in the east. There it    and taxpayers to deliver this successful outcome, of both of these processes has paved the way for a   will join up with the Lee Tunnel, currently under         the ground-breaking delivery model, developed substantial reduction in the maximum impact the construction by Thames Water.        

by Thames Water, Government and Ofwat, forms is expected have on customers’ bills.   a project  to   potential blueprint for other major infrastructure The new Infrastructure Provider for the Thames This will be announced later in the summer, once



projects.

all the contracts have been signed.

As well as managing the procurement for the Infrastructure Provider, Thames Water has also

The Infrastructure Provider will be independent of Thames Water and have its own licence from

Tideway Tunnel will be chaired by Sir Neville Simms, with former Crossrail Programme Director Andy Mitchell as CEO.



  

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       - 

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BARHALE

BARHALE’S COMMITMENT TO OUTPERFORMANCE THROUGH EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION Major projects such as Thames Tideway Tunnel offer a unique opportunity to challenge the norm and set new standards and benchmarks of performance.

Creating the Vision of what a world class infrastructure project looks like is possibly the easiest step! Actually achieving it, consistently throughout the life of entire project, is where the challenge sits. . Experience demonstrates a number of key enablers are required, including inspirational leadership, innovative thinking and challenge, the right innovative thinking and challenge, the right commercial model, business transformation, effective planning and most importantly having the right team in place. However all of these are underpinned by effective collaboration at all levels to deliver the required step change in performance.

The opportunity for Collaboration runs through all aspects of the project, providing the key to unlocking the potential of all of the project stakeholders, and is built on a common set of values that include trust and integrity, respect, challenge and a sense of pride, and is underpinned by good communication and effective integration of the projects teams.

Working collaboratively allows for a cross pollination of ideas and a sharing of knowledge, tapping into the potential of all members of the project team and empowering them to make a difference. This also enables project risks to be proactively mitigated, and solutions to be more efficient and predictable.

Barhale has developed a strong relationship with Thames Water throughout the AMP’s for over 25 years, successfully delivering infrastructure schemes and protecting utility assets throughout London and the Thames Valley Region, providing a great platform to support the new Thames Tideway Team in their aspiration of setting new standards and benchmarks in infrastructure delivery.

By challenging traditional methods, though the close collaboration with partners, the supply chain, and internally with operations teams, coupled with early programme involvement and a lean delivery philosophy, Barhale has been able to drive efficiency and generate added value, on some of the early enabling projects, as well as playing a key role within the future works programme.

The key to success is Barhale’s 3 Pillars business sustainability model, which helps establish the customers key objectives and goals in pursuit of their vision, defining them within the 3 Pillars of Performance; Safety, Profitability and Environment. That then extends to working collaboratively with all partners, drawing on best practice to deliver leading health, safety and customer performance, with the lowest whole life cost solutions that outperform the affordability, operational and time targets set by the client.

Barhale are proud to be already collaborating with the Thames Tideway Tunnel team and their supply chain, providing safe and efficient solutions on projects such as Lee Raw Water (LRWT) and Kew to Barnes Ring Main tunnel strengthening and instrumentation projects, Trunk Main protection works and the River Wall Coring project.

Inspired by collaboration, Barhale is helping to create a cleaner, healthier and re-invigorated River Thames. Barhale, like the Thames Tideway Tunnel Team, is dedicated to wider collaboration through community engagement and works closely with local schools and other institutions to ensure that its projects create wider benefits, drawing on the recent experience gained from winning a Gold Award in the Considerate Constructor Scheme for work on the Queen Mother & Wraysbury Tunnel Re-lining project for Thames Water.

Success was formally recognised recently when Barhale gained recognition at the prestigious 2015

Thames Water Health and Wellbeing Awards for ‘Best Practise in Health and Safety Collaboration’ for its work on the Tideway Trunk main enabling works, ensuring that the sense of Pride within the Tideway team was further enhanced!

Key elements of setting new Performance Standards through Collaboration: n Clear Vision and aligned objectives n Shared Values around: Trust, Integrity, Respect, Challenge & Pride n Inspirational Leadership – at all levels n Collaborative behaviours n Incentivised Commercial model n Good Communication throughout n Innovative thinking and Challenge n Commitment to Business Transformation n Effective Integration throughout the Supply Chain n Effective Planning n Strong Relationships between Empowered Teams n TEAM ethos –Together Everyone Achieves More

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The full pumping package Exsel Pumps outlines its credentials as an expert sewage pumping solution provider, with reference to several challenging projects which required a considered approach. provide a fuel saving of £5,600 in that period, based on current fuel costs.

Exsel continues to invest also in Hidrostal immersible pumpsets that can be operated in both submerged, semi-submerged and in dry well situations.

With the unrivalled rag handling capability and low power consumption, these pumps are versatile when used with control equipment built exclusively to Exsel’s specifications. The company can provide PLC control containers that can communicate with an existing Scada system.

Utilising various level sensing and variable speed drives the combined package will provide a capability of ensuring the required smooth flow conditions into a treatment works. These units can also be configured to be self-priming using stand-alone vacuum priming systems.

The Exsel fleet ranges from 3” (75 mm) discharge to 32” (800 mm) discharge in both diesel and electric driven configurations, with flows per pump up to 10,000 m3/h (2,800 l/s). Associated pipework including flanged steel pipework along with valves and other fittings is also available.

Other more general pump rental companies tend to limit their fleet size to 12” discharge or less and will utilise more pumps, pipework and controls than is necessary where higher flow conditions are required.

Exsel Pumps developed its business model focusing on specialist pump hire with a particular emphasis on sewage pumping with ‘true’ raghandling capability. Being solution providers in this respect has been recognised by a growing number of water utility companies and their contractors. What sets Exsel aside from general pumping providers is the ability to provide genuine cost-effective solutions, with the right quality equipment supported by excellent service levels.

Support is provided by the Turner Group, of which Exsel Pumps is a subsidiary company. This support includes significant on-going investment and infrastructure provision. The Turner Group of companies (www.turner.co.uk) is headquartered in Glasgow and has over 2,000 employees. The stability offered by the Group allows Exsel to develop expansion plans to provide a wider geographical coverage.

The core rental fleet, relating to sewage applications, is centered around the Hidrostal range of pumps, both diesel-driven and immersible units. Being independent, Exsel is not tied down to particular manufacturers as

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most pump rental companies are. Therefore it can choose the right equipment using the many years of experience within the Exsel team, rather than force products on its customers that may not be suitable for the application.

When considering diesel driven units, Exsel strongly suggests that the whole-life cost of a hire, no matter how short, should be considered and not just the weekly rate. With Exsel’s range of genuine Hidrostal Betsy diesel-driven true rag handling pumpsets, fuel savings of over £700 per running week per pump have been demonstrated on the more common models, without loss of performance compared to its nearest competitors.

So considering weekly rates, this is a significant whole-life cost saving.

This information is based on public domain information and some suppliers will not divulge fuel consumption figures and will argue such facts or disguise the real fuel consumption with reduced performance figures. Even if the firm was 50% out on the calculations there is still a huge saving. Therefore, a two pump operation continuously running for one month would

SPECIAL PROJECT CAPABILITY Being true solution providers, Exsel has developed a unique capability in providing solutions on larger pumping requirements, taking control of and managing the pumping element to allow the customer to focus their time on other areas. A Special Project Team will assess the requirements and provide a full pumping solution package that will do the job, is cost effective and safe.

The Exsel fleet is being developed to ensure that the pumps and control equipment have smart fleet technology as standard. This allows a number of alarms or other signals to be remotely monitored.

In addition, location, fuel levels and pump control remotely will also be possible. This means that Exsel can provide a level of peace of mind to its customers.

The company has operated under the radar for the last six years, but is finding that its capabilities are being requested in areas outside of its previous area of operations. Exsel is expanding geographically but also provides its special projects capability nationally.

EXSEL PUMPS CASE STUDY – 32” (800 MM) DISCHARGE RAW RAG-LADEN SEWAGE CAPABILITY

It has already been proven that reliance on one supplier will cause issues and Exsel Pumps feels it is able to provide that higher level of competence and support for sewage applications that is not available from the general pump hire companies.

CONTACT DETAILS Steve Handy Tel: 01329 229 800 steve.handy@exselpumps.co.uk Tom Nicholson Tel: 07714 523 212 tom.nicholson@exselpumps.co.uk

Exsel Pumps responded to an emergency request to look at a major problem faced at a sewage treatment works. It soon became obvious the scale and complexity of the problem. The initial problem was the failure of the storm pumps for the works which were exposed to rag and a system had to be put in place to be able to pump the rag laden sewage at high volumes to three potential discharge points. Space on site was limited, as was access to the inlet well, and there were also concerns at the amount of debris in the inlet well. There was particular time pressure due to the site having no storm pump capability.

Within a short timescale Exsel proposed a solution and the plan was mobilised. It required the use of a submersible sewage pump not available in any general rental fleet in Europe. The initial one pump installation was capable of pumping 10,000 m3/h (2,800 l/s) and was set up in three days.

The pipework arrangement was more complex as the requirement was to be able to pump to one of three discharge points. This required a number of valve arrangements and special pipework had to

be manufactured to provide the perfect fit. The pump was controlled through a variable speed drive with level control sensors and also adopted a protection system that warned of any problems developing with the pump itself.

The full installation was carried out by the Exsel team, utilising the 800 mm diameter flanged steel pipework that provided a secure tamperproof and leak-free solution. Using this size of pipework reduced the number of pipe runs due to site limitations and access issues. The installation team worked overnight and at the weekend to ensure the over pump capability was set up and running in the quickest timescale but also in the safest manner. This was just the initial phase as a further four 16” (400 mm) discharge pumps were added to another part of the works adding a further 12,000 m3/h (3,320 l/s) capacity.

The equipment utilised by Exsel on this unplanned emergency application is not available in any other UK hire fleet. As proven in this application, Exsel has provided solutions and equipment that others have not been able to match.

SPECIALIST PUMP RENTAL & SPECIAL PROJECTS • Specialist sewage pump experts • Total pumping solution including installation • Significant fuel savings up to 80% lower • Unrivalled rag-handling capability • Pumps up to 32” (800mm) discharge • Diesel and immersible electric pumps

Exsel Pumps Limited Unit G5 For t Wallington Industrial Estate Militar y Road, Fareham PO16 8TT Tel: Fax:

+44(0)1329 229 800 +44(0)1329 232 443

www.exselpumps.co.uk A

Group Company

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CSTS

CSTS OFFERS ONE-STOP-SHOP PPE, TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY UNDER ONE ROOF Arco, the UK’s leading safety company, recently acquired specialist confined space, health and safety education and support services provider Confined Space Training Services Limited (CSTS).

This acquisition builds on Arco’s growing Training and Consultancy division which includes its own Award Winning mobile confined space training offering and working at height solutions delivered

by Total Access, now also part of the Arco family.

CSTS customers now have access to an enhanced range of specialist safety solutions, enabling you to reduce the number of vendors that you use for these types of services whilst also giving you greater reassurance on quality and consistency by using one expert provider.

For those working at height, for example, highly experienced instructors from Total Access can simulate realistic working environments at their site in Staffordshire. They can provide advice on the correct equipment to use, and how to use it, together with practical training which can be taken back to real life situations.

Working with Total Access, we can now offer our clients installation services delivered by a highly experienced Fall Protection department which is approved to provide a wide range of high level access systems and fall protection systems from the leading manufacturers in the field. This includes, providing services from consultation through to design, installation and provision of maintenance and recertification programs.

As part of our existing technology capability we will continue to provide clients with our bespoke Customer Asset Tracking solution. Managing your employees training, medicals, equipment & lifting accessories/inspections, portable appliance testing can be time consuming and costly to you and is often overlooked. Our Customer Asset Tracking can take care of all this for you including all the relevant certification giving you peace of mind that your employees/equipment is fully compliant with legislation.

Employers have a legal obligation to safeguard the health and safety of employees. This is clearly a major consideration for those employees working at height or in confined spaces. Our managed service approach is designed to allow the employer to focus on their core business rather than burden over stretched resources with these requirements. It has the additional benefits in that our technical expertise and test facilities will ensure that the original performance specifications are maintained and the PPE retains its physical integrity to ensure wearer’s safety.

n Notification on product recalls, expiry of all training certificates, medicals and inspections of all your assets

Services available to meet your requirements -

n Monthly reports on services provided (KPI’s)

n Assured compliance

n Management reports to monitor loss/ damaged goods, projected spend, equipment inventory, etc

n Technical advisory resource

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n Routine inspections on site or at agreed locations n Repair/Servicing of PPE where possible n Allocate the PPE to wearer and location, as required n Online access to tracking available 24/7

All of the above enables customers to outsource the end-to-end management of training, consultancy, rescue, product supply and maintenance.

CSTS is now positioned to offer a unique 'one shop stop' safety solution that encompasses safety products, training, consultancy and rescue which builds on the contract hire option.

For more information telephone 01925 244144 or visit www.csts.co.uk

Part of the Arco Family

GA Valves are manufacturers and distributors of valves to the water and sewage industries UK Distributors and Technical Support of Dorot Flow Control Valves

Suppliers and Manufacturers of: • Air Valves

• Control Valves

• Gate Valves

• Blakeborough & Wolstenholmes – Valves and Spares

• Check Valves

• Other Products

• Butterfly Valves

• Overhaul Value Service

t: 01484 711 983 f: 01484 719 848 e: sales@gavalves.co.uk www.gavalves.co.uk

FLOOD CONTROL INTERNATIONAL

Utility sites flood protection In recent years, floods have highlighted the vulnerability of the UK’s critical infrastructure, when the Mythe Water treatment works was cut off by rising floodwaters and water supply to 350,000 people was cut off for up to 11 days, and the Walham electricity substation was effected with 42,000 people losing power for up to 24 hours.

Following on from this event a number of reviews and reports highlighted the need to protect the UK’s critical infrastructure from flooding, and numerous programmes of work were commissioned which are planned to continue until 2020 and beyond.

Flood Control International is fully involved in delivering these flood abatement programmes and is working with the majority of utility companies in the UK to provide solutions. We have been providing flood protection to these sites since 2003, when our first programme of electricity substations commenced. We have now delivered hundreds of utility flood protection projects for water, power distribution and power generation companies, including all the EDF Nuclear Power Stations in the UK, and the list is growing.

Specific issues for Utility Sites Utility Sites have specific issues associated with their flood abatement: n They are often remote and unmanned n They are visited by a variety of personnel, and n They must be secure.

The number of sites, and their remote locations mean that they generally need to be left ‘floodsafe’, as there may be insufficient time to check or install flood defences once a flood alert is issued. There are two main solution types; the first is to surround the entire perimeter with a concrete flood wall incorporating gates or floodbarriers. Where this is not possible, the second type of solution is to create protection at the building line itself.

Concrete wall and flood gates Where perimeter concrete walls are chosen, our unique lift-hinged flood gates are used for vehicle accesses up to 4.5m wide. These gates are chosen as they can operate over a level threshold and do not need steps or ramps to close against.

Most sites need wider accesses infrequently for transformer or large plant deliveries, and so we developed a way to integrate lift-hinged gates with other gates using demountable centre posts, or demountable barrier runs making openings as wide as they needed to be.

Our gates are normally of aluminium and stainless steel construction, giving ease of use, minimal maintenance requirement and dependability.

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Where there is no room to swing a flood gate, we have designed pivot flood control gates that pivot upwards out of the way, for easy one person operation to deploy rapidly should the need occur. Smaller pedestrian gates are used where steps are allowed at thresholds. Our standard solutions here are suitable for flood depths of 1.6m, although we have designed and supplied flood gates and flood barriers for flood depths of up to 4.5m where required.

Protection at building line Many utility sites do not have the space to incorporate a perimeter concrete wall. In these instances, protecting the building line with tanking and duct sealing is often specified. As the condition of existing buildings, the number of cable/service entries and condition of any foundations are often unknown, sump pumps are normally provided to discharge any floodwater that does seep into buildings to keep levels down during a sustained flood event. Infrequently used openings are protected with demountable barriers which can be fully removed when required. Where regular access is required, our steel secure flood proof doors are specified.

Security flood doors Our secure flood proof doors are watertight to full depth due to a unique sealing system and can

be specified as 60 minute fire doors. Flood Doors come with the full range of furniture options including windows, emergency escape bars and security rated fittings. The flood doors are watertight when closed, and are usually specified as always requiring key access from the outside.

These features give our clients confidence that whoever has visited each site, that it will be left secure and flood-proof.

In addition to protecting simple openings, we have installed complete barrier surrounds around plant items or to hatches below flood level allowing continued access in time of flood, and have linked some barriers to a building management system to identify when barriers are in place.

Increased risks require solutions now DEFRA’s recently published Climate Change Risk Assessment states that ‘The risks of flooding are projected to increase significantly across the UK in the coming years’. With increasing numbers of assets at risk, and increased flood protection requirements, our expertise in delivering the right solution for utility sites looks set to continue for many years to come.

GLASS WALLS • FLOOD BARRIERS • FLOOD GATES • FLOOD DOORS Flood Control International is a UK based specialist supplier and installer of the most comprehensive range of flood defence systems in the world.

We design, manufacture, supply and install bespoke engineered flood defences, including glass flood walls, flood barriers, flood gates and flood doors.

Our range of engineered flood defence solutions can be used for virtually any situation; from surface water flash floods to deep water flooding, and most can be powered or automated as necessary.

Quality is integral to our business; we are proud of the quality of our designs, engineers, products and customer service.

THE WATER STOPS HERE® tel: +44 (0)1822 619730 • email: enquiries@floodcontrolint.com • web: www.floodcontrolinternational.com

Sewer Flooding – The AMP6 Challenge Nick Holt Flooding Performance Manager, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water

Introduction Here in Wales it feels as though rain is never far away, it’s either raining or about to start. With the weather of recent weeks that’s certainly not something that’s exclusive to Wales though, and while much of last year was drier than average, we only have to look back to Winter 2013-14 for prolonged rainfall, saturated ground and associated flooding. Sewer flooding caused by incapacity of the sewer network to receive the storm and sewerage flows (known as hydraulic overload) is amongst the worst service failures of our industry, and has long been a key performance measure. Across the industry, we are facing the challenge of reconciling the pressures of ageing infrastructure with urban creep, future growth/development and climate change.

Whilst delivering improved service, we must also strive to keep bills affordable for our customers.

Increasingly, this is leading to difficult choices on the affordability of permanent solutions to sewer flooding.

The Challenge Since the AMP3 investment period (2000-2005), at Dwr Cymru Welsh Water we have maintained a prioritised approach to provide permanent solutions to hydraulic flood risk for our worst affected customers. Our statistical prioritisation tool considers frequency of flooding, storm return period, hydraulic analysis and installed mitigation to help us target the properties at highest risk.

The last two AMP periods have seen the number of properties at highest risk of internal flooding reduce by more than half, to the lowest-level we have ever achieved. However, as we enter AMP6 there remains the challenge of flood risk where a permanent solution is cost prohibitive. These constitute an increasing overall proportion of our residual Flooding Register. As an industry, are we approaching a cost-benefit ceiling by removing property flood risk within the financial constraints of keeping customer bills affordable?

Strategy As we move into AMP6, our Measures of Success do not differentiate between the causes of

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flooding, with performance targets on general serviceability and on the level of repeated sewer flooding. Our strategy is therefore targeting the greatest possible reduction in actual flooding incidents. At the same time, we still see a reduction in the number of properties on our Flooding Risk Register as a key aspiration. We certainly view the move towards outcome-based performance monitoring as a positive change, enabling investment cases joining different parts of the business to be developed, bringing multiple benefits to our customers and the environment (rather than a more prescriptive output-led approach).

We are not proposing to alter our basic strategy of prioritisation to identify our worst served customers, but we are now using more innovative approaches to resolving sewer flooding, including surface water management. We have been developing our approach to surface water management since AMP4 and have branded it RainScape. It is now a business as usual solution to a number of issues as well as sewer flooding where it is cost beneficial. This forms another of

our Measures of Success for AMP6, as we aim to remove runoff from a surface area equivalent to 25,000 rooftops from the public sewer network.

Implementation A current example of multiple-benefit investment is our £2m RainScape scheme known as Carway Street, in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire. This work is part of a wider £25m investment in the Llanelli and Gowerton catchments during AMP6.

This scheme will remove surface water from the combined sewer network and redirect it into a local watercourse that discharges to the harbour. A number of properties in Burry Port have been at high risk of internal flooding for several years and, whilst protected from active flooding by temporary mitigation, a permanent solution looking at flooding alone had previously been assessed as cost-prohibitive. However, by extending our focus beyond flooding to take a view of the wider catchment, we have developed a multi-benefit solution which will remove the risk of flooding. The work includes provision of a new surface water sewer crossing of the main railway

FEATURE: FLOOD CONTROL as a potential source of increasing customer complaints. Although many of the remaining internal flood risks are complex with difficult and often expensive solutions, we are now seeing more opportunities to tackle some of these longstanding issues. In some cases, traditional hard engineering will still be the most appropriate and cost effective solution; however with less reliance on prescribed outputs we have greater flexibility to consider multiple drivers and design options, including surface water management.

line from Swansea to Pembroke Dock via a 72m, 1.2m diameter inverted siphon tunnel (currently under construction as shown below).

Construction of new inverted siphon tunnel, Carway Street RainScape Scheme, West Wales As well as addressing flooding issues, the Carway Street scheme will support the wider catchment strategy to improve shellfish water quality by reducing CSO discharges and provide resilience to climate change. In terms of risk of sewer flooding, this has allowed us to remove properties from our Flooding Register that would have remained at risk on the grounds of prohibitive cost for a solution, had we considered flooding in isolation.

The scheme is being delivered successfully by working closely with stakeholders such as Network Rail and Carmarthenshire County Council. Due to the nature of the scheme it is also supporting local flood risk management and the exercise of our duties as a Risk Management Authority.

Without this type of partnership working, the scheme would not have been possible.

Results & Learning As always, the impact of flooding due to hydraulic incapacity is variable depending on the weather, although in recent years we have seen a marked reduction in the number of events where multiple properties are flooded at once. Welsh Water has achieved best-ever performance in terms of the total number of customers internally flooded in

2014-15. We have also reduced the number of customers at the highest risk of internal flooding to the lowest ever level. This is the result of our sustained commitment to strategic investment to reduce flooding over two AMPs. However, there is always more to do, and we must avoid complacency with the continued challenges of climate change, customer priorities and financial constraints. The relative lack of customer ‘willingness to pay’ for investment on external flooding remains a difficulty to justify investment to our regulator, and we see this

We may also have to look at providing lower levels of flood-risk protection to properties than our current 30-year design standard. Equally, in some circumstances the installation of mitigation will realistically be the only cost-effective option.

With the move to outcome-based performance measurement, it could be argued that widespread mitigation is a legitimate strategy to reduce actual internal flooding to properties. However, temporary protection carries a residual risk of failure, which is proving difficult to quantify.

We also have to recognise the customer impact of confirmed risk of flooding on our customers, whether through insurance premiums, resale value of properties or the health impacts that can be related to the risk of flooding.

By putting customers at the heart of everything we do, we are ensuring we have a sustainable means to tackle this problem is not only the right thing to do for today’s customers but for generations to come.

Why it’s an unnecessary drain on your budget.

Pipe bedding using “Class S” full granular surround covers many eventualities. But for most jobs, it’s a big over-specification.

Choose rigid concrete pipes and you rarely need to specify Class S. So you can save money on imported bedding materials and muck-away to landfill. And you can reduce your carbon emissions and use of natural resources. To help you get the right Class of bedding at the right cost, visit www.concretepipes.co.uk and try our Structural Design and Materials Cost calculators. You’ll be amazed at what you can save.

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Versatile test gives confirmed results for Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 24 hours Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a bacterial species which is particularly good at forming biofilms within pipe and supply networks. The bacterium occurs ubiquitously in fresh water, sewage and soil and can also be isolated from the faeces of animals and humans.

Although small numbers of P. aeruginosa may be present in mains drinking water, the organisms are not infectious if swallowed, except possibly in profoundly immuno-compromised individuals. The number of P. aeruginosa present in public mains water is not likely to be high enough to cause infections unless they are able to multiply. Taps and pipework, however, can become colonised locally with P. aeruginosa and this may result in large numbers being isolated from drinking water of otherwise good quality.The routine examination of mains water for P. aeruginosa is not recommended, but in view of its importance as an opportunistic pathogen, regular testing is appropriate for healthcare facilities, particularly augmented care wards.

Of importance is that P. aeruginosa can seriously affect immuno-compromised individuals, such as seriously ill patients in hospitals and deaths have been reported. However for the majority of the population the danger posed by P. aeruginosa is generally not significant. One important point of concern is that, the biofilms that are formed could also harbour other dangerous bacteria, such as Legionella.

The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations and the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations set strict guidelines as to the physical properties of drinking water. They also state that drinking water should be free of certain chemicals and/or micro-organisms. Regular testing for prescribed parameters is therefore undertaken by water utility companies to ensure the quality of drinking water. Although not specified in the regulations, P. aeruginosa testing may occasionally be undertaken – such as if an issue is raised by a hospital or food production facility. Testing is traditionally performed using an agar based culture method. These methods typically take 24-48 hours to offer results, which may subsequently require additional confirmation steps to achieve a definitive result. Delays in identifying potential contamination events can have a severe impact upon the nature and cost of remedial steps, so rapid, accurate testing is a vital step forward in the water supply industry and for building water supply managers.

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Pseudalert® is a test developed by IDEXX Laboratories, the global leader in rapid microbiological testing of water. It was designed to detect P. aeruginosa in 24 hours, with high sensitivity and specificity without the need for additional confirmation steps. The test is simple to process and reading of results are easily interpreted by checking for fluorescence under UV light.

help protect water quality for an estimated two billion people every day, with tests accepted or approved in more than 40 countries around the world. As well as Pseudalert, IDEXX provides test kits that identify the presence of E. coli and enterococci, both of which are faecal indicators, along with opportunistic pathogens such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

Pseudalert has just been included as a microbial detection method in the list of alternative methods for drinking water issued by the UBA (the German Federal Environment Agency) and further accreditations and acceptances are expected for the test in the coming months. It has also been accepted by the UK Standing Committee of Analysts for testing both drinking water and recreational waters with publication due during 2015.

Many of the IDEXX test kits require hands-on operation time of less than one minute, and the tests have the potential to be run either within a laboratory environment or on-site, making them ideal for situations where access to a contract laboratory is restricted, such as oil rigs and cruise ships.

Rapid microbiological tests developed by IDEXX

All ®/™ marks are owned by IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.

IDEXX

HOW THE SCIENCE WORKS

The science behind the test is based on a bacterial enzyme detection technology that signals the presence of P. aeruginosa through the hydrolysis of a substrate in the reagent. P. aeruginosa cells rapidly grow and reproduce using the rich supply of amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients present in the test reagent. Actively growing strains of P. aeruginosa have an enzyme that cleaves the substrate in the reagent to produce blue fluorescence under ultraviolet light (6-watt, 365-nm). The medium’s formulation also contains chemical and biological suppressants that restrict the growth of non-target organisms, making the test very selective and minimising the risk of false positive results.

Carrying out the test and sample preparation require minimal training and equipment. The test itself consists of a powder which is added to a standard 100ml water sample, and then incubated at 38°C for 24 hours, to determine presence or absence. Unlike traditional techniques, no media preparation is necessary, and the non-toxic reagents come in ready-to-use, unit-dosed packaging.

The test detects P. aeruginosa at levels as low as 1 colony forming unit, in either 100 mL or 250 mL samples within 24 hours. With its high specificity and rapid results, accurate and fast indications of any potential contamination can be identified without additional confirmation steps, allowing for remedial action to be expedited immediately after contamination is identified.

If required, bacterial contamination can also be quantified using the IDEXX Quanti-Tray®. Once the water sample is collected, the pre-dosed powder is added to the sample container, then agitated and poured into the Quanti-Tray which has 51 wells specifically designed to enumerate bacteria in water samples. The Quanti-Tray is then sealed to create a number of discrete cells where the reaction will take place and then incubated.

After 24 hours of incubation, the number of wells which fluoresce under UV light are counted, and this is used to determine the amount of contamination via the most probable number, or MPN, method in conjunction with a comparison table. Alternatively if a simple presence/absence determination is required, this is also possible.

PSEUDALERT IN HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENTS In a hospital environment, P.aeruginosa infections can cause life-threatening conditions to vulnerable patients such as pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia.

Rapid detection of bacterial build-up at risk sites (e.g. drinking water pipes, mixer taps and sink drains) is essential to identify issues and expedite remedial action.

Testing guidelines are covered under the Health Technical Memorandum 04-01 (HTM 04-01) Addendum, and in 2014, following a pan-European study demonstrating that Pseudalert was suitable for use under these guidelines, IDEXX launched the test method into the hospital and healthcare arena. A paper recently published in the Journal of Water and Health (D.P. Sartory et al. Evaluation of an MPN test for the rapid enumeration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospital waters. Journal of Water and Health, 13.2 2015) reported that Pseudalert in the quantitative format recovered significantly more P. aeruginosa compared to the UK national and ISO methods Testing methods currently involve sampling the water and transporting it to laboratories which utilise membrane filtration (agar based) methodologies. This procedure is well established, but results can take 48 hours or more to be confirmed. In addition, both false positive and false negative results can arise, leading to potential uncertainty and ambiguity in the results.

Again, without the requirements for confirmation testing for atypical strains of P. aeruginosa saving up to 6 days of additional analysis - and the advantage of providing confirmed counts within 24 hours incubation compared to 40–48 hours with traditional, culture-based detection methods, Pseudalert has many advantages for this environment.

Requiring minimal equipment, the Pseudalert system can also be installed in a convenient location within the facility, which allows in-situ monitoring to be done, saving further time.

In-situ testing also reduces sample batching and transport time, reduces cost and allows for more frequent routine detection and trend analysis.

This allows hospital and facility managers to take control of their own rapid analysis, detection and remediation. The rapid turnaround of results, and the confidence of the accuracy of the test, can potentially save lives.

PSEUDALERT FOR RECREATIONAL WATER TESTING

Pseudalert was initially launched by IDEXX in 2010 to detect and analyse water in recreational facilities such as swimming pools and spas, where P. aeruginosa can give rise to problems such as “swimmer’s ear”, “hot-tub rash” (folliculitis), and other infections.

A comparative study of Pseudalert/ Quanti-Tray versus the reference method

(ISO 16266:2006/Microbiology of Drinking Water Part 8) using Pseudomonas CN agar (PACN) to enumerate P. aeruginosa in swimming pool and spa pool water samples has recently been undertaken by leading independent water microbiology consultant, David Sartory. Analysts at seven laboratories in Germany and the UK took part in the study which used artificially spiked water samples to compare the methods, and the data generated were analysed using the statistical procedures outlined in The Microbiology of Drinking Water Part 3 and according to ISO 17994:2004.

The results showed there was a marked tendency for the IDEXX test to provide higher counts than the agar method, and the study is being used as support for accreditationsby regulatory bodies across Europe, and will shortly be published in Current Microbiology.

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AQUAM

INFRASTRUCTURE REHABILITATION SPURS COMPANY GROWTH

By Richard Coffey, Managing Director, Aquam Water Services

Utilities face considerable challenges in managing their underground drinking water assets, reducing leakage and operating costs, and keeping customer bills from rising. The challenge of maintaining the UK’s ageing sewerage is also significant, having increased in 2011 with the mandatory adoption of some 220,000km of private sewers across England and Wales.

Rehabilitation of water and sewerage infrastructure has become much more attractive to UK utilities as they seek to meet Ofwat’s requirement to optimise total operational and capital spend (totex) on projects.

Customer expectations are rising and it is no longer acceptable to take households off supply in order to carry out investigations or to renew and refurbish pipelines. The disruption of traffic in order to carry out open-trench utility works in congested urban environments can incur heavy penalties if contractors stay longer than planned.

Similarly, burst pipes risk reputational damage to utilities as well as costly repairs and the cost of compensation for damage to other infrastructure.

Companies specialising in pipeline diagnostics, infrastructure support and trenchless rehabilitation are well placed for significant growth opportunities. Aquam Corporation is the parent company of several innovative pipeline-infrastructure service providers that have been brought together to provide a full and complementary service to the water industry.

Innovative technologies Aquam companies have a strong track record of developing innovative technologies and service initiatives to meet utilities’ needs.

Nu Flow Technologies is a specialist in no-dig systems and is the global leader for the smalldiameter pipelining industry. The company both manufactures and applies its rehabilitation and barrier protection systems for both water mains and customer serviced pipes. With well established technologies in North America and clients including the US Navy and NASA, Nu Flow has completed trials and is now carrying out projects in the UK and Ireland.

Lining lead pipes Aquam’s most recent acquisition, HTC Management Services, has a proprietary lining technology that can help utilities avoid costly rip-outs of lead service and communication pipes.

The Whirlwind Serline forced-air vortex system both cleans and dries pipes before applying a DWI-approved polyurethane coating to the internal surface.

It is estimated that there are 9.3 million lead service pipes and 6.3 million communication pipes in the UK.

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JD7 was the first company to develop a camera system that could be operated under live mains pressure and be navigated into a clean water system with no service disruption

up to 16 bar and be navigated through a water hydrant into a clean water system with no service disruption.

Since 2001, its portfolio of technologies has been used on every continent and includes:

Before: corroded potable pipe

After: scoured, cleaned and coated pipe

The Serline coating prevents lead from permeating into the flow, reducing the risk of drinking water contamination. The system can be applied on the smallest diameters pipelines, in the 10-300mm range, where the use of traditional methods is restricted.

As Serline uses a no dig technology it is also suitable for lining customer pipes where leakage has occurred. In circumstances with difficult access or hard landscape above pipes work, Serline and HTC can enable the work to be completed without causing disruption to the customer.

Pipe assessment and inspection Within the Aquam group, JD7 provides a pipeline assessment and inspection service and technologies. JD7 produces accurate leakage assessment as well as detailed asset condition reports to help clients understand the life expectancy of pipe networks, enabling any capital spend to be well defined and targeted for maximum impact.

JD7 Limited, which is based in Derby, was the first company to develop a camera system that could be operated under live mains pressure

n PipeScan+, which carries out full-dimensional surveys on metallic and non-metallic pipelines n LDS1000 leak detection platform for longdistance trunk mains n JD7 Investigator, which helps operators investigate internal pipework conditions and leakage points.

To support the asset status and lining technologies HTC Management Services specialise in pipeline testing, cleaning and lining application specialists and were acquire by Aquam in July this year together with Supply UK’s Water Services division that bring new and innovative products to utilities and contractors.

Future growth Aquam’s decision to expand services – diagnostic, support, and rehabilitation – has positioned the company to meet the growing needs of water utilities faced with multiple challenges in maintaining efficient water and sewerage networks.

Refurbishment of small-diameter pipes presents a huge potential cost saving to utilities, while industrial, commercial, residential and heritage sites also need to address leakage and legacy issues with lead pipelines. Individual project savings can reach up to 50 percent, while customers and the public will hardly know the work is taking place.

• Suitable for all small diameter water pipes

‘Who cares wins’ – optimising asset maintenance in AMP6

By MWH Asset Management specialist Simon Jones

Greater asset management challenges in the new operating environment The new regulatory framework has created a very different operating environment for companies and has laid down even greater challenges for the industry in AMP6. Companies are now focused on delivering outcomes not just outputs, driven by specific performance commitments agreed with their customers. With bills set to be lower than AMP5 and +20% efficiencies being sought, companies have been given a real challenge to deliver these outcomes, maintain standards and deliver a return to investors.

Fundamental to the success of balancing each of these priorities is the approach companies adopt for the operation and maintenance and long-term care of assets. Benchmarking of approaches across the industry carried out by MWH has identified some key elements to consider to drive an optimised approach for asset operation and maintenance.

Effective and efficient stewardship of assets Under the philosophy of Totex, companies are driven to make better use of their existing assets, rather than building new ones. This will lead to the need for some assets to work to different operational regimes and increased levels of resilience. Therefore maintenance policies and decision-making need to be tailored on risk-based and forward-looking basis.

For effective and efficient stewardship of assets, companies need to be able to answer the five following questions: n For the assets they operate, what are their current condition and performance? n How critical are these assets to maintaining levels of service and what is their contribution to delivering outcomes? n What emerging risks or future uncertainties need to be accommodated in asset operation and maintenance decision-making? n What is the optimum schedule or approach for repair or replacement of these assets?

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n How can we maintain and operate these assets most efficiently in order to manage operation and maintenance expenditure on a least Whole Life Cost basis?

A successful asset management approach provides the ability to plan maintenance activities to maximise the asset life, provide effective service throughout that life and to ensure the right interventions take place, on the right assets, at the right time, at least cost.

Guiding principles for optimising the operation and maintenance of assets With many of the necessary systems and processes established in previous AMPs, optimisation is reliant on bringing all these components together to make balanced and effective decisions. The result of benchmarking carried out across the industry has suggested the need for companies to establish a clearer set of guiding principles to drive asset operation and maintenance. These principles should be clearly articulated across key

stakeholders and should create greater alignment to the organisation’s objectives. The benefits of establishing these principles are: n Greater engagement between, and buy-in, of asset operations, maintenance and planning, leading to enhanced performance and new ways of working; n Statement of clearer intent for asset maintenance to drive a culture of continuous improvement and efficiency; and n Greater certainty in delivering desired +20% efficiencies, customer-focused outcomes and the realisation of resulting outcome performance incentives.

A company’s set of guiding principles for asset maintenance optimisation could include: n Be Lean: the approach to asset maintenance optimisation needs to be proportionate to assets being scrutinised, minimise disruption to operations and operators, and its value should be easily quantifiable to all.

FEATURE: ASSET OPTIMISATION n Be Robust: the approach should be repeatable, systematic, transparent, auditable and sustainable in the long-term. n Drive optimal decision-making: the approach should ensure that demonstrable balanced decisions are being made on a riskbased, forward-looking basis. It should enable a less reactive and a more proactive approach to asset maintenance. n Be aligned to key business objectives: the approach to asset maintenance optimisation should also have line-of-sight to other key business objectives – e.g. the delivery of outcomes, business performance and financial metrics. n Drive continuous improvement: the approach should stimulate and reward operations and maintenance staff to think differently, make time to challenge current practices and identify better ways of working.

Understanding the barriers to optimal operation and maintenance Benchmarking has also identified some lessons learned and potential barriers to achieving an optimal asset maintenance approach.

“Routine maintenance tasks are failing to be carried out…”

A varying proportion of routine maintenance tasks are not being completed. This is largely due to the balance between the volume of task orders and resource availability. This can have the effect of greater out-of-hours breakdowns, reducing next-day maintenance resource availability for routine tasks, exacerbating the issue. Analysis of prescribed maintenance tasks and their successful execution can be used to tailor maintenance programmes and scheduling.

“Generic maintenance tasks aren’t always applicable…”

The execution of prescribed, generic tasks may not be possible or appropriate for all of the same asset types and operating regimes. This can leave some maintenance incomplete as either not enough time is available to fully carry out the task or the potential disruption to operations unpalatable. Getting maintenance staff to feedback on task orders in terms of whether these are the right tasks to do and better ways to do them can result in much better care for assets and more efficient execution of tasks.

“The more we look the more we need to spend…”

Companies, quite rightly, focus maintenance efforts on their critical assets. This means that improved maintenance planning, root-cause and other analysis techniques are mostly focused on critical assets. This has the tendency to drive up

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maintenance needs and expenditure. To drive efficiency, there needs to be a proportionate focus on non-critical assets. Applying the same robust, risk-based, analytical approaches to noncritical assets will identify opportunities to where efficiencies can be realised. This will have the effect of driving focus and resources in the right areas, whilst ensuring overall acceptable levels of risk and service are maintained.

Getting it right can pay big dividends The regulator is driving companies to seek greater efficiencies in AMP6. To ensure greater certainty in achieving these efficiencies and delivery of their performance commitments to customers, never before has it been more important for the companies to maintain a balanced, or optimised approach between cost and the effectiveness of asset maintenance. Companies need a lean and robust framework for asset maintenance optimisation, which is clearly aligned to demands of other key business objectives. Get this right and those who care for their assets in the right way, will address and win this challenge in AMP6 and beyond.

Simon Jones is a Principal Consultant and Asset Management Specialist at MWH Global. He can be contacted on Simon.Jones@mwhglobal.com

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Innovation in Water Assets

1 Essex’s largest water treatment works (WTW), Hanningfield produces up to 240 million litres of drinking water daily, supplying a large part of Essex and parts of East London.

By Paul Grimwood, Northumbrian Water An early stage of water treatment involves separating out the silts and algae. Every day this creates around three million litres of a by-product known as liquid sludge. This is mainly water, so once treated, it can be recycled back to the reservoir for re-use.

Since operations began in the 1950s, sludge had been pumped into open settlement lagoons which were at the end of their serviceable life, meaning an alternative solution was required for water production to continue on site.

Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) believed there must be a more sustainable solution compared to the tried and tested, energy intensive, mechanical sludge centrifugal dewatering method available at the time.

The aim was to deliver an innovative, sustainable and cost effective alternative process to treat Hanningfield’s sludge, capturing as much as possible of the sludge’s water content for re-use while causing minimal operational impact.

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Working with Orbicon, who developed the reed bed technology NWG conducted a two year trial to prove this system would work at Hanningfield. The trial consisted of six identical beds each loaded and tested differently to see what the bed could accept per meter square. Trials continued through the outline design phase allowing NWG to reduce the overall anticipated area by 1/3.

While this project pushed the boundaries to discover new ways of working there was significant risk to NWG, especially when other tried and tested solutions existed. Using evidence from the trial a world first, a natural reed bed system was selected and installed to sustainably manage the sludge and recycle the valuable water.

The system is hugely innovative and industry leading having never been used in water treatment process. NWG has proved that there is an alternative solution for sludge dewatering that is sustainable, economically viable and environmentally friendly. Much of this research now provides valuable information for others looking to adopt a similarly sustainable solution.

The long term benefits provide both environmental and economic advantages for the company and the wider community.

Through this project the local environment has been enhanced and developed to include: n New improved habitats, especially at Great Prestons lagoon (shown below) which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and attracts a wide variety of wildlife including a nesting pair of rare marsh harriers. n A future source of soil improver for local fields will be provided by the solid residue. n Less river water extraction and pumping.

Wider benefits include: n An interesting and natural site adjacent to a public right of way. n Long term relationships with local community n A system that can be used for the foreseeable future.

FEATURE: ASSET OPTIMISATION

2 1 2

Trial reed bed system at Hanningfield Great Prestons SSSI habitat lagoon

3

Established reed beds

4

Established reed beds

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Established reed beds

3

4 n Benefits for the local communities with fewer lorry movements.

For the trial and delivery of the final project to be a success, the construction project team had to fully understand the needs of the key stakeholders and employees. The engagement and support continued throughout the trial, project delivery and the first 18 months of operation to ensure the new assets deliver the required outcomes and sludge treatment targets.

With the reed bed commissioned the sludge is now delivered to the site via underground pipes to

each of the reed beds in turn. The sludge is then naturally filtered through the bed. Clear filtrate water flows through the reed bed to help sustain the newly planted habitat and discharges by gravity back to the reservoir for re-use.

Throughout the whole project, ways to minimise the impacts were investigated. For example, to reduce the impact of traffic movements and waste, all clay and soil excavated when digging the beds was re-used on site to help build up embankments, therefore no waste left site.

5 place, the system operates naturally on its own, using no chemicals and very minimal energy or human intervention. A fully automated system was designed which could be monitored and operated via the internet so there is not always the need to visit site. Just one weekly visit is required to ensure the system looks healthy, again supporting lower operational costs. This scheme was designed with built in emergency planning, with the system always ready to receive sludge and a bed always available if needed.

Once the initial pumping to the reed beds takes

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SPP PUMPS

SPP PUMPS DELIVERS INCREASED EFFICIENCY AND EASE OF MAINTENANCE TO NORTHUMBRIAN WATER SPP Pumps, a leading manufacturer and global supplier of centrifugal pumps and systems, has recently completed a major refurbishment project for Northumbrian Water, in association with consultants Amec and the appointed contractor BAM Nuttall.

After almost 40 years of continuous service the pumps at Northumbrian Water’s Great Lumley Raw Water Pumping Station had reached the end of their useful life. Pumping water from the River Wear along a two kilometre pipeline to Great Lumley Water Treatment Works, maintenance had become ever more frequent and in order to ensure the site was fit for future generations, replacement was essential.

Working closely with consultants Amec and supporting the appointed contractor BAM Nuttall, SPP Pumps used its expertise and engineering excellence to provide a solution that delivered maximum efficiency, performance, operability and total cost of ownership.

Four SPP LLC GT20A 4 stage dry well mounted vertical turbine pumps were specified and installed to provide a true whole-life cost solution, with SPP’s unique dry well pump suction connector ensuring that vital installation dimensions and a water-tight solution were delivered.

A critical factor in the installation was the need to maintain water delivery throughout the refurbishment process, just one of the challenges associated with the project which also demanded the resolution of several key points namely: n Low net positive suction head available (NPSHa) n Severely limited space n Three fixed connection points with no flexibility- suction bend, discharge pipe and motor room floor n No discharge thrust block to restrain momentary back thrust and pump movement on start-up and shutdown Stuart Wallis is SPP’s Sales Manager (Water). He explains how the company’s depth of engineering

knowledge and innovation enabled the delivery of the perfect solution: “The SPP Water Business Unit worked closely with our engineering team to develop an innovative adaptor, we then mounted and assembled the suction connector onto the clients duckfoot bend. This complex installation was completed to programme and, when commissioned, the suction adaptor met all the challenges, performed as designed and together with the rest of the installation represents the very best in engineering solutions.”

For Northumbrian Water, Hedley Young, Project Manager - Investment Delivery - commented: “We have gained a solution that gives Great Lumley Water Pumping Station a more secure supply of water, more efficient and easy to maintain pumps and a cost-effective whole life installation to continue delivering the best customer service.”

About SPP Pumps SPP pumps and systems are installed across all continents providing valuable high integrity services for diverse industries such as oil and gas production, water and waste water treatment, power generation, construction, mines and for large industrial plants. All operations are ISO 9001 accredited, and SPP Pumps commits to the ISO 9001-2000 goals of continual improvement for customer satisfaction. SPP Pumps is a subsidiary of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, a global fluid management solutions provider and India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of centrifugal pumps and valves.

More information about SPP Pumps can be found by visiting the company’s website at www.spppumps.com or contact them directly: +44 (0) 118 932 3123 or email: enquiries@spppumps.com

This complex installation was completed to programme and, when commissioned, the suction adaptor met all the challenges, performed as designed and together with the rest of the installation represents the very best in engineering solutions.

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MAX MAX RECOVERY RECOVERY MAX MAX SAFETY SAFETY MAX MAX EFFICIENCY EFFICIENCY MAX MAX UPTIME UPTIME S:MAX S:MAXSLUDGE SLUDGESCREENING SCREENING Minimum Minimumoperator operatorintervention intervention Minimum Minimumcivils civilsrequirement requirement Industry-leading Industry-leadingscreenings screeningsremoval removaltechnology technology No Norequirement requirementforforholding holdingtanks tanksororbuffering buffering

S:MAX S:MAX

PRO:DEC PRO:DEC

D:MAX D:MAX

cdenviro.com cdenviro.com

Water Industry Products & Services

WATER MIXERS AND AERATION IMPROVE RESIDUAL LEVELS AND THM REDUCTION Panton McLeod have expanded their Water Quality Engineering products and services capabilities, through a new partnership with PAX Water Technologies.

Treated water travels through miles of pipes and sits in storage reservoirs at various points along the journey. Maintaining disinfectant residual levels in drinking water distribution systems is a challenge, even under normal conditions.

Several factors contribute to the complex balancing act of maintaining the best levels of water quality. Poor circulation leading to chemical or thermal separation or stratification can be significant contributors to the difficulties. At the same time disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as trihalomethanes (THMs), resulting from the disinfection process are an increasingly regulated element in treated water systems. Regulation requires DBPs to be kept as low as possible without compromising the effectiveness of the disinfection process.

The presence of sediment and biofilm causes accelerated disinfection loss and Panton McLeod has specialised in the advanced cleaning, including robotically, of treated water systems since the Company was formed in 1994.

The PAX Water Mixer (PWM-VAM)

PAX Water Mixers are used throughout the U.S., Australia and Canada. PAX Water also offers aeration technologies that can be combined with mixers to enable water operators to lower DBPs and control disinfection levels in drinking water reservoirs. Panton McLeod will offer PAX Water’s technologies as part of its portfolio of reservoir inspection, cleaning, maintenance and repair products and services.

New Partnership - This summer, Panton McLeod entered a new partnership with PAX Water Technologies – the leading provider of powerful mixers for water storage tanks. Based in California, U.S., PAX Water Technologies offers a family of powerful and energy-efficient mixers for a variety of tank shapes and sizes, including challenging geometries like water towers and large underground reservoirs with columns.

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Jim Panton, CEO of Panton McLeod said, “Thorough mixing is key to improving water Basin Cleaned, Mixer Installed

No Mixer

Lowering long-term maintenance costs - CEO of PAX Water Technologies, Dr. Peter S. Fiske, said “The combination of reservoir mixing, disinfectant control and reservoir cleaning and maintenance has been shown to provide outstanding value to water system operators by improving water quality, reducing DBPs, such as THMs, and lowering long-term maintenance costs.

We look forward to supporting Panton McLeod to provide this combination of technologies for UK water systems.”

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quality inside drinking water storage tanks. A powerful mixer eliminates thermal and chemical stratification, reduces disinfectant loss and biological growth and ensures consistent water quality throughout a water tank. Customers who use active mixers often notice less sediment accumulation in tanks and a reduction in customer taste and odour complaints. We are delighted that Panton McLeod now offers PAX Water’s technologies as part of our portfolio of Water Quality Engineering products and services.”

fig 1: Total chlorine levels in the Enfield Basin before and after the introduction of mixing

Underwater robotics - Existing water quality data helps target further investigations whether through traditional disruptive drain-down inspections or a proactive programme of low cost online ROV inspections. Where ROV inspections are completed, Dead Spot Sampling™ can take samples from various depths and locations in the reservoir. This can be used to determine if chemical separation or stagnation is present.

Tel : 01896 663 330 • info@pantonmcleod.co.uk

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There are also a number of excellent success stories for the energy-optimised aeration and mixing “THM Reduction System” known as TRS. Results from the installation of a PAX TRS system in a 30 ML reservoir at Hunting Hill in the city of Rockville, Maryland, showed an average THM reduction of 53% in the reservoir (see fig 2). In another example with a 750,000 litre reservoir in North Carolina, pre-installation THM levels of up to 140 ppb were reduced by 99% in samples collected after a smaller TRS installation.

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Proven Results - Iain Weir, Chief Technical Officer at Panton McLeod, said “Research in the United States has shown that active mixing not only eliminates short-circuiting in water storage assets, but also significantly improves chlorine residual levels (Grayman et al., 2004). Results, including from the installation of a PAX Water Mixer in a 2.3 ML reservoir (Enfield Basin) near Melbourne in Australia support this.” (see fig 1)

fig 2: TTHM levels in water leaving the Hunting Hill tank with the TRS off (shaded in gray) compared with THM levels with the TRS on. After the TRS is turned on, time is required for the TTHM levels to reach a steady-state level of reduction – in this case 14 days

Water Industry Products & Services

Water Quality Engineering • Robotic Inspection & Cleaning

• Reservoir Cleaning & Disinfection

Energy-optimised mixer and aeration systems Emergency Response and Planned Support

• Pipeline Commissioning

Tel : 01896 663 330 • info@pantonmcleod.co.uk • www.pantonmcleod.co.uk •

www.pantonmcleod.co.uk •

@pantonmcleod

@pantonmcleod

IFS APPLICATIONS™ — LEADING BUSINESS SOFTWARE FOR THE WATER INDUSTRY Do you provide water distribution, wastewater disposal and treatment services for your customers? Do you require special emphasis on quality, continuity of service, and the maintenance of above and below ground assets? Do you have to conform to changing regulations and rules set forth in water and waste distribution and disposal law? If so, selecting the business software capable of addressing these challenges is critical. So which business software do you choose to handle all of this? IFS Applications!

Pete Aspley, Managing Director, Integrated Water Services, says: “We recognised the necessity of implementing an ERP system capable of supporting IWS’ continued expansion and our growing mobile workforce. Our existing systems have served us well but we can’t afford to stand still in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market place.”

IFS Applications efficiently handles: n

enterprise asset management of hierarchical, linear and network assets

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preventive and reactive maintenance

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project and contract management

n

document management

n

quality management

n

business process management

n

planning (budgeting & forecasting)

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budget control, operational risk management, operational analysis

BUSINESS PROCESSES

DESIGN

CONSTRUCT & INSTALL

SUPPLY

RENEW/ REFURBISH

MAINTAIN

DECOMMISSION

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CONTRACT MANAGEMENT Sales Contract Sub Contract Service Contract

APPLICATION SOLUTIONS

Estimating Scope/Requirements Revision Control

Variations Order Retentions Invoicing & Valuation

CAPITAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project Planning Project Templates Compatible Units Estimating WBS Resource Planning Resource Allocation Workflow & Action Lists

Payment Applications Certificates Work Instructions

ASSET MANAGEMENT

Budgeting Cost Control Time & Expenses Procurement Material Planning Progress Document Management Snag/Punch Lists

Asset Design Asset Management Linear Assets Preventive Maintenance Condition-Based Maintenance Reliability Centred Maintenance Dynamic Scheduling Sub-Contractor Collaboration

Lock-Out/Tag-Out Time & Attendance Fault Management Mobile Work Mgmt Material Management Tools & Facilities Process Automation Integration (OPC, SCADA)

FINANCE

SUPPORT PROCESSES

Human Resources

Health & Incident Management

Document Management

Risk Management

Supplier & Contractor Collaboration

Audit & Quality Management

GIS Integration

Plant Hire & Rental

Capital Planning

Procurement, Supply Chain & Inventory

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

IFS APPLICATIONS SELECTED BY PORTSMOUTH WATER Portsmouth Water provides high quality public water supplies to a domestic population exceeding 660,000, as well as many important industries, large defence establishments and varied commercial businesses. It was therefore imperative they chose a reliable software partner that would allow them to maintain their current high standards of customer service.

Asset management and project management are among the core IFS Applications modules that will be implemented by Portsmouth Water. The asset management and project control functionality will enable Portsmouth Water to continue to deliver on its mission to provide drinking water of the highest quality, combining high levels of customer service with excellent value for money. The IFS solution will help the company improve efficiency and effectively manage the lifecycle of their complex asset network.

Richard Keates, Project Manager – Works and Asset Management System, at Portsmouth Water said, “We chose IFS from a shortlist of three vendors because they have demonstrated that they clearly understand our industry and are committed to working in close partnership with us to deliver a successful project and a world-class water infrastructure.”

A STABLE FOUNDATION FOR GROWTH AT IWS IWS, a division of South Staffordshire plc, supplies a range of water related services, which includes Legionella control, M&E operation and maintenance, repair and maintenance of pipeline infrastructure. These services are provided 24 hours a day across the UK by over 400 staff, including more than 300 mobile engineers at multiple national sites. IFS Applications has been brought in to the business to replace various informal systems, and integrate with other critical IWS systems to deliver better support to all IWS staff, and provide a more stable foundation for continued growth.

Pete Aspley, IWS Managing Director, said: “We recognised the necessity of implementing an ERP system capable of supporting IWS’ continued expansion and our growing mobile workforce. Our existing systems have served us well but we can’t afford to stand still in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market place.”

CLANCY DOCWRA LTD Clancy Docwra Ltd is well established as one of the UK’s leading national construction companies. It operates principally in the utility, transportation, power and infrastructure sectors. With offices throughout the UK, from Livingston in Scotland to Longham in the South of England, the company has a strong base in the water sector, as well as a significant presence in the gas, electricity, rail, highways, new build and refurbishment sectors.

Clancy Docwra is running the IFS document management application, plus modules for mobile, finance, procurement, sub-contract, stock inventory, service management, training and development, HR and payroll. In addition, they have assisted in the development of a plant-hire module, and are also rolling out further project management applications, case management and Risk Management. Clancy Docwra is realising tangible benefits from using IFS Applications. These are, primarily, increased job productivity, enhanced visibility, and measurable cost efficiency.

Join leading asset owners, contractors and service companies to the water industry in choosing IFS Applications.

For more information, visit our website: www.IFSWORLD.com/uk

NMCNomenca

UK first for innovative Nottingham sewage treatment plant

Two PHOSPAQ reactors - introducing Phospaq reactors as the first-stage of treatment prevents struvite-related damage to equipment further along the process.

An innovative three-stage biological sewage treatment process, which cuts costs and improves efficiency, is approaching final commissioning at Nottingham’s Stoke Bardolph wastewater treatment works.

The Severn Trent Water (STW) plant treats sewage from a 650,000 population as well as tricky trade waste from a local livestock rendering plant.

operational costs, made possible a 40% saving on capital expenditure and reduced the plant’s physical footprint by three-quarters.

STW and design– build subcontractor NMCNomenca worked with Dutch company Paques BV to introduce three suitable and complementary technologies to the site in a first for the UK.

The liquor dewatered from the sludge from the municipal sewage treatment is treated using two PHOSPAQTM reactors – the first in the UK - to remove the phosphorus, while the trade wastewater is run through a BIOPAQ® Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor to produce biogas.

The combined use of Paques’ PHOSPAQTM, BIOPAQ® UASBplus and ANAMMOX® processes has made it possible (1) to effectively remove phosphorus, (2) to recover a phosphate fertiliser, (3) generate biogas and (4) deliver efficient ammonia removal at the site. It has also halved

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Both streams are then combined and sent to an ANAMMOX® reactor to remove ammonia.

A key advantage of introducing a PHOSPAQTM reactor at Stoke Bardolph is alleviation of

struvite-related damage to equipment further along the train. The high concentration of phosphorus in dewatering liquors ordinarily leads to excessive struvite (magnesium-ammoniumphosphate) deposits in pipes, pumps and other equipment, which can cause significant operational and maintenance problems.

STW expects to make an annual saving of some £70,000 per year by reducing maintenance costs incurred by struvite damage to plant equipment.

Capturing struvite as a resource will yield approximately 736t/year of phosphorus for conversion into fertiliser, providing STW with an additional revenue stream.

FEATURE: ASSET OPTIMISATION North Midland Group

The BIOPAQ® reactor for the trade waste converts organic compounds into mainly methane (CH4) biogas anaerobically. The gas is used for the combined heat and power (CHP) engines onsite and produces approximately 3MWh/day, contributing 7% to this energy-neutral site’s total gas output.

NMCNomenca’s highly automated approach to mechanical and electrical control of treatment at Stoke Bardolph has been a step-change for Paques in the way its systems are operated.

Paques’ process engineer Simon Kuitert says that all previous installations have been at more heavily manned sites, while in Nottingham the plant runs itself, flagging operational issues through an automated system.

NMCNomenca and Paques worked closely to deliver and optimise the operation and control system.

“It’s by far the most complex control system we’ve worked with,” says Simon Kuitert, Paques process engineer. “We’ve never automated Phospaq like this before. It’s been a learning process.”

Teresa Jeffcoat, NMCNomenca’s project manager says, “By working in close partnership with Paques and the client, Severn Trent Water, we have achieved a system that demands only 50% of the air of a standard activated-sludge plant.

Power consumption and energy costs have been slashed.

Founded in 1946; NM Group operates nationally with ten strategically located regional offices and operational centres. We also provide engineering and management consultancy services internationally. With 5 operational divisions, including one wholly owned subsidiary, NM Group successfully provides design, build, operation and maintenance services across six main sectors covering the spheres of Civil Engineering, Building, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and specialist product manufacturing.

The BIOPAQ UASBplus reactor to tackle a rendering wastewater stream at Stoke Bardolph produce 3MWh/d of mainly methane biogas

“Savings are also made when the new processes are compared with conventional nitrification and denitrification processes. Operational costs are reduced by over 50%, as are CO2 emissions.“ She added, “We are delighted with all we have achieved at Stoke Bardolph and are already seeing interest from other utilities in what can be achieved in terms of treatment efficiency and resource recovery.”

Our People are critical to the success of the NM Group’s vision. We actively empower our people to drive and shape our business success and support people to reach their full potential.

This has been central to the delivery of the innovative approach on the Stoke Bardolph project which has delivered significant benefits for Severn Trent Water.

The NMCNomenca division was established in 2009 to service our AMP5/6 Infrastructure and Non-Infrastructure frameworks with Severn Trent Water for both Civil and MEICA projects.

The services include programme management, feasibility and optioneering studies, design and construction.

People Inspire Excellence Contact: :::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::: N:::: M::l::: C::s::::::: PLC (NM G:::p)

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ABB

Why it totally pays to pick electromagnetic With the introduction of TOTEX encouraging water companies to take a holistic approach to all aspects of their water network operations, instrumentation is set to play a growing role in providing the accurate measurement data needed to help better gauge the performance of water distribution networks. Alan Hunt, Flow Product Specialist for ABB Limited’s UK Measurement & Analytics business, explains why, when it comes to measuring flow, electromagnetic flowmeters can provide the best option for accurate and cost effective measurement.

The arrival of AMP6 signals a change in many areas for both water companies and the supply chain.

As well as the potential end of the AMP cycle’s ‘boom and bust’ behaviour, another major change is underway, with Ofwat encouraging companies to move away from capital expenditure on new plant and infrastructure and instead focus on total life costs and getting more out of their existing assets.

Called TOTEX, this shift in emphasis will see a move towards companies focusing more on joined-up investment and on improving the performance of installed infrastructure rather than building new plant.

ABB’s WaterMaster and AquaMaster flowmeters are eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowances which allow for offset of 100 percent of cost against corporation tax, not just on the cost of the purchase but also any costs relating to installation

The approach includes a particular focus on the role of data in helping companies to maintain their networks more effectively and identify potential problems before they occur. With around 500,000 miles of mains and sewer networks in the UK, it is critical that water companies are able to quickly pinpoint any problems as quickly as possible in order to minimise both disruption to services and inconvenience in the location where work will need to be carried out.

The drive towards smart networks is seeing the development of tools, methods and real-time applications which will enable utilities to improve the deployment of front-line instrumentation and improve planning, through access to up-tominute operational data on their distribution networks. By coupling this improved data with the latest automation technology, utility companies will be able to improve the performance of both their pro-active and reactive operation and maintenance processes.

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networks, various flowmetering options have traditionally been available to water companies, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

to be false economy. Wear and tear on their moving parts can reduce accuracy within weeks of installation, resulting in over or under registration of flows.

Of course, data is only as good as the device used to gather it. If the accuracy of the device itself is lacking, then the resulting data will be of questionable value when it comes to setting strategies to improve performance.

Orifice plates may present an inexpensive solution, but their accuracy relies on the opening having been machined to the right size. Although they may offer reasonable accuracy at first, wearing of the orifice edges caused by particles within the flow can steadily erode measurement performance. This technology works by creating a pressure drop across the plate of which a minimum of 40 percent is non-recoverable. These losses inevitably lead to increased pumping costs.

A higher costing option, the ultrasonic flowmeter, uses ultrasonic beams to assess the velocity of the fluid, which can then be used to derive a flow measurement. Although they offer the benefits of a clamp-on device, these meters can be severely affected by changes in speed, and are difficult to set up, especially where high accuracy is required.

When it comes to the devices for measuring and monitoring flow around water distribution

Frequently specified where purchase cost is an issue, mechanical meters can quickly prove

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In comparison, electromagnetic flowmeters offer a number of advantages that can quickly add up to savings that outweigh their higher initial purchase price. Firstly, there are no moving parts which need routine maintenance. Their buriable

design also means the overall cost of the system is reduced as there is no need to build chambers or install ancillary equipment such as isolating valves.

Then there’s the matter of accuracy. Electromagnetic flowmeters offer typical accuracies of ±0.5 percent of rate throughout their operational life, as well as superb reliability from being unaffected by the wear and tear that can affect other meter types.

Recent technological developments extend their benefits even further. ABB’s AquaMaster 3, for example, now incorporates WITS (Water Industry Telemetry Standard) DNP3 based open protocol. Offering access to a raft of operational and maintenance data, including advanced diagnostics, the inclusion of this technology within the AquaMaster 3 promises to completely transform the way that water network operators manage their assets.

Helping you find new ways to manage your TOTEX requirements?

Certainly.

Based on tried and tested network technology originally designed for process automation in electrical utility applications, WITS DNP3 enables communication between different types of data acquisition and control equipment.

Of course, data is only as good as the device used to gather it. If the accuracy of the device itself is lacking, then the resulting data will be of questionable value when it comes to setting strategies to improve performance.

Using the AquaMaster 3 with WITS, users can now download a high speed, high resolution log to investigate any water network anomalies in conjunction with detection methods such as step testing, burst / pressure transients or nightline monitoring.

All data on specific events is time-stamped, with metadata tags providing detailed information about measured data and events, including details about the moments leading up to the event. Where a critical event occurs, reports are immediately generated and sent to enable quick action to be taken.

This same level of intelligence also extends to the AquaMaster 3 itself. DNP3 enables remote access to a wide range of data including diagnostics and configuration changes. Any problems such as power management issues, sensor coil damage or damage to the sensor cable caused by third parties can be quickly identified, together with the time those issues occurred and the exact location of the affected device.

The shift towards a total expenditure focus in the water industry means gaining a holistic overview of conditions across your entire distribution network. Our new guide explains the role that measurement technology can play in providing the data you need for a TOTEX-led approach, plus the steps you need to take to ensure the value of the data is maximised.

For your copy, email moreinstrumentation@gb.abb.com or call 0870 600 6122, ref. ‘TOTEX’ guide.

In this way, the need for engineers to physically visit devices is eliminated.

Instead, users will be able to use the diagnostic data to ensure that engineers are only deployed when and where necessary.

When each method for leakage prevention is compared to the other, it soon becomes clear that the electromagnetic flowmeter is the best choice.

Not only that, but as listed technologies within the Government’s Water Technology List, ABB’s WaterMaster and AquaMaster flowmeters are eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowances which allow for offset of 100 percent of cost against corporation tax, not just on the cost of the purchase but also any costs relating to installation.

Taken together, these factors present a compelling case for using electromagnetic meters in a TOTEX-focused strategy.

For more about why it pays to pick electromagnetic flowmeters, email moreinstrumentation@gb.abb.com or call 0870 600 6122 ref ‘TOTEX’.

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HYDRO INTERNATIONAL

Grit: Are you seeing the whole story?

When it comes to grit, it’s what is missed that costs.

By removing more, finer grit using Advanced Grit Management™ we believe most UK WWTPs can achieve operating, energy and maintenance savings.

Hydro’s innovative and internationally-proven HeadCell® advanced grit removal system is now available in the UK. To find out what your plant is missing, request a free on-site trial with our pilot unit.

Call: 01353 645700 or visit www.hydro-int.com

Advanced Grit Management™

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Introducing HeadCell® Advanced grit removal system

FEATURE: ASSET OPTIMISATION

Radical Change of Approach to Grit Removal Arrives in UK A RADICAL change of approach to grit removal in wastewater treatment plants, being introduced to the UK for the first time, could be fundamental to achieving progress towards water company totex objectives in AMP6 and beyond.

Water companies open to the innovative principles of Advanced Grit ManagementTM (AGM) are expected to achieve significant operating and cost savings with a proven technology already successfully installed at some 200 operating plants in North America.

Hydro International is seeking water company partners to conduct pilot trials at wastewater plants in the UK, as well as to set up a full operating trial site. The trials will study the potential for AGM to establish new standards based on removing more, finer grit particles at the inlet works than has conventionally been accepted as standard. Already sampling studies underway with several water companies are showing promising results.

“The heavy cost of grit in wastewater treatment plant operation has long been accepted as an unavoidable burden by operators and asset managers alike,” says Keith Hutchings, Hydro International’s Group Product Manager. “Everyone knows that grit abrasion and accumulation are a burden of ongoing plant operation leading to heavy maintenance tasks and increased energy usage. Grit builds up in tanks, clogs basins and aeration tanks and compromises biological processes.

Grit sampling at the first UK HeadCell® pilot trials.

“The UK industry has accepted and grown to live with the burden of grit because of a compromise, a “one size fits all” industry standard for inlet works grit removal. With a new emphasis on totex, we believe the time has come to challenge accepted norms. Grit sampling has never been conducted in the UK before and our sampling studies so far are providing strong evidence to support that view.”

The opportunity has come about through the technology transfer of a high-performance grit removal system to the UK from the USA. The HeadCell® grit separation system has been developed and refined during more than 30 years of operation. The HeadCell® is combined with the rigorous AGM approach to achieve optimum grit removal for each wastewater treatment plant.

The HeadCell® is a high-performance solution for bulk grit removal both as an upgrade to existing

plants and for new works. Capable of achieving 95% removal of all grit 75 microns and larger, the HeadCell® uses a stacked tray separation technique to create a large surface area with short settling distances capable of removing more fine particles. Its unique design means it does not suffer from the short-circuiting problems that reduce the efficiency of conventional grit basins.

A hydraulically-driven system with no moving parts, HeadCell® is modular and therefore offers a future-proof ability for upgrades. It delivers grit removal over a wide range of flows and with less than 300mm headloss in a much smaller footprint than conventional grit removal systems.

High-performance grit removal requires appropriate washing and dewatering systems that achieve the same performance. Without them, the finer grit would be washed back into the waste stream. As part of the Advanced Grit ManagementTM approach, Hydro recommends an integrated system to maximise grit removal performance. The HeadCell® can therefore be combined with Hydro’s GritCup® washer and classifier and SpiraSnail® dewatering system to achieve the best possible results.

For more information about Advanced Grit ManagementTM and Hydro grit removal technologies, please call 01353 645700, email enquiries@hydro-int.com or visit

http://www.hydro-int.com/uk/products/ advanced-grit-management .

The HeadCell® advanced grit removal system

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Catchments as units for investment decision-making Research currently being undertaken at the University of Bath and Wessex Water indicates that planning investment actions at a catchment scale is essential for water industries to support human wellbeing and safeguard ecosystems.

To achieve this, natural assets (such as land, soil, and ecosystems) need to be accounted for in the asset management portfolio of the water sector.

The research has created a methodology which enables catchment-based asset management and links water and environmental science with cost engineering.

A key output of the research is a structured framework that allows water industry assetmanagers to assess the impacts and costs of catchment-based planning decisions, for example, the purchase of new infrastructure compared to collaborative schemes with farmers.

The conclusions of this project relate to sustainability in both environmental and economic terms, by answering the following question: Is it beneficial to include natural assets in the asset management portfolio of water industries?

The service delivery in the water sector depends heavily on the performance of physical assets (i.e. infrastructure), but also on environmental factors (i.e. rainfall). This mutual relationship has been the focal point of a number of initiatives worldwide which encourage the maintenance and enhancement of nature alongside the provision of human wellbeing.

Whilst governments have been developing relevant frameworks, regulators across Europe call for improvement of the aquatic environment, most recently in response to the Water Framework Directive. In a similar vein, the UK Water Industry Research is keen on adopting less resourceintensive ways to protect water bodies such as lakes and rivers, and more integrated approaches to asset management. However, a major challenge at present is the absence of a standardised

Figure 1: (a) water accumulation within the natural spatial boundaries of a catchment,(b) a typical watershed as a hybrid and complex system where the biosphere (e.g. forest) and the technosphere (e.g. urban) coexist and interact methodology that would allow for action to be taken.

Ongoing research at the University of Bath is answering the call for innovation in practice and suggests catchment-based asset management where environmental impacts and costs are accounted for in investment decisions. This can improve the decision-making of the water industry in a number of ways, including: n Risk management, n Supply chain sourcing, n Sustainable revenue streams, n Environmental performance and n Sustainable business models.

The catchment (Figure 1a) as the unit of analysis provides common ground for communication among different stakeholders and regulators. For research purposes, we visualise the catchment as a hybrid system where different types of capital (i.e. natural, human, social, manufactured and financial) co-exist, interact and develop interdependent relations (Figure 1b). From a managerial perspective, the limited spatial boundaries of a catchment allow for the capture and study of the interconnections among humans and the environment within the given basin.

Current trends in sustainability science research suggest that the application of life cycle thinking (LCT) offers a way of incorporating sustainable development in decision-making processes. Life Cycle Management methods, such as life cycle assessment and life cycle costing, are applied to

Water is the most important natural resource on earth. With an ever growing demand on limited water resources, it is essential that we approach sustainable water management in an innovative and integrated way.

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UNIVERSITY OF BATH studies where a product or a system is studied from ‘cradle-to-grave’. They are particularly useful in highlighting areas where the efficiency of a system could be improved. The combined use of these tools in catchment-based studies and asset management decisions provides a holistic way of assessing the costs and impacts of applied strategies, in a format that is easy to communicate.

Outcomes of this work aim to enhance the dialogue between stakeholders and inform the debate with environmental and economic regulators.

The water sector requires innovative and holistic approaches in order to comply with current regulations and achieve balance between social, environmental and private costs. Integrating natural assets in investment planning would broaden the sustainability spectrum of the sector and enable informed decisions of long-term benefits. The application of life cycle thinking at a catchment scale would facilitate assessing the outcomes of the novel applied strategies.

By Chrysoula Papacharalampou, PhD Research Student, Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Water Innovation & Research Centre: WIRC @ Bath University of Bath

Figure 2: The Poole Harbour, at the mouth of the Poole Harbour catchment. This ongoing research will assist Wessex Water in deciding on the most sustainable way to improve the quality of the bathing water in the harbour

We can help you reimagine your water R&D

Water Innovation & Research Centre

Through the Water Innovation and Research Centre at the University of Bath our experts work with industry, academia, and other stakeholders to tackle the fundamental issues surrounding sustainable water. Through WISE, our Centre for Doctoral Training in Water Informatics: Science and Engineering, we work with collaborative partners to train the next generation of skilled water scientists and engineers.

To explore a partnership with water research experts and students at the University of Bath for your organisation, contact water-research@bath.ac.uk.

go.bath.ac.uk/water-research

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QED

Innovative valve delivers safer surge vessel inspections Dwr Cymru Welsh Water rolls out PRV installations on surge vessels QED’s innovative valve technology slashes inspection times Surge systems can now be examined on the ground - without switching pressure off

The Duplex PRV backplate is mounted on the floor at the base of the surge vessel which completely removes all working-at-height issues A major programme to install an innovative pressure relief valve is helping Dwr Cymru Welsh Water to improve the way it maintains surge vessels in South and Mid Wales. Quantum Engineering Developments (QED) has designed a new pressure relief valve (PRV) assembly that means in-service inspections can be carried out without any disruption to the system.

More than half the existing surge vessels in South Wales have now been fitted with Duplex PRVs manufactured by QED in the UK, which means the annual inspections can be carried out in a fraction of the time.

Surge vessels are installed on the water and sewerage network to help reduce pressure surges in pipelines. Uncontrolled surges can cost utilities millions of pounds every year in fixing burst pipes and water wastage.

They also put the network at risk of negative pressure which, in the case of potable water mains, directly contravenes the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s requirement for utilities to maintain adequate pressure to reduce the risk of contamination.

Annual working inspections are essential to keep the assets in service and meeting the statutory legal requirements under the regulations for pressure systems and equipment. Traditionally surge vessels had to be depressurised and drained in order to carry out annual third-party working inspections.

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The new Duplex PRV backplate is wall-mounted adjacent to the surge vessel and the pressure gauge re-positioned eliminating all working-at-height issues

The Duplex PRV system replaces the existing pressure valves with a pair of valves which are housed at ground level. Previously, in order to comply with pressure systems safety regulations, inspectors had to access the valve at the top of the vessel once the whole system had been depressurised, posing a working-at-height safety risk.

Safety enhanced With the Duplex PRV the insurance company inspector is able to examine the system on the ground - without switching off the pressure - by switching between one valve and another. This eliminates a potential safety risk and significantly speeds up inspection times.

Greg Sullivan, statutory maintenance engineer from Welsh Water said: “A lot of these vessels were built in the ‘seventies without really having best maintenance practice in mind. Previously it would take two or three people two or three days to do this job - now one person can do it in half a day. This represents a benefit for the company.

“When I first made the case for this to our business managers they said: ‘It’s a no brainer.’”

Welsh Water has now replaced 53 surge vessel control systems with Duplex Pressure Relief Valves with another 30 sites to assess on a case-by-case

basis. Engineers from QED have fitted Duplex PRVs as each surge vessel comes up for its annual inspection, minimising the disruption to the network.

The retrofitting programme won the Chairman’s Award at the Institute of Water Welsh region annual innovation awards 2014. It was also commended at the Welsh Water’s Occupational Health & Safety Conference 2015.

Tim Harper, Operations Manager, QED said: “Well-maintained surge vessels are essential for protecting water mains. Making sure surge vessels are appropriate to the main they are protecting, and correctly maintained, prevents pressure becoming too high or too low. This reduces the risk of bursts and leaks.”

He continued, “It is a legal requirement for any kind of pressurised vessel to follow strict statutory inspections by insurance company inspectors, but releasing assets for inspection in itself risks disruption of supply and statutory non-compliance.

“The design of the Duplex Pressure Relief Valve means inspectors can switch between one control valve and another - ensuring both are working correctly without the need to isolate the pressure vessel and disrupt the system. We are delighted that Welsh Water has adopted this extensive retrofitting scheme and we believe it will enable them to deliver a better, safer and cheaper service to water users.”

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61

The Utilities data dilemma Increasingly utilities are being directed to Big Data, and all the benefits that it appears to offer. Large quantities of structured and un-structured data are already a common feature for utilities.

Beyond the more familiar IT ground of customer data, modelling of assets has stretched the limits of systems, both in terms of hardware and storage, since the 1980’s (and earlier in a few cases). Now that utilities are using diverse data sources, including weather (radar rainfall et al), 3D mapping, instrumentation and third party sources, even the storage of data can require substantial IT infrastructure: terabytes of stored files are now common. Modelling large volumes of data requires the highest specification computer hardware, with fast access to network drives. In this sense ‘big data’ is nothing new in utilities.

However, many ‘big data’ calls miss a fundamental issue, in that asset ‘data’ is expensive to obtain and consistently maintain. Where AMR (Automated Meter Reading) metering is installed, customer usage data is readily available. However, most utilities physical assets are geographically widely spread, sometimes in locations difficult to access, and the cost of gathering and maintaining data can thus be restrictively high. For example, a manhole survey can average >£70, with over 550,000km of sewers in the UK, and assuming

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40m between manholes, a 1% validation survey would cost circa £10 million.

Surveys can also have complex health and safety risks that need to be managed, such as confined spaces, working at heights, and in highways. This is just one element of data, and surveys in complex situations can be extremely expensive, with elements such as undersea cable surveys sometimes costing circa £I million. For these reasons asset data is often limited and of dubious quality. Sensors and instrumentation are improving, being cheaper to install, run and maintain, and are more robust, nonetheless they are still relatively expensive items.

With asset data often being limited, suspect, and costly to improve, and sensors and instrumentation expensive to deploy, smarter utilities are looking to make better use of the information they already hold. By using a combination of engineering knowledge coupled with effective analytics, trends can be mapped and normal asset behaviour determined. Where data is readily available such analysis is relatively simple, however where asset data is limited, engineering knowledge and understanding can be used to define relationships between the seemingly unrelated data sets. The key is in understanding how data sources can be meaningfully linked.

There are already a number of good examples where such solutions have been successfully deployed. For example, an Australian water utility needed to improve water management and availability. They invested in a real-time demand and response system comprising of a

hydrodynamic model to predict water production, demand and planning against targeted and actual usage. This incorporated weather data to predict water demand and usage to zone level. It also created ‘what if’ scenarios based on predictive modelling. This use of limited, but targeted, data has ensured that water resources have been available through testing climatic conditions, as well as delivering reduced energy costs.

An electricity grid operator required a complete solution to optimize their inspection and maintenance plans, and provide condition monitoring of their overhead lines to predict transformer failures and reduce cost. They deployed a web-based real-time dashboard to remotely monitor 100+ transformers, power generation equipment and field service personnel, along with a hand-held mobile solution for field service personnel to enter and upload data while on route inspections. This has been based on limited datasets (e.g. load, transformer temperature, weather), and amongst other benefits saved an estimated £20m in infrastructure costs. Similar techniques can be used for work management, as where a UK water utility used an automated data management and operational predictive analytics tool for improved workload and resource planning. This was based on the creation of a near real-time Operational Data Store (ODS) collating operational and business data sets for use in reporting and forecasting. This solution delivered a 20% Increase in planned work completion leading to improvement in customer satisfaction and SIM, backlog reduced by up to 95%, a 10% productivity improvement, and increased accuracy and predictability.

Similar techniques have been used to look at infrastructure interdependencies.

The UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (www.itrc.org. uk) has developed a new generation of infrastructure system simulation models and tools to inform the analysis, planning and design of national infrastructure. These provide new methods for analysing performance, risks and interdependencies, and should prove very helpful for cross-infrastructure planning (the official launch of the models is planned in October 2015). It is interesting to note however that, even for these higher level models, the developers needed to work closely with the various organisations involved to build suitable datasets, as there was not sufficient data available at the outset.

As can be seen from above, large Business Information systems may be of limited value to utilities in terms of managing their assets. Of more value is the effective and consistent linking of dispersed data sources, coupled with easily configurable analytics engine. Such tools have already been used to answer many asset related questions, such as the viability of rainwater harvesting in differing regions and climates. It is indeed possible to answer a high percentage of the work and asset management related questions posed by utilities, even with the limited asset data many hold. A few examples include: n Reducing pollution events through effective use of data from the level sensors

Mike Jones CEng CEnv C.WEM MICE MCIWEM MIAM

n Production planning across areas and regions, based on telemetry and climate data

Principal Consultant, Process and Domain Consulting Energy, Utilities, Communications and Services Infosys

n Reducing blockage and related Other Cause flooding

Mike is a chartered engineer and environmentalist with 30+ years of experience in the Water Sector, at levels from operator to project manager to designated engineer, in scope covering regulation, planning, contracts, procurement, design, implementation, operation, asset management, environment, IT, water supply, flood risk, sewerage and treatment. He is a Principal Consultant with Infosys as part of their Utilities Centre of Excellence.

n Tracking leakage n Reducing energy use n Improving compliance monitoring at small Treatment Works Each question is however individual to the specific situation, so only those who are able to understand both the engineering and system elements will be able to successfully deliver beneficial results.

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Z-TECH

Anglian Water Apprentice Exchange

Hazardous Area Framework Award - Thames Water FA1209

Z-Tech is pleased to announce the award of a new Thames Water Hazardous Area Framework.

Thames Water is investing in ensuring its sites and assets located in classified hazardous areas are inspected and maintained to the highest standards - to both help provide a safe working environment and also keep to BS EN 60079, incorporating the DSEAR and ATEX regulations.

Anglian Water and Z-Tech have just completed a month long exchange programme which sees one of each respective apprentices swop roles. This innovative scheme is in its second year and was the best yet!

The Anglian Water Apprentice (Zac) moved around Z-Tech to spend time in different Business Units and during the month he: worked with our Commercial Logging teams for Thames Water; worked a week on the night shift for our Pumping Systems contract on the London Underground; shadowed one of our System Engineers while he worked on a London Underground SCADA system and out at Ely Power Station while we serviced and calibrated instruments as part of their planned outage. Kristian, the Z-Tech Apprentice had the opportunity to: visit Lincoln for Anglian Water’s core systems operation, be out on reactive work in Stanway and Grafham and a trip into Rockwell Automation to see the latest system trends.

Both experiences complemented the students’ current practical learning, while putting them into a situation which is very different, but using the same equipment.

This year incorporated the first Knowledge Exchange programme with senior managers

at both Anglian Water and APJNP (London Underground), this saw Cliff Marriner, Regional Maintenance Manager for Anglian Water, visiting his Apprentice on a night shift for London Underground, while also having the opportunity to speak with APJNP Managers about their pumping systems and visit the main SCADA operation room at Canary Wharf.

Cliff said: “This is a really great programme and it’s something I support wholeheartedly, we’re keen to ensure this sort of activity continues as its adding value to our own apprentices through working with our supply chain.

Thanks to all at Z-Tech, Simon Pateman & Sean Hickey from APJNP who hosted my visit - being able to visit systems similar to our own, facing similar challenges, was a great experience - their work with cooling the tube through the use of boreholes and heat exchangers was fascinating.”

Thames Water is the largest water company in the UK and, as such, its asset lists are vast. This particular Framework includes some 1300 sites from 2015-2016 and some 8300 assets. The inspections will be a combination of Visual, Close and Detailed and will also give scope for rectification work across the whole estate.

Z-Tech Control Systems is one of only three contractors allocated to this work, with specific geographic responsibility for the North and Central assets, and scope for whole-estate remedial works.

As an NICEIC Hazardous Approved Company, Z-Tech design, install, inspect, test and maintain all hazardous area electrical installations and this is an area the business is expanding into.

Claire Waterman, ATEX Business Unit Manager, said: “I’m delighted to be heading up the ATEX unit for Z-Tech and am looking forward to coordinating the FA1209 Framework for Thames Water.

We’re bringing innovation to the table too: with our Z-One mobile asset management system we’ll be getting inspection reports live for Thames Water in real time – increasing the response to rectify any works and maintain stringent compliance.”

This is a really great programme and it’s something I support wholeheartedly, we’re keen to ensure this sort of activity continues as its adding value to our own apprentices through working with our supply chain.

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Complete solutions for large and small water network projects.

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Tel: 01223 653500 Fax: 01223 653501 engineers@z-tech.co.uk

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12/7/13 15:16:01

HUBER

HUBER TECHNOLOGY AWARDED CONTRACT TO SUPPLY BT SLUDGE BELT DRYER TO LARGEST ISLE OF MAN WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT After a rigorous Tendering Process, Huber Technology have been awarded a Contract to supply one of its innovative BT16 Sludge Belt Dryers to Meary Veg Waste Water Treatment Works.

The existing dryer is being replaced because it is approaching the end of its useful life and does not have capacity post 2016 to treat the sludge being generated island-wide. The Huber BT Sludge Dryer will provide the following benefits – compact footprint, lower energy usage and reduced manpower and maintenance. The robust BT Belt Dryer will have the capacity to treat all the island’s sludge until at least 2033 allowing the progression of the Regional Sewage Treatment Strategy (RSTS) programme to improve the

marine environment around the Isle of Man. The resulting sludge pellets will go into the Energy from Waste plant, to produce electricity.

In addition to the BT Belt Dryer, Huber Technology will supply ancillary items and supervise the installation, which will be undertaken by Williams Industrial Services Limited of Newtonabbey, Northern Ireland.

For more information please visit our website www.huber.co.uk

Belt Dryer Installation

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KSB

New pumps supplied for centre KSB have supplied two new Amerex KRT pumps with specially fabricated Duckfoot for Jet Aeration tank at Anglian Water’s Southend Water Recycling Centre (WRC) The need for energy savings, improved carbon footprint and lower whole-life costs is becoming an important driver for innovation in Anglian Water. As a result KSB Amarex KRT duty standby pumps were installed in their Jet Aeration tank at the Southend site to replace existing pumps. KSB Amarex KRT is a vertical, single-stage submersible motor pump in close-coupled design. It is available with various impeller designs and can handle all types of abrasive and aggressive waste water in water and waste water engineering.

The Jet Aeration tank was commissioned and built at the Southend site during the mid 1990’s

by Anglian Water and serves two functions: Transfer of atmospheric oxygen into the liquid and the agitation of the tank contents. The Jet Aerator consists of three components: The KSB Amarex KRT pump which provides recirculated and pressurized liquid to the jets, the air blower which provides oxygen to the submerged jet at the necessary pressure; and the jet assembly itself. A twin guide rail system was supplied for installation using a specially designed and fabricated straight-pattern duckfoot by KSB Ltd. Two submersible KSB Amarex KRT pumps were installed at the outlet base of the jet aeration tank, with suction level at the pump at 0.5m, discharging to a 400mm GRP pipe down the centre of the 32m long x 12m wide tank. The KSB Amarex KRT pumps are rated at 370 l/s delivering against a static head of 5.18m and friction head of 0.91m, giving the total developed system head of 6.1m. A 200mm air pipe is mounted above the water pipe and the air/MLSS flow is Jet Aerated through 32 nozzles.

Efficient aeration is all about maximising the contact of oxygen from air with the wastewater.

At the heart of the process in the Southend Jet Aeration tank are the KSB pumps. Liquid is discharged through the inner jet nozzle as a high velocity jet stream, and spreads slightly as it travels through the outer air/liquid nozzle.

Within the air/liquid nozzle, the spreading liquid

jet stream traps air prior to discharging into the basin. The high velocity air/liquid cuts through the static basin liquid until the momentum dissipates creating a ‘’plume’’ of air bubbles which rises to the surface. Due to the turbulence caused by the large difference in velocity between the jet and basin liquid, the bubbles formed are quite small and create a powerful air-lift effect. Mixing is therefore caused by the liquid jet action, and by the flow of liquid/bubbles in the plume rise area.

As air flow to each nozzle increases, more air will escape the plume and rise directly over the jet

as larger bubbles. In order for the jet to operate properly, air must reach the nozzle properly. This means that an equal amount of air must reach each nozzle, and the jets must all be at the same elevation.

Project Manager Alison Taylor of WRNI stated; ‘’This Project has been delivered in an integrated collaborative approach with KSB working alongside AW Operations and the @one Alliance to meet the demands of the site in a timely, efficient and effective manner.‘’

This Project has been delivered in an integrated collaborative approach with KSB working alongside AW Operations and the @one Alliance to meet the demands of the site in a timely, efficient and effective manner.

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AUMA

AUMA’S PLANT OPTIMISATION TOOL ANNIVERSARY AUMA has marked the fifth anniversary since the launch of its Gen 2. actuator range which incorporates ‘maintenance required’ and predictive maintenance functionality. As a global leader in the supply of electrical actuators to the water industry, the company introduced integrated asset management tools as part of its Gen 2. initiative to ensure that water treatment and effluent plant can be run at optimum performance with minimum downtime.

Subject to plant asset management requirements, maintenance strategies can be reactive, preventative or predictive. In order to provide preventative and predictive strategies the actuator must self monitor both its internal condition and externally imposed demands such as operational and environmental conditions.

Addressing these needs, the AC control models of the AUMA electric actuator range incorporate temperature and torque sensors. When combined with operational data which is also logged, such as operating time, number of starts, shaft turns and speed, the actuator provides essential notification to the operator regarding inspection or maintenance requirements.

An on-board actuator display reports the status of four parameters: grease, seals, contactors and mechanics. These are shown in bar graph format together with a trigger level to allow either visual monitoring at the actuator or remote monitoring via fieldbus connectivity. In line with all AUMA’s products, the controls are available with different fieldbus interfaces, including the Profibus DP interface with V2 services.

AUMA has strong roots supplying the water industry which date back over 50 years. AUMA Actuators Ltd, the group’s UK subsidiary, supplies the majority of UK utilities: the company’s credentials include a number of frameworks and approved supplier agreements.

www.auma.com

Actuator display indicating grease, seals, contactors and mechanics maintenance status

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Exactly. The leading edge OXEMS tagging system is an integrated cloud-based solution that links physical points on buried assets with digital points in a secure database. This precise information about ‘points of interest’ with any amount of related photographic and critical data enables a concealed network to become smart.

• Empowering Utilities - Precise knowledge about underground utility assets wherever and whenever you need it to minimise street works, improve quality and increase customer satisfaction • Tagging Invisibles - OXEMS Tags link specific points on physical buried assets to digital points in the cloud-based OXEMS Database • Subsurface Intelligence - OXEMS rFINDGoTo™ gives field operatives comprehensive on-screen guidance and asset-specific information • Asset Revelation - Visualise yours and other buried assets before you dig to reveal the underworld

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FLI WATER

FLI WATER INNOVATION SECURES KETTON COMPLIANCE Duncan Wildgoose – Business Development Director FLI Water Ltd FLI Water is recognised as a provider of high quality process technologies and first class operational asset maintenance M&E services, utilising our own off-site manufacturing facilities.

FLI Water offer a range of in-house developed process solutions including BAFF, market leading HSAF (which provides dual capability of solids filtration or biological treatment, particularly suited to achieving tight ammonia or suspended solids/particulate BOD consents) and the NEW FSAF multistage SAF plant, particularly beneficial for temporary treatment during refurbishment of trickling filters, to deliver sustainable solutions.

Project Name and Value with Key dates: Ketton Water Recycling Centre (WRC) – Anglian Water. Tender Value - £789K and Final Value - £770K The project at Ketton WRC commenced with a design order in April 2014, there followed a 10 week collaborative design phase with FLI Water, Anglian and the @One Alliance. Leading to a developed solution and commencement on site in August 2014, the project was procured, constructed and commissioned within a 5 month period. Final completion in January 2015.

What was the project, and what were its main aims?

The driver for the project - the works was heavily overloaded and at risk of compliance failures.

The Water Recycling Centre at Ketton was a conventional trickling filter works, with 4no trickling filters and 2no. humus tanks treating an FFT of 30l/s (average flow of 7l/s) from a 2500PE catchment with some significant local industry. The works had land constraints and was bordered on 2 sides by the river Welland and a third side by East Midlands railtrack. Options for standard solutions were coming in over programme and budget.

FLI Water were engaged as Principal Contractor, under CDM regulations 2007, for the Process, Mechanical, Electrical and Civil installation of the innovative HSAF Solids Filters, pumping stations and

associated electrical/ICA services at Ketton Water Recycling Centre including following key areas:

Existing Works Modifications and refurbishment to existing works including; new Inlet works flowmeter, humus tank modifications, new humus auto desludge pumps and modifications to Aldgate pumping station.

New Works

n On congested live site with considerable constraints, collaborated with Anglian Water Operations to maintain treatment with temporary works and implemented extensive civils programme with major underground pipe runs, deep excavations for installation of 2 large underground tanks and segregation of muck waste/ concrete waste due to demolition of existing concrete drying beds.

Associated equipment including: Air Blowers complete with Acoustic hoods, HSAF ‘Proprietary’ Control panel and HMI, Treated Effluent Return pipework with Air Release Chamber.

The project was delivered safely with no incidents across the project. The project was completed under budget and within very tight timescales, despite almost a month on site being severely compromised due to bad weather. The use of a collaborative design approach and early engagement with FLI Water to bring their offsite fabrication capability and process knowledge, helped secure the ongoing compliance at the Ketton WRC.

New Dirty Water Pumping Station complete with submersible pumps and pipework to return to inlet works. All associated MCC’s, ICA and telemetry for the works. All site pipework and site cabling.

The innovative HSAF technology gives customers the option of being used for tertiary solids capture or tertiary biological treatment for tightening ammonia challenges. FLI Water have also recently developed an FSAF technology, helping secure position as a market leader in providing biological solutions for both conventional trickling filter and ASP works.

The project at Ketton WRC had a number of challenges: n An extremely short timescale made even shorter due to initial project delay’s.

instituteofwater.org.uk

n Access to site was very restricted, at the end of very narrow lane, wedged on two sides by the river Welland and a third by railtrack with open pedestrian/dogwalker access routes.

Despite this offsite fabrication of treatment units was maximised.

Provision of new HSAF Feed Pumping Station complete with variable speed submersible pumps and associated pipework. New 2-way feed splitter tank complete with support structure, delivering into the 2no. FLI Water Brightwater™ HSAF M10 Stainless steel Solids Filters with BMax® media complete with access Gantry and stairway. All units built offsite to reduce site programme and minimise risks on site.

With the project, what were main challenges and outcomes?

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n Understanding asset data and process challenge, by working collaboratively with @One Alliance team

The cycle of solutions – water technology by KSB Water is crucial for our survival – for every one of us, for all nations and people.

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Prosperity and well-being depend on it, worldwide. KSB’s know-how and extensive pumps and valves product range help you meet all water supply and treatment requirements, efficiently and affordably. We are one of the few suppliers worldwide with end-to-end solutions addressing all stages of the water cycle – from water extraction to sewage treatment.

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The Company has grown sustainably since its formation & is proud to include many leading public sector bodies, private sector clients, developers and contractors on our list of existing customers.

Our capabilities incorporate various market sectors, including business, industrial and housing developments. We have extensive experience and expertise working within the design of water network distribution & water network trunk mains, providing essential support to the utility and construction industry.

From initial overview through to detail civil design, while also equipped to provide planning, project management and construction support services.

We would welcome the opportunity to visit you for an initial consultation to discuss your aims and needs, and endeavour to incorporate our design and engineering solutions to match your business requirements.

07884 004 802

Professional services: • Plant location / Public utility searches

• Land registry searches

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• Structural engineering

• Water network & trunk main design

• Self lay design

• As-constructed measured surveys & plans • Ordnance survey mapping • CAD resources

• Construction support

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Monitor AMI Turbiwell

Monitor AMI Trides

Nephelometric non-contact Turbidity Monitor for Potable water, Surface water and Effluent

Automatic and Continuous Measurement of Chlorine and other Disinfectants

Non-contact turbidimeter with minimal maintenance requirements

Self-cleaning amperometric three-electrode system

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Automatic or manual purging of the sample chamber via drain valve.

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GLOBAL SUPPLIERS OF QUALITY PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Mobile/contract dewatering

TEFSA Filter press technology and spares

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Belt filter technology

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Advanced SAF technology

NIVUS

FLOW METER SHOWING REAL TIME FLOW PROFILE NIVUS present a new generation of intelligent transmitters for wastewater flow measurement.

The NivuFlow 750 features new numeric discharge models saved in the transmitter’s internal memory which allow more accurate and reliable determination of flow rates even under difficult measurement conditions. Based on the ultrasonic cross correlation method the system detects single velocities at different levels of the flow profile where the real 3D flow profile is computed from. Several factors having an influence such as channel shape, discharge behaviour and wall roughness are considered accordingly while calculating the flow. The ultrasonic flow meters visualizes the 3D flow profile in real time.

The compact dimensions of the new transmitter allow to install the unit on DIN rails and in switching cabinets even under confined conditions. The connecting options using plug-

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in terminals on the transmitter front ensure quick and reliable wiring as well as to quickly exchange the transmitter without tools. The modern menu-based operation with rotary-push button and colour display allows quick and easy commissioning of the measurement system on site. Additional input devices or software are not required. The internal memory contains all

common channel shapes and pipe geometries so that only the dimensions need to be entered.

This additionally facilitates and expedites commissioning.

Comprehensive diagnostic functions support users during the commissioning procedure as well as with maintenance and hence save more time and costs.

As the UK’s largest pump hire company, Sykes Pumps are constantly looking to enhance and modernise their extensive range of equipment. A new product – the Sykes Hydraset – is now available for hire and will help clients streamline projects without raising energy costs. This latest innovation comprises of a Sykes Hydrapak, a Sykes Hydrapump and a Sykes Hydrahose set and provides an alternative solution for when suction lift requirements exceed nine metres.

The Hydraset Range includes 100mm and 150mm models, specifically designed with construction, quarry, marine, industrial and water utility projects in mind. The units are suitable for heads of up to 46m and offer flow rates as high as 95l/s, underlining their versatility.

If you require any further information simply call our team or visit our website.

BELZONA

DILAPIDATED, 99-YEAR-OLD RESERVOIR VALVE TOWER GETS THOROUGH REFURBISHMENT Nearly a century of environmental wear and tear had left the valve tower at a reservoir in Blackburn, England in urgent need of extensive interior and exterior refurbishment. Decades of weathering combined with vast amounts of plant and root growth had caused concrete spalling throughout the roof and ceiling areas. If left unchecked, this could have led to complete replacement of the entire roof therefore the need for a quick, long-lasting repair was imperative.

The root of the problem Environmental damage to the asphalt coated concrete roof was causing water ingress resulting in spalled concrete on the ceiling underneath. Alongside this, severe plant growth was also visible across the roof area, further contributing to the damage of the substrate. The reservoir required a maintenance solution that would not only fix the damaged areas but would also provide long-term protection against future environmental challenges.

Following a thorough site inspection by a Belzona representative, the company decided the roof would be rebuilt with a non-porous resurfacing screed, Belzona 4131 (Magma Screed), followed by a Belzona 3131 (WG Membrane) liquid applied roofing system. While these systems would repair the damaged substrate, their weatherproofing properties also ensure the roof will remain protected from the harsh environmental conditions.

Belzona 4141 (Magma-Build) was specified to repair the ceiling as its lightweight properties enable application onto the overhead masonry surface without the need for shuttering. To complete the application, Belzona 5151 (Hi-Build Cladding) with its water repellent and self-cleaning properties was chosen to coat the ceiling.

Institute of Water Benefil 1-2 page-paths.indd 1

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Belzona nip it in the bud Due to the extent of the damage, if left unrepaired, this could have resulted in complete replacement of the entire roof, causing the project to run into tens of thousands of pounds. The Belzona systems employed facilitated fast and effective repair and protection at a fraction of this cost, leaving the reservoir tower protected from the elements for many years to come. www.belzona.com

28/01/2015 16:07

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GPS PE PIPE SYSTEMS

SAFETY FIRST FOR BROWNFIELD SITES The government’s commitment to promoting brownfield land in the Summer Budget, with the introduction of a zonal system to effectively give automatic permission on suitable brownfield sites, has brought with it an increased demand for water pipe.

As increasingly more brownfield sites are redeveloped, reliable pipelines will be required to transport large volumes of drinking water for new housing developments. Safety is always the number one priority when conveying water supplies, with developers often undertaking costly soil analysis and removal to ensure the public are protected.

GPS PE Pipe Systems' fully integrated barrier pipe and fittings system, Protecta-Line, removes the need for costly soil samples, offering a cost effective solution for the safe transportation of water supplies. The industry approved system is kitemarked to WIS 4-37-19, reassuring developers and housebuilders that any contaminants remaining in brownfield sites cannot permeate into the water supply.

Commenting on the expected demand for its Protecta-Line range, GPS Head of Product Marketing, Dominic O’Sullivan, said: “With the

government removing unnecessary obstacles to the re-development of brownfield sites, it is important to remember that this land can contain potentially harmful contaminants.

As such, a complete barrier system of pipe and fittings is required to ensure the integrity of the water supply is not compromised through the selection of inappropriate pipe or fittings.”

‘Our Protecta-Line system is already the preferred choice for many UK water companies, but we are gearing up for an increase in enquiries for our barrier pipe solution, as developers look for increased cost effective solutions to transporting water supplies through these sites.”

Continually looking to enhance its product offering, GPS has expanded the Protecta-Line range to provide sizes up to 630mm, making GPS PE Pipe Systems the first UK manufacturer to offer such a large diameter barrier pipe system.

core of PE80 or Excel (PE100) pipe. Its innovative design ensures that any contaminants remaining in brownfield sites and former industrial land cannot permeate into the water supply.

For further information on Protecta-Line or any other products within the GPS portfolio, log onto gpsuk.com or call 01480 442600.

The number one choice for barrier pipe, ProtectaLine is an award winning, fully integrated barrier pipe and fittings system. Its tough multi-layer construction incorporates an impermeable aluminum barrier layer wrapped onto a central

Award-winning innovation with the Protecta-Line range...

Protecta-Line is an award winning, fully integrated barrier pipe and fittings system.

Its tough multi-layer construction ensures that any contaminants remaining in brownfield sites and former industrial land cannot permeate into the water supply.

Find out more at: www.gpsuk.com/protecta-line GPS Protecta-Line Innovation 180x115mm.indd 1

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Protecta-Line system is Kitemarked to WIS 4-32-19 Proven barrier against all recognised brownfield contaminants Suitable for corrosive conditions – avoid the cost of expensive soil sampling Long-term security of supply NOW All the installation benefits of polyethylene AVAILABLE Reduced leakage larger diameter Excellent lifetime cost savings 630mm

Continually innovating 20/7/15 14:23:42

SPP PUMPS

SPP PUMPS DELIVERS INCREASED EFFICIENCY AND EASE OF MAINTENANCE TO NORTHUMBRIAN WATER SPP Pumps, a leading manufacturer and global supplier of centrifugal pumps and systems, has recently completed a major refurbishment project for Northumbrian Water, in association with consultants Amec and the appointed contractor BAM Nuttall.

After almost 40 years of continuous service the pumps at Northumbrian Water’s Great Lumley Raw Water Pumping Station had reached the end of their useful life. Pumping water from the River Wear along a two kilometre pipeline to Great Lumley Water Treatment Works, maintenance had become ever more frequent and in order to ensure the site was fit for future generations, replacement was essential.

Working closely with consultants Amec and supporting the appointed contractor BAM Nuttall, SPP Pumps used its expertise and engineering excellence to provide a solution that delivered maximum efficiency, performance, operability and total cost of ownership.

Four SPP LLC GT20A 4 stage dry well mounted vertical turbine pumps were specified and installed to provide a true whole-life cost solution, with SPP’s unique dry well pump suction connector ensuring that vital installation dimensions and a water-tight solution were delivered.

A critical factor in the installation was the need to maintain water delivery throughout the refurbishment process, just one of the challenges associated with the project which also demanded the resolution of several key points namely: n Low net positive suction head available (NPSHa) n Severely limited space n Three fixed connection points with no flexibility- suction bend, discharge pipe and motor room floor n No discharge thrust block to restrain momentary back thrust and pump movement on start-up and shutdown Stuart Wallis is SPP’s Sales Manager (Water). He explains how the company’s depth of engineering

knowledge and innovation enabled the delivery of the perfect solution: “The SPP Water Business Unit worked closely with our engineering team to develop an innovative adaptor, we then mounted and assembled the suction connector onto the clients duckfoot bend. This complex installation was completed to programme and, when commissioned, the suction adaptor met all the challenges, performed as designed and together with the rest of the installation represents the very best in engineering solutions.”

For Northumbrian Water, Hedley Young, Project Manager - Investment Delivery - commented: “We have gained a solution that gives Great Lumley Water Pumping Station a more secure supply of water, more efficient and easy to maintain pumps and a cost-effective whole life installation to continue delivering the best customer service.”

About SPP Pumps SPP pumps and systems are installed across all continents providing valuable high integrity services for diverse industries such as oil and gas production, water and waste water treatment, power generation, construction, mines and for large industrial plants. All operations are ISO 9001 accredited, and SPP Pumps commits to the ISO 9001-2000 goals of continual improvement for customer satisfaction. SPP Pumps is a subsidiary of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, a global fluid management solutions provider and India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of centrifugal pumps and valves.

More information about SPP Pumps can be found by visiting the company’s website at www.spppumps.com or contact them directly: +44 (0) 118 932 3123 or email: enquiries@spppumps.com

This complex installation was completed to programme and, when commissioned, the suction adaptor met all the challenges, performed as designed and together with the rest of the installation represents the very best in engineering solutions.

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With Weholite

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HYDROK

Hydrok Asset Life Optimisation The knowledge, skills and experience in working in the wastewater treatment processes industry places Hydrok in the perfect position to help Water Companies to optimise the efficiency and life expectancy of their existing process treatment plants.

Following the plant’s OM guidelines for all operational procedures is the obvious first stage to maintain the process system at its best, however inevitably time has an affect and remedial action is required to ensure the treatment works are operating at their best.

Hydrok provide a complete managed solution to various process upgrades, Asset re-lifeing, Planned and reactive maintenance and Asset optimisation. Acting either as Principal contractor or in a subcontractor capacity Hydrok can deliver projects from cradle to grave on time and to the highest safety standards.

usage, reduced reactive maintenance costs and offer greater consent compliance security. For example a recent project for Yorkshire Water required draining lanes fitted with fine bubble diffusers, these required a knowledgable cleaning of the lanes sympathetic to the fitted technology, and an understanding of their functionality, with due care and diligence. Work also included refurbisment of the blowers and checking all the relevant pipework. The Hydrok experience in fitting aeration systems was paramount to a professional service that the Hydrok Asset Life Optimisation team were able to deliver.

Hydrok also have the ability to provide temporary Projects previously undertaken have process treatments to allow the taking off line demonstrable payback through reduced energy Hydrok HALO Vol 187:IoW half pg 20/07/2015 12:55 Page 1

of critical process streams for maintenance or upgrades.

For more information visit the website,

www.hydrok.co.uk or to discuss how Hydrok

can help with your Asset Life Optimisation solutions contact Lewis O’Brien on 01726 861900, lewis.obrien@hydrok.co.uk

Speak to us about our solutions for

Asset Life Optimisation Hydrok can provide a complete managed solution to a variety of process upgrades, asset re-lifeing, planned and reactive maintenance and asset optimisation.

• • • • • •

Asset optimisation Planned and reactive maintenance Asset re-lifeing and refurbishment Pipe work and process modifications Tank cleaning Temporary treatment processes

Acting either as the principal contractor or in a subcontractor capacity, Hydrok can deliver projects from cradle to grave on time and to the highest safety standards.

www.hydrok.co.uk

01726 861900

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sales@hydrok.co.uk

Before and after the Hydrok service

THAMES WATER - DELIVERING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SKILLS AND SECTOR ATTRACTION SUPPORTED BY THE ENERGY & EFFICIENCY INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIP One year on from the launch of the Energy & Efficiency Industrial Partnership (EEIP), the water industry is helping to shape the employer ownership of skills agenda and they are starting to reap the rewards.

Thames Water has recently developed and launched an innovative training initiative, where young people who are unemployed and with limited or no qualifications can gain water industry skills through a structured programme of quality training.

This year, a total of 45 young people aged between 16 and 24 will join the company on a six month traineeship programme designed to equip them with the skills they need to be successful in the workplace, 15 in waste water treatment, 15 in clean water treatment and 15 in networks.

Candidates, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), are being selected on attitudes and behaviours rather than prior academic achievements. Once on the programme Thames has committed to providing quality work experiences supported by mentors and managers.

The trainees are paid a basic salary and have the opportunity to work in Water or Waste operations.

Permanent, full-time roles could be available for individuals who successfully complete the six month programme, promising bright futures for those who can add real value to the sector.

The benefits to both individuals and the sector are clear, and already 12 out of the 14 starters from the first Wastewater cohort are now in full-time, permanent employment with Thames Water.

Thames Water chief executive Martin Baggs said: “This is the first scheme of its kind in our industry and we’re proud to be leading the way.

Opportunities for young people with little or no qualifications and experience are few and far between but if they’re willing to work hard and learn from the many experts we already have, they deserve a chance to develop and shine.”

Mr Baggs added: “Bringing in new talent now is important as we need an army of operational staff

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ready to take over from those who will inevitably retire in years to come. They hold a wealth of knowledge and we can’t afford for them to go without passing that on to the next generation.

We hope our trainees will soak up as much of their experience as possible in the coming months with a view to achieving the ultimate goal of a permanent role with us.”

The Thames Water Traineeship Programme highlights the commitment from employers in the sector to strengthen the UK’s Energy and Utility workforce and to encourage and inspire young people to work in the sector.

The Energy & Efficiency Industrial Partnership Thames Water is part of the Energy & Efficiency Industrial Partnership (the Partnership) a group of 67 employers, working together to drive a radical new approach to recruitment, skills and workforce development in the energy and utility sector. This is particularly relevant

as it is estimated that around 50 percent of the current workforce will have left the sector by 2023, meaning over 200,000 new recruits will be needed.

Who is involved?

Supported by the Energy & Utility Skills Group, the Partnership includes employers such as Thames Water, United Utilities, National Grid, British Gas and E.ON UK. The largest initiative within the government’s flagship Employer Ownership of Skills pilot, the Partnership received £33 million of Government investment, matched by £82 million of employer investment.

Delivering Results – “Give Someone a Start” – Thames Water Another great example of the Partnership delivering results is the “Give Someone a Start” scheme, developed by Thames Water to give longterm unemployed people a foot-up on the career ladder. As part of Thames Water's commitment to supporting the communities they work with,

FEATURE: ATTRACTING PEOPLE TO THE WATER INDUSTRY

the scheme explains what employers in the sector are looking for while equipping candidates with practical skills and hands-on experience in a real workplace. Thames have been working with the Shaw Trust to recruit candidates for the scheme, reaching out to those who might have been out of work for some time.

During the three-week programme candidates shadow individuals in the workplace and are given tips on interview techniques, CV writing and communication skills. They gain experience in different parts of the business, including Laboratories, Developer Services, Key Accounts, External Affairs, Finance and Commercial Teams.

A total of 46 candidates took part in the scheme for the 2014 / 15 business year, with 11 gaining full-time employment during, or just after completion of the scheme.

One of the candidates said, “This course gave me an excellent opportunity to experience what it was like to work within large professional organisation such as Thames Water. It motivated me to find a job within the company as I found the atmosphere was extremely welcoming as were all members of staff I worked with.”

Attracting talent to the sector – Talent Source Network The Energy & Utility Skills Group is continuing to work together with employers in the Partnership to ensure that energy & utilities are seen as employment industries of choice. They have recently launched the new Talent Source Network website, a networking site which provides information on the sector and brings together talent, employers and partners to match people with jobs.

Candidates who are interested in working in energy and utilities are invited to register as part of the network, giving them access to opportunities, whilst also allowing employers access to their candidates profiles. The network also acts as a “clearing house” for the sector, so when people apply for a particular job and are unsuccessful, their details are kept on file for future opportunities, all helping to retain experienced talent.

Kate Davies, Interim Chief Executive of the EU Skills Group commented: “Employers in the Partnership have been running ground-breaking pilot programmes over the past year to encourage a wider range of people

into our industry. Talent Source Network offers employers the chance to refer candidates into the pool and help them find the role they’re looking for within the industry. This kind of cross-sector collaboration is incredibly exciting and speaks volumes for the commitment and vision these employers have when it comes to longer term workforce planning, skills and training.”

The Energy & Utility Skills Group will continue to support employers in the Partnership and its members with initiatives to improve sector attractiveness and in turn recruit and train new talent. With increased competition from other sectors to get the best talent in the market it is key that energy and utilities employers continue to collaborate, to inspire, engage and train young people.

If you are interested in finding out more about how some of these initiatives can help you and your organisation then please email communications@ euskills.co.uk, mentioning Institute of Water Journal or visit www.euskills.co.uk For more information on the traineeship programme at Thames Water please visit: www.thameswater.co.uk/careers/18316.htm

“Employers in the Partnership have been running ground-breaking pilot programmes over the past year to encourage a wider range of people into our industry. Talent Source Network offers employers the chance to refer candidates into the pool and help them find the role they’re looking for within the industry.

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Harvard Award Enabling Education and Training

Deadline for entries 25 September 2015

USIT is offering sponsorship to attend the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.

Harvard Business School Executive Education is not for everyone.

Those who accept the challenge, however, will find unique rewards with lasting impact for their companies and careers.

Helping companies invest in their most promising and talented executives, the High Potentials Leadership Program readies emerging leaders for managing today’s toughest business challenges while illuminating pathways for long-term success.

You will learn how to lead under pressure, champion change, build teams, and develop effective leadership throughout the organisation.

I spent a week at Harvard in June 2015 on the High Potentials Leadership Programme and, as one of my fellow participants who was from Canada put it, it was absolutely ‘awesome’.

The biggest thing that I took from my time there was the true meaning of diversity. I thought I understood diversity before I went – but I now realise that I didn’t. The 130 people on the programme were from 38 different countries and represented a huge range of backgrounds and businesses. The diversity of thinking was incredible.

The approach of using case studies to get under the skin of how other leaders built businesses, how they created the culture within their companies and how they responded to significant challenges was not something that I had seen done so effectively before. I learnt a lot just from reading the case studies. During the day, a Harvard professor facilitated an interactive discussion with 65 people to draw out each person’s perspective. The quality and approach to facilitation was incredible – and another thing I will take away to put into practice myself.

I have returned with an action plan which ranges from small tactical things to implement - through to fundamentally different approaches to share with my colleagues.

I left Harvard energised by the experience and with a hugely expanded international network. It was a huge privilege to be able to attend the programme. I’m really grateful that I had the opportunity to go and I would encourage anyone else at a similar stage in their career to look for ways to gain a similar experience.

Malcolm Horne, Head of Group Transformation, Severn Trent

Utilities and Service Industries Training Limited. Charity Registration Number 287700.

Harvard Award Sponsorship to attend the High Potentials Leadership Programme at Harvard Business School in June 2016* Meeting the needs of top performers who want to grow as leaders, the High Potentials Leadership Program is designed for highimpact, fast-track individuals with more than 10 years of experience in roles of increasing responsibility.

The Harvard Award is open to any individual who fits the above description and is employed in the UK utilities sector. The Award will cover economy travel, accommodation and course fees; employers may need to finance additional costs.

Gleaning from the insights of faculty experts, the experiences of successful leaders, and the latest research on management and leadership, you will be ready to embrace increasing levels of responsibility — and success — throughout your career. You will be prepared for both the risks and the opportunities that accompany new roles. You will learn how to:

How To Apply Complete the Application Form opposite and send it together with a supporting paper explaining in up to 1,000 words how you expect you, your company and the utilities industry to benefit if you win the Award, by email to angela@futurewaterassociation.com

• Lead under pressure.

• Champion change.

• Build teams.

• Develop effective leadership throughout your organisation.

* (subject to availability, see general conditions)

Closing date is 25 September 2015 A short-list of applicants will be invited to give a brief presentation to a small panel of judges on Wednesday 18 November 2015, at the Future Water Association offices in Kenilworth.

PSS HIRE

PSS HIRE SHOWS COMMITMENT TO ATTRACTING YOUNG PEOPLE INTO THE INDUSTRY PSS Hire is a specialist division of A-Plant, one of the UK’s leading plant, tool and equipment hire companies. PSS serves the Utility, Civil Engineering and Associated Sectors, and has the largest fleet of products across the Water, Gas and now Electric sectors; from Butt Fusion Machines, Winches and Pipe Bursters to Overhead Line Puller-Tensioners, Press Heads and state-of-the-art iVac Suction Excavators.

PSS already operates successful and highly-valued apprenticeship schemes in Customer Service and Mechanical/Electronics Engineering; programmes which have been running since 2005.

The company always seeks to identify areas within the business where an additional apprentice stream would benefit recruitment and succession plans. For the September intake the company plans to increase its apprentice numbers in both programmes. The schemes have proven very successful and for the September intake PSS plans to recruit eight Mechanical/Electronics Engineering apprentices and three Customer Service apprentices to work in their 10 Service Centres across the UK. For the Mechanical/Electronics Engineering programme, PSS will be working in partnership with Oaklands College in St Albans, Hertfordshire, to help apprentices achieve Level 3 in performing engineering operations during the four-year course.

Apprentices will be based out of PSS Service Centres and required to stay away at the College in St Albans on a block release period of 12 – 14 weeks in year 1, and 8 weeks in years 2 and 3. All travel expenses, accommodation and food will

be covered by the company whilst at college. The 4th year will be delivered purely in the workplace, with no college attendance, and assessed through practical evidence-gathering in PSS Service Centres.

Apprentices will undertake planned preventative maintenance and fault diagnosis, as well as the repair of various mechanical and electrical specialist plant. Upon completion the apprentices will have a prospective future career path ahead of them and can move into a Mechanical or Electrical Technician position within the business. PSS is an expanding business and there will be further opportunities to progress to manage a workshop or develop into a Senior Technical Engineer role.

A-Plant’s Head of Training, Bob Harper said: “We feel very strongly that apprenticeships and focused initiatives provide a fundamental base for attracting new people to the industry, and excellent opportunities exist in our business to prepare school leavers for the working world.

They also provide us with a pool of skilled employees who will gear our business up for the future and provide employment and progression opportunities for people across the business”.

PSS has many benefits and incentive programmes to encourage the apprentices to stay on board

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with the company; it operates an incentive bonus scheme - apprentices receive a lump sum of £250 on successful completion of each year of their apprenticeship programme and £500 in their final year. Additionally, apprentices are then given a salary increase to bring them in line with the job role, with continued training and development.

Apprentices and their parents are invited to an Annual Apprentice Awards ceremony where achievements are recognised. From the outset, every apprentice is assigned a mentor (who has attended training sessions to help them structure and deliver training sessions), a detailed training plan, and they are given the appropriate tools for their roles.

Josh Winnall, Level 1 Mechanical Engineering apprentice said: “I am enjoying the experience learning new skills daily and working as a member of the team. I would like to become a more developed engineer learning more mechanical skills and possibly learning electrical components. My advice to anyone wanting to start an apprenticeship would be to keep an open mind and fully commit to the role”.

For more information on apprenticeships vacancies please visit: www.aplant.jobs

StonburyBacteriological Bacteriological Stonbury FailureConference Conference2015 2015 Failure

Stonbury a specialist contractor water industry, a more operational level, discussions some of the Stonbury are are a specialist contractor for for the the water industry, On On a more operational level, discussions withwith some of the holding framework contracts refurbishment of water attendees encouraged to and try and a new approach to flood holding framework contracts for for the the refurbishment of water attendees encouraged me me to try testtest a new approach to flood towers, reservoirs and associated assets throughout the clean testing using sprinkler technology.

This approach was a first towers, reservoirs and associated assets throughout the clean testing using sprinkler technology. This approach was a first for for and dirty water sectors.

Over the past 3 years, Stonbury has us and again would happened shared ideas and dirty water sectors. Over the past 3 years, Stonbury has us and again would not not havehave happened hadhad I notI not shared ideas andand proudly hosted an annual conference, bringing together delegatesthoughts thoughts people elsewhere in the industry supply proudly hosted an annual conference, bringing together delegates withwith people fromfrom elsewhere in the industry andand supply from allthe of the water companies to facilitate exchange chain. using sprinklers widely within NWG. from all of UK’sUK’s water companies to facilitate the the exchange of ofchain.

We We are are nownow using the the sprinklers widely within NWG. practice in the prevention of bacteriological failures. bestbest practice in the prevention of bacteriological failures.

Moving forward I would be delighted toinvolved be involved in future Moving forward I would be delighted to be in future To successfully achieve Stonbury’s objective been conferences. mood atmosphere at the events promotes To successfully achieve this,this, Stonbury’s objective has has been to to conferences.

TheThe mood and and atmosphere at the events promotes encourage innovative critical thinking by giving delegates sharing learning. a result of this I believe conferences encourage innovative andand critical thinking by giving delegates the the sharing and and learning.

As aAs result of this I believe the the conferences havehave opportunity to share challenges, most played played a part in driving up water quality performance within industry opportunity to share not not onlyonly theirtheir challenges, but but alsoalso theirtheir most a part in driving up water quality performance within the the industry successful strategies methodologies to date, in order to help – and – and water quality results would to agree.” successful strategies andand methodologies to date, in order to help the the water quality results would tendtend to agree.” improve compliance across within demanding sector. improve compliance across the the UK UK within thisthis demanding sector. annual conference

by Stonbury in 2012, TheThe firstfirst annual conference waswas heldheld

by Stonbury in 2012, andand reports of improvements on year clearly demonstrate reports of improvements yearyear on year clearly demonstrate the the value a forum in which industry professionals gather value of aofforum in which industry professionals cancan gather to to learn exchange information intelligence a mutually learn andand exchange information andand intelligence withwith a mutually common goal.

2014 event 60 members from common goal.

TheThe 2014 event sawsaw overover 60 members from 12 12 different water companies. different water companies. support of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Stonbury WithWith the the full full support of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Stonbury are very pleased to have Principal Inspector Keith Smith attend are very pleased to have Principal Inspector Keith Smith attend the the forum to present on Microbiological Compliance forum eacheach year,year, not not onlyonly to present on Microbiological Compliance & Audit Observations to offer guidance answer & Audit Observations but but alsoalso to offer guidance andand answer questions throughout proved to absolutely be absolutely questions throughout the the day.day.

ThisThis has has proved to be crucial to the success of the conference, results of which crucial to the success of the conference, the the results of which seen across helping to maintain highest possible are are seen across the the UK,UK, helping to maintain the the highest possible standards to reduce number of bacteriological failures. standards andand to reduce the the number of bacteriological failures.

Simon Cyhanko, Water Treatment Works Manager, Simon Cyhanko, Water Treatment Works Manager, Northumbrian Water Group: Northumbrian Water Group:

Keith Smith, Principal Inspector, Keith Smith, Principal Inspector, Drinking Water Inspectorate: Drinking Water Inspectorate: “This forum been running 3 years, during which “This forum has has nownow been running for 3foryears, during which timetime compliance at service reservoirs across all participating companies compliance at service reservoirs across all participating companies improved dramatically.

Drinking Water Inspectorate has has improved dramatically.

TheThe Drinking Water Inspectorate welcomes initiatives, where operators across industry welcomes suchsuch initiatives, where operators across the the industry work together to establish practices useful guides or tips work together to establish bestbest practices andand useful guides or tips to reducing failures at service reservoirs.

I suppose the initiatives to reducing failures at service reservoirs. I suppose the initiatives caught attention so far, been demonstration thatthat havehave caught my my attention so far, havehave been the the demonstration of standardised sampling points, adapted hoovers to avoid debris of standardised sampling points, adapted hoovers to avoid debris dropping reservoirs during hatch opening, water focus dropping intointo reservoirs during hatch opening, andand the the water focus teams being upraise to raise awareness of water quality issues teams being set set up to awareness of water quality issues amongst water company employees.

I personally been amongst water company employees.

I personally havehave been honoured to attend of the Forums so far, it has given honoured to attend eacheach of the Forums so far, andand it has given an opportunity to feed recent microbiological compliance me me an opportunity to feed backback recent microbiological compliance across all companies, together observations across all companies, together withwith our our observations fromfrom the the Inspectorate’s audits, an attempt to encourage companies Inspectorate’s sitesite audits, in anin attempt to encourage companies to highlight resolve anomalies.

I think to highlight andand resolve theirtheir ownown sitesite anomalies.

I think thisthis is anis an extremely valuable forum where individuals from all companies extremely valuable forum where individuals from all companies speak openly honestly about concerns share speak openly andand honestly about theirtheir ownown concerns andand share bestbest practice across industry thanks should goStonbury to Stonbury practice across the the industry andand thanks should go to for for facilitating a gathering.” facilitating suchsuch a gathering.”

“I have attended water quality conferences organised “I have attended the the water quality conferences organised by by Stonbury for the 3 years. occasions I have actively Stonbury for the last last 3 years.

On On twotwo occasions I have actively participated in the conference shared progress various participated in the conference andand shared our our progress withwith various initiatives within NWG. I believe main benefit of attending initiatives within NWG. I believe the the main benefit of attending has has been opportunity to understand of the regulator been the the opportunity to understand the the viewview of the regulator andand other water companies addressing same water quality Stonbury Stonbury be pleased to host its 4th Conference November; howhow other water companies are are addressing the the same water quality will will be pleased to host its 4th Conference thisthis November; challenges. learning been brought NWG for further information to express interest in attending, challenges.

ThisThis learning has has been brought backback intointo NWG andand has has for further information andand to express youryour interest in attending, influenced policies around service reservoir maintenance. please email sarahhodgson@stonbury.co.uk influenced our our policies around service reservoir maintenance. please email sarahhodgson@stonbury.co.uk

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FEATURE: EWRA

EXPERT MISSION TO EWRA INTO THE INVESTIGATION OF WATER QUALITY COMPLAINTS

Workshop session at EWRA

By Kara Sadler In September 2014, I joined the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) as part of a six month external secondment from Anglian Water. I was the sixth secondee from the water industry to take part in this process. The experience of my secondment was a very positive one, aided by an engaging and supportive team of people at the DWI. On my return to Anglian Water, I became aware through the Institute of Water of the opportunity to spend a short period of time carrying out an expert mission into the investigation of water quality complaints with the Egyptian Water and Wastewater Regulatory Agency (EWRA). I was lucky enough to be successful for this mission, made possible through my roles at Anglian Water and my time spent at the DWI. EWRA are the combined regulator for drinking water quality, finances, consumer protection and the environment in Egypt. In total, they regulate 25 water companies with the majority of economic activity coming from the public sector.

The aim of my visit was to provide independent advice and expertise on the investigation of water quality complaints carried out by EWRA. Following the clear outcomes defined by EWRA, I prepared a number of workshop scenarios to help facilitate discussions with a team of Engineers and Scientists regarding legislation, customer complaints, water quality investigations and stakeholder management. Overall, the mission highlighted some good areas of practice, with protocols similar to the UK, however it also identified some significant areas for development.

Workshop session at EWRA One area of EWRAs work is to review water quality customer complaint investigations, however the information they are provided by the water supplier is generally considered not reliable.

This lack of confidence within the data is causing inefficiency as work is being duplicated by EWRA and the water supplier and is stopping EWRA from acting effectively as a regulator. Following the investigations carried out, EWRA submit a report which includes recommendations to the water supplier. It is the water supplier’s responsibility to implement the actions; however EWRA have a lack of enforcement powers and this is considered to be causing significant strain on EWRA to be able to perform their job to the best of their abilities. This is slowing the process of driving improvements with regards to water quality in Egypt.

Within the workshops it was highlighted that there are still water quality issues in Egypt that cause a great deal of concern to the public. With a large population not connected to sanitary sewers, contamination to drinking water is common. There is evidence that this is leading to health issues and a lack of confidence by the public. The media is usually one of the first signals of a customer complaint to EWRA which can make the complaints dramatic and cause hysteria amongst the public.

However, there are good practices being carried out to help drive improvements to water quality in Egypt. I managed to spend some time with one of the water companies in Cairo and found out about some of the fantastic work in conjunction with UNICEF to improve supplies at customer’s homes and training the unemployed on plumbing and

water fittings. They are also providing educational workshops at schools to aid positive behaviours with regards to water quality.

One area highlighted for improvement regarding the water companies’ was that communication could be greatly improved in order to better inform their customers. An example of this is that in January each year, the level in the River Nile is low and forces water suppliers to add additional chlorine to the water causing a change in the taste and odour. This happens annually for one month and each year a high number of complaints are received to EWRA. If the water suppliers proactively informed customers prior to this happening, this would increase awareness, reduce the negative impact on customer’s confidence and the number of complaints would decrease.

Through the workshop sessions at EWRA which involved knowledge sharing of best practice within the UK, the importance of building good relationships and the positive interaction between water companies within the UK and the quality regulator, I was able to provide a number of recommendations to assist EWRA with improvements to the water quality customer complaints process in Egypt. The mission also enabled me to learn a lot about water management and regulation in another country and reflect on the successes we have adopted here in the UK. Although there are still a number of changes required to improve drinking water quality, customer confidence and sanitation in Egypt, I believe they are taking the right steps to ensure that the water and wastewater industry has a safe, clean and reliable future.

Through the workshop sessions at EWRA which involved knowledge sharing of best practice within the UK, the importance of building good relationships and the positive interaction between water companies within the UK and the quality regulator

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VEGA

NON CONTACT RADAR LEVEL SENSORS INCREASE RELIABILITY ON RIVER SLUICES On the River Weaver, the Dutton sluice site consists of eight large sluice gates lifted by ‘Rotork’ actuators. The sluices operate depending on the water level, this is a key measurement point and the level monitoring needs to be very accurate. The navigation is closed to river traffic if the water level is too high.

At this site, the level of the River Weaver is now measured by four instruments: two ultrasonic sensors (for redundancy) are mounted in stilling tubes. These tubes are required to reduce ‘loss of echo’ issues from weather and surface conditions.

However the tubes can require substantial engineering to install, and generally they need ongoing on site maintenance to prevent blockages, or repairs to keep measurement errors to a minimum. Even with this stilling tube installation, the SCADA Maintenance engineer commented, “In recent years we have experienced issues where either one or both of the ultrasonic sensors loses echo or “drifts” causing level sensor failure alarms to be sent out.”

As a result Canal & River Trust have installed two other devices alongside, VEGAPULS WL61 water radars, as test instruments. As they are unaffected by weather or surface conditions, these were simply mounted on a “unistrut” adjacent to the stilling tubes and CRT have compared the data from both sets of instruments over several months. There has been no “drift”

“As far as I can see, the WL61 radars provide more reliable data than the ultrasonic devices.

My concern with the ultrasonic sensors is that “drift” could create nuisance alarms and result in staff call outs.” There are also the ongoing maintenance requirements associated with the stilling tubes. “I do not have these concerns with the WL61s. In addition, I have confidence in the support from VEGA should an issue arise with any of the instruments at a later date.”

VEGA water radars alongside ultrasonic sensors mounted in stilling tubes with the WL61 water radars since installation.

“Whilst we have seen occasions where the water level on one or both of the ultrasonic units rises, the radars have not.” Continues the engineer.

As the engineer summed up, “I am pleased with the quality and performance of the VEGAPULS WL61 level radars we will be installing these in place of the ultrasonic sensors at the other River Weaver sites and in other CRT sites as we replace older equipment.”

This yet another example of how on open water applications, radar is increasing reliability, accuracy and lowering TOTEX costs. For more information and other case studies, please contact VEGA: info.uk@vega.com or call sales on 01444 870055

WRc APPOINTS COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR WRc, the innovation consultancy in the Water, Gas and Waste and Resources sectors is delighted to announce the appointment of Andy Hunt as Commercial Director.

Andy has a first degree in Physical Geography from Leeds University and a grasp on a wide variety of environmental disciplines. He completed a Master’s degree in Business Administration at the Heriot Watt University Edinburgh Business School and more recently, won bursary, awarded by USIT, to take part in the “High Potentials' Change Leadership Programme” at Harvard Business School.

Andy comments: “WRc’s remarkable pedigree and forward thinking approach to delivering innovation to their clients is absolutely unprecedented and this is an extremely exciting time to be joining WRc. By identifying and drawing together the best technical and commercial expertise within the business I look forward to helping WRc achieve their vision and strategy for growth.

Andy joins WRc with over twenty years' experience of the utility sector in the UK. Thirteen of those were in the water and wastewater industry at Southern Water and for the last eight years, Andy has worked in Morrison Utility Services (MUS), initially on bid management and, since 2010, delivering innovation to the Gas, Electric, Telecom and Water Sectors.

Mark Smith, CEO at WRc comments “We are delighted to have someone of Andy’s calibre on the team and look forward to him working with partners across the sectors to grow and develop a truly innovative approach to WRc’s commercial offerings.

Andy Hunt

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SOUTHWESTAREANEWS

AMP6: The Customer Plan Bournemouth Water, 11 June 2015

By Barrie Light A very well attended group from several different areas of IW held an open and frank discussion about the AMP6 Business plan. Held at Bournemouth Water head offices Tracey Legg and Ed Vidler gave two different perspectives on how it was approached by both sides.

The PR14 process to create AMP6 business plans was characterised by 2 major differences from previous cycles – the focus on good customer engagement and the emphasis on outcomes important to customers (rather than outputs produced). This seminar looked at how the customer had an impact on the business planning process itself and the final plans that were produced and agreed by the regulator.

Two perspectives were presented on the process: one from Bournemouth Water and the other from the company’s PR14 Customer Challenge Group.

These brought learning points and their thoughts about bringing customer influence into their local water company’s AMP6 business plan.

Tracey Legg, Regulation Manager at Bournemouth Water outlined the 6 –stage process of customer engagement over 20 months (April 2012 – December 2013). This was a balance of both quantitative and qualitative work, the latter revealing a great deal of information and nuance that refined outcomes customers wanted. The interplay of presentation and challenge with the CCG was more time consuming than any party had expected, added to by Ofwat not accepting

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initial results that were later confirmed by extra work. The process cost significantly more than budgeted.

The key outcome was that customers’ priorities were successfully brought into the Bournemouth Water AMP6 business plan. The innovation that sought the future customers’ view from secondary school pupils indicated a valuable route to extend engagement in a two-way education and listening process.

Ed Vidler, Deputy Chair of the Customer View Group gave his insight into the process of working with Bournemouth Water. The process showed how customers’ views could change when they had a better understanding of the underlying issues. However the major contradiction on water metering remains with it being generally …’a very good thing for everyone, but not for me!’ This view led to an extension of change of occupier meter recipients` right to retract from metering after giving it a try.

Customer views on visible leakage repair times were very progressive, with them initially wanting a 2hr repair standard when asked at quantitative stages of research. When further qualitative work was conducted to better understand the views of the customers ‘attitude changed, but leakage remained high on their scale of importance Ed clearly showed how a good collaboration and working relationship could be developed between the company and its customer group to steer the business planning process. The Ofwat

requirement for quantitative evidence may steer future requirements rather than the qualitative dimension that was felt by the customer group to be more productive in the engagement process – providing colour to the black & white.

A good natured discussion concluded the presentation with topics covering the contrariness of customers views on metering; the risk of the process conditioning the customer group; the scope to extend water education from primary into secondary education; risks to the engagement process if Ofwat will not accept what customers say; the expansion of research options that can be explored for PR19.

EASTERNAREANEWS

HANDOVER

Break out session

EASTERN AREA LEADERSHIP IN AMP6 EVENT Clive explained that you need a mix of both leadership and management to inspire your peers to face the challenges such as competition and market reform that affect the industry.

Rosie Cooper (Training and Development Manager, Anglian Water) got the audience involved with a leadership based scenario. Break out groups discussed key leadership roles, skills and challenges that could arise in a hypothetical catastrophic world incident.

Jean Spencer (Director of Regulation, Anglian Water) gave an motivating talk on her role as a

Clive Harward

Eastern Area outgoing President Paul Gibbs (Director of Water Recycling, Anglian Water) hands over both the role and Presidents chain to Paul Valleley (Director of Water Services, Anglian Water) at the Eastern Area AGM

director and what it takes to be a good leader in AMP6. From explaining how directors put together a company’s business plan and work with regulators, to the importance of taking control of our own destinies and career progress. There was a strong emphasis that leadership is all about stretching ourselves.

Jean Spencer

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LIVING SUSTAINABLY – A MOST INCONVENIENT PURSUIT OR ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL? Mandhy Senewiratne, MWH Sustainability Consultant reports on a Devil’s Advocate event for World Environment Day 2015. Water industry celebrities were invited to debate in support of the motion: “Consume! Consume! Consume! To utilize all available resources & materials on this planet to ensure economic growth & prosperity - as this is the only route to a healthy future.” While some of the industry’s up and coming environmental ‘bloods’ opposed them.

“For many years, the United Nations, with much celebrity support has promoted its ideological notion of how we should conduct ourselves on earth “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”. But when you look closer: *One planet living = live a less comfortable lifestyle *Consume with care = head to another recession *Seven billion Dreams = a nightmare if we try to make everyone happy Overall it could be a most inconvenient maxim or pursuit. So, on 25th June, the South East Area’s “Devil’s Advocate event”, now in its 2nd year, opted for a different approach. The first ‘celebrity’ Neville Smith (MD-Portsmouth Water and SE Area President) opened the debate reminicing about the River Aire. In his youth it had a flow akin to sludge-like lava, but now, thanks to energy consuming modern treatment processess, it flows beautifully. He agonized that Portsmouth Water bills would be even lower if the environmental types did not insist on charges for stewardship. He was backed up by Howard Davidson (South East Operations Director, Environment Agency). He stated that growth is the engine of environmental improvement highlighting the regeneration of Olympic Park, which has been converted from a wasteland to a stunning landscape, in addition to taking 4000 homes off the flood risk register.

Next Briony Turner (Knowledge Exchange Manager -ARCC Network) cautioned that we might be preserving miscellanous marine creatures and some greenery at the cost of human health, safety and livelihoods. Lastly Adrian Johnson, Sustainability Director, MWH, pointed out that if we were to be more resource efficient, we would simply use more resources. Therefore, we ought to not to push for efficiencies or conservation, and perhaps we were panicking prematurely as we

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Fighting for the environment: left to right: Mandhy Senewiratne (MWH), Neville Smith (PW), Adrian Johnson (MWH), Howard Davidson (EA), Judge Jacquie Christodoulides (MWH), Josh Wood (TW), Vaishvani Balachandran (MWH), Ben Mowatt (Veolia), Jenny Kay (MWH)

have three planets worth of resources we can use: Jupiter, the Moon and Earth.

These senior industry philistines were then challenged in a traditional Four-on-Four debate by four environmentally conscious engineers.

The “Young Environmental Advocates” led by Benjamin Mowatt (Rising Star SE Area, and Project Manager – Veolia), Vaishnavi Balachandran (Graduate Engineer– MWH), Josh Wood (Field Operations Manager - Thames Water), Jenny Kay (Graduate Engineer - MWH) . Under the judicious and riotous Judge Jacquie Christodoulides (Client Service Manager for Thames Water - MWH), who parried points loosely based on the Manchester Debating Society’s protocols and also her own scoring system which included extra points for random key phrases, dogged determination and for referring to her as “my lady”.

The debate in a nutshell …

Adrian proposed that Small is Stupid saying we should “Consume! Consume! Consume!” in order to grow, to be bigger and better and create the healthy economy we need to solve genuine environmental problems. Plus he felt we could grow a lot more, as we have three planets to spread across. Ben opposed Adrian’s absurd suppositions warning that he would not to be so care free if he undertook a risk assessment on the increasing realities of natural disasters; adding that our continual abuse of the planets’ natural resources will create increased global warming, resulting in more freak weather, more natural disasters and more genuine environmental

SOUTHEASTAREANEWS problems saying. “We can continue but we run the risk of going bang!”

Briony countered what she called Ben’s boyish beliefs advising that we don’t really need natural resources in their entirety or entire ecosystems, such as entire lengths of rivers. She said by using slightly more resources, we can build a better, more robust, more beautiful world for tomorrow’s youth. “We can borrow from the future because we are building for the future!”

Vaishy asked if today’s citizens were borrowing from both today and tomorrow and gaining as much for themselves as allegedly for future generations; did they ever intend to pay anything back? She said they were stealing both from the future as well as dependents in the developing world.

Howard interjected highlighting the Korean case (a so-called dependent developing nation) whose greatly improved economy and lifestyle, spread of general wealth and cleaner environment was all due to growth and consumption of natural resources.

Josh reminded Howard that some people’s entire livelihoods and lifestyles depend on functioning natural resources and that our greed and

lifestyles will impact such people (fisherman, mountaineers, farmers etc) as well as those in developing countries – who will not only miss out on profits, but will also be robbed of resources.

His points earned him extra credits from Judge Jacquie for his smooth demeanor and skillful debating etiquette.

Neville Smith slighted the opposition’s claims, summing up by saying; “Consumption is key to everyone’s health, because consumption will lead to the development of key technologies which can be deployed to solve the problems in the developing world. We shouldn’t be hindering progress because of what we perceive to be damage! We can use technology to overcome our troubles and tribulations and the planet has recovered from much worse”.

Jenny countered highlighting the Nigerian case.

She asked; “Exactly how does building a pipeline in Nigeria to pump out the oil for our uses, benefit Nigeria?” She said we should enjoy the nature we have especially as Jupiter is paltry compared to Earth and not let excessive greed for resources destroy our connection to nature and the beauty of the natural world. Because while we are taking one step forward in terms of technology, we are in danger of taking two back in terms of our planet.

“The returns on investment in technology, cannot equate to the beauty of a pristine world, nor counteract the irreversible damage on ecosystems and communities”.

The debate was a close call, but Judge Jacquie deemed the Young Advocates the winners by a nail-biting two points Caveat: These were not the opinions of the philistine speakers or the tree hugging youth. As organisers Sharna Richings (Thomson Habitats) and I challenged the speakers and debaters to remain “in role” for the entirety of the event. The goal was to raise awareness of the planets plight and question if we should continue to consume resources at the current rate. Did they succeed?

Very much so. A highly entertained, informed and grateful audience drove off in their fossil fuel powered cars, dreaming of ways in which they could help reduce their footprint. *Coincidentally Josh gained his valuable skills at the 2014 SE Area Weekend School where he was taught competitive debating in less than 48 hours. Bookings now open for the 2015 SE School.

WATERAID200 - TEAM SOUTH EAST AREA

With the forecast promising glimpses of sunshine and not at all mentioning rain, the South East Area team - Steve Youell, Shelley Williams, Jon Brock, Jamie Jones and Holly Banham set off on Saturday 6th to scale Waun Fach, the highest peak in the Black Mountains, as part of the annual WaterAid200 charity event. Unsurprisingly, the weather deviated

slightly from forecast with moments of hail and high winds but the experienced team were well prepared and conquered the 13 mile round trip, even visiting a Dwr Cymru Welsh Water reservoir in the process! Thank you to all our sponsors who helped us to meet our fundraising target of £400, a fantastic achievement and you kept us going through the blustery weather!

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Institute of Water Northern Ireland Area Annual Conference “The Meeting of the Waters” – 16 & 17 April 2015

Day 1 The theme for our conference this year was “The Meeting of the Waters”. The conference celebrated the many examples of good practice in the water sector on either side of the political boundaries. The speakers reflected this, with regulators and experts comparing and contrasting the approach North and South.

George Butler, Director of Asset Management, NI Water and outgoing Area President opened the two day Conference by reminiscing about the themes/topics debated at previous conferences.

George handed over to the keynote speaker David Thomson, Interim Chief Executive, TourismNI who emphasised the importance of the water industry and waterways to tourism.

Brenda Turnbull, Chief Officer, Lagan Canal Trust, presented on the ‘Progress on the proposal by the Lagan Canal Trust to re-open the navigation to Lough Neagh’. Ms Turnbull outlined that with the potential to connect 600 miles of inland waterways the Lagan Navigation has a huge role to play in connectivity, alternative transport routes and economic diversity through the development of a waterways tourism offer.

Connection to Lough Neagh coupled with the Ulster Canals proposal to re-open from the South of the Island will make it possible to travel from Belfast to Limerick through blue and greenways currently unexplored. Possible new ideas for holidays in the future!

Stephen Forrest, Waterways Ireland, presented on ‘Water as a Resource and Commodity in Waterways’, Stephen stirred the audience with the history of Ireland’s canals, and talked about the legacy of some of the greatest Engineers and skilled workers, and how the infrastructure is 200+ years old. He outlined the issues in

Jonathan McKee, Director of Development, Rivers Agency, talked about the need for ‘Joined-up Thinking’ with particular emphasis on efficiency, multiple benefits and public perception. Mr McKee highlighted how we are ‘joining up’ so far e.g. Flood risk works combined with Fishery enhancement measures, Floods

We were fortunate to have the leaders from both Irish Water and NI Water to set out their plans for the next 25 years. We also heard from those charged with protecting the environment from misuse.

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relation to sustainability and maintaining what they have, and the new challenges to be met in a rapidly changing world especially due to the reduction of finance, environmental constraints and competing resources. Stephen finished his presentation with proposing that new revenue opportunities need to be investigated.

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Directive and ‘Preparedness’. He finished his talk with a broad look to the future with focus on the new ‘Department of Infrastructure’; Jonathan however stressed the components to manage flood risk need to be maintained.

The second session of the conference opened with Economic Regulation - Striking the Right Balance, a paper was presented by NIAUR Water Director, Tanya Hedley. Particular emphasis was placed on encouraging efficient and effective monopolies, promoting completive markets, and protecting the long-term interests of customers.

While stating that both the Water Company and Regulator were on “the same journey of continuous development”, Director Hedley praised the organisation, adding: “There was clear evidence of improvement in water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland.”

Director for Water, CER IE Cathy Mannion presented her report on The Beginning of Economic Regulation in the South. Ms Mannion outlined the development of Irish Water’s one national company from Ireland’s previous 31 local authorities, and revealed the current challenges facing the provision of water and sewerage services including a history of underinvestment and introduction of domestic meters and charges with resulting anti-water charges protests.

NORTHERNIRELANDAREANEWS in these matters and are the stakeholders most likely to benefit from a healthier water ecosystem.

The project manager for NI Water, Ms Diane Foster provided a comparative report when she presented on EU Programme for CrossBorder Cooperation 2014 to 2020. Ms Foster elaborated on the planned work between the two water companies to restore rivers, improve the wastewater network and treatment works, develop Sustainable Catchment Management Plans (SCAMP), and monitor ground water.

Applications totalling €35 million have recently been made for improving raw water quality through SCAMP pilot schemes at three cross border catchments. These include modelling, wastewater treatment, and networks improvements to enhance water quality at Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough.

NI Water’s Head of Asset Strategy, Paddy Brow continued the capital investment theme with his explanation of NI Water’s PC15 Business Plan.

Providing a brief summary of the development process, Mr Brow explained how the Customer Views Survey, alongside input from the shareholder’s Long Term Water Strategy, the Social & Environmental Guidance, and the NI Utility Regulator’s Information Requirements informed priorities. Mr Brow also reported on how one of the key priorities for NI Water’s customers is a reduction in instances of internal flooding and supply interruptions and concluded with one of the key themes of the business plan: Sustainable Service Delivery, providing Stoneyford Integrated Constructed Wetland as an example of possible future investment.

Head of Asset Management for Irish Water, Jerry Grant presented his Water Services Strategic Plan (WSSP), relaying the challenges in relation to the provision of water services in Ireland over the next 25 years and the current state of Water Services in Ireland as well as the short to mediumterm strategic national priorities. Mr Grant added: “In addition to improving the customer experience, improving drinking and wastewater compliance, and making significant efficiencies, implementation is likely to have a positive effect on the environment.”

Aecom representative, David Bell concluded the session with his presentation: Reservoir Infrastructure - Hidden Costs and Added Value. Mr Bell outlined what the added value catchments could bring to communities and discussed their importance as a habitat, social amenities, and economic potential through energy production, irrigation and natural storage. Delegates were also informed of the

associated costs of maintaining catchments including complying with relevant legalisation, maintenance, refurbishment, and abandonment.

Mr Bell concluded the session with a fitting future model for management: Integrated Sustainable Reservoir Management.

The first day of the conference ended with a boat tour of the beautiful lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, followed by the President’s Dinner which had a Gatsby theme-with a murder mystery to challenge and entertain even the most experienced detectives among us all! A great night was had by all! The President’s dinner raised an incredible £1150 for WaterAid.

Day 2 Session 3 saw the conference come full circle with a theme entitled “Returning Water to the Environment.” The first speaker of the day was Alan Barr from RPS whose talk centred on ‘learning curves’ relating to catchment strategies and management programmes. Aptly in a conference named “The Meeting of the Waters” Alan made many references to ‘joined up thinking’, North/South cooperation and a vital two way relationship with Europe. Focusing on the ‘NS Share’ initiative Alan spoke of Ecological Classification Tools that must be used as a guideline for North/South catchment cooperation and adhering to the Water Framework Directive.

Alan highlighted the importance for Integrated Catchment Management that included community action, policy and regulation, research and knowledge but emphasised a need for bottom up teaching and learning particularly with community involvement.

Kerry Anderson from NIEA followed on from Alan, speaking with great enthusiasm about the North Western River Basin. Kerry began by outlining the state of the water in the catchment today and likened the status to an MOT for your car – essentially a catchment area is graded on its weakest aspect, so it is our collective responsibility that every zone is functioning correctly and up to standard. Kerry also outlined some of the pressures faced by water areas including pollution, water quantity/ flow, morphology and invasive species- citing the Zebra mussel’s movement north into Lough Erne as a poignant example. Kerry highlighted the importance of involving local groups and organisations, particularly anglers as they can provide much needed knowledge and help

Andy Fanning from EPA, focused on the Water Framework Directive in the Republic of Ireland.

Andy spoke of delineating water bodies and how each water area stacks up on quality. The number of areas with ‘good’ status is very encouraging but the ‘high’ or ‘pristine’ zones are not as high as we would like. The talk outlined the Water Framework Directive ‘cycle’ and its influence on the Water Policy Regulations 2014. Andy spoke of the EPA’s responsibilities along with those of the local water authorities and again emphasised the need to work together, especially with what he terms “the new tiers of government”.

Tom Stafford, the Environmental Regulation Manager at Irish Water, gave us a perspective from a Water Utility outlook on the WFD; outlining that Water Companies need to balance and prioritise the pressures that come with overseeing a River Basin area and that NI Water/Irish Water need to identify which bodies of water fall within the remit of public consumption. Tom emphasised the importance of achieving and maintaining the high status of our water bodies and that each Nation State is responsible for the characterisation of each of its river basins and that more information, better analysis and better modelling can now allow local authorities to better classify their water bodies and in doing so identify the pressures on it. A valid point was raised when Tom touched on the ‘Cost Recovery’ aspect of the WFD and that usage of water resources should be done so more efficiently along with recouping costs from various users and stakeholders, including agriculture, in an effort to have a more combined and holistic approach to water usage and the costs involved.

The final speaker of the day, and indeed the conference, was John Gilliland, Director of Resourceful Organics Ltd, who gave an insight into the Land Manager’s point of view and how to treat Effluent. John highlighting the agricultural sector as one of the major players and that the industry was in for a rude awakening stressing that compliance with the WFD cannot be delivered without engaging with agriculture.

John proposed that education should be delivered on a very local level highlighting that there is more to be gained by teaching farmers about the water quality and balance in their local river than the entire water basin which could cover a large and diverse area. Government and agencies have a big part to play in delivering this education but also need to help incentivise the agriculture sector and reward it for innovation in the name of water quality. John suggested further financial incentives offered in respect of multiple land uses and gave an example of a riparian strip with very little use except for an adequate coverage of woodland. He suggested that this wood could then be used as fuel for heating outhouses or milking parlours and the cost could then be offset against a reduced fossil fuel initiative – thus helping the environment and saving money.

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SCOTTISHAREANEWS

Scottish Area Charity Golf Day

Left to right: Grant Fudge, Stuart Macgregor, John Mellon, Drew Mellon

The Scottish area held its annual Charity Golf Competition on 30th June at Ratho Park Golf Course, near Edinburgh. Unlike the Scottish Open the weather was kind to us and the day was sunny and warm as the course welcomed 10 fourballs to compete in a Texas Scramble.

After a good but hot game of golf everyone sat down to a lovely 2 course meal before the prizes were given out. The winning team was Macgregor Technical Services with a fantastic score of 52.6, way ahead of the second placed Panton McLeod team with 55. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who took part; ABB, Crown

House Technologies, WGM, Hach Ltd, Ross-shire Engineering. Mackenzie Construction and Aecom.

Your support is very much appreciated. Thanks to those who donated to the raffle also. Nearest the Pin was won by Kevin haggard of Aecom and the Longest Drive was won by Jamie Allison of Mackenzie Construction.

Thanks to Claire Chapman for getting the rabble organised and teed off ok and to Jim Panton for sorting out the supplies.

The total raised for Wateraid Nepal was ÂŁ1227.

IOW SCOTTISH AREA VISITS NORTHERN IRELAND

By Claire Chapman In September 2015, 17 Scottish area delegates are off to Belfast, to learn about the water industry in Northern Ireland, look for similarities, good practice, opportunities to do things differently back in Scotland, and of course, see if they can taste the difference between Scottish and Irish whisky.

The Northern Ireland IOW committee have pulled out all the stops, and have organised an excellent-sounding itinerary, with a mix of water, wastewater, renewables, education/outreach and wetland research.

There has been a great response to the trip, and a healthy mix of both retired and active members, as well as newer graduates and modern apprentices are all going. This is a chance for some two-way sharing of ideas and information – epitomising what the institute is all about.

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Silent Valley Reservoir

WELSHAREANEWS

A successful visit from Northern Ireland At the end of May, the Institute of Water Wales Area hosted visitors from Northern Ireland Area, to share knowledge and experiences from our business and provide industry networking opportunities.

The visit consisted of a couple of days in and around Cardiff including site visits and tours of DCWW sites including our Glaslyn Laboratory, Linea Operational Call Centre and Cardiff Wastewater Treatment Works Advanced Anaerobic Digestion. A number of Welsh Water colleagues took part in the day showing our visitors around including Sally Gronow, Sharon Evans, Michelle Gaskell and Keith Harris.

As part of our knowledge sharing, our visitors were given a lunchtime talk from the Institute of Water Innovation Category Winners on Duplex PRVs by Greg Sullivan and Ian Yeats, followed by Sophie Straiton presenting an innovative method of Algal removal, using LG Sonic’s ultrasonic units to prevent algal blooms with ultrasound, which was also a winner at the Institute of Water Innovation awards. Finally to end the first day there was a passionate and lively presentation and discussion on Rainscape by Michelle Russ and Ffion Green.

The second day was the Welsh Area’s Cardiff Discovery Day, which was opened up to all members for a networking and social opportunity.

The weekend started with an enthusiastic and brisk walk around Cardiff City Centre conducted

by Tony Lloyd an amazing volunteer guide with Difflomats. He focussed on water features, such as the old canal and provided a wealth of

information that even for us that have been in Cardiff many times, found extremely interesting.

Following a boat ride to Cardiff Bay, a picnic and a tour of the Welsh Assembly we had a great evening meal and time to relax in some of Cardiff’s nightspots.

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NORTHERNAREANEWS

Safari Saturday NORTHERN AREA FAMILY DAY

On Saturday 18 July, a great day out was had by all at the Northern Area Annual Friends and Family day at the South Lakes Safari Park and Zoo in Cumbria.

This park is a little different to your usual zoo as they have animals roaming freely around their grounds (not dangerous ones!). You can quite literally get up close and personal with lemurs, emus, kangaroos and a huge menagerie of other species. It was a fantastic day out for the kids, both big and small, and gave the opportunity to feed the animals and scoff some ice cream.

Thankfully the weather held out for the day, although those in jeans were looking particularly smug in the morning!

We have some fantastic snaps thanks to our very own wildlife photographer, Lee Bryce.

Everyone agreed that it was a smashing day out and they’re looking forward to the next annual trip.

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By Neil Hancox

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY Autumn Seminar – Wednesday 16 - Friday 18 September 2015 – Cedar Court, Harrogate This year, we’re focusing on Service Excellence, what it looks like, who’s top of their game inside and outside of the industry and new technologies and innovations which can help to deliver it. We’ve got some fantastic speakers and activities lined up, for more information about this event please contact Helen Edwards at helen.edwards@yorkshirewater.co.uk

NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS The Northern Area Committee’s ranks have grown over the past few months and we’re working really well together. We’d like to extend the warmest of welcomes to our newest additions; Hubert Desgranges, Northumbrian Water

Stef Johnson, Northumbrian Water

Maureen Burn, Northumbrian Water

Stefan Schmid, Yorkshire Water

Paul Henderson, Panton McLeod

Victoria Ross, Northumbrian Water

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