Water Industry Journal 3

Water WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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INDUSTRY JOURNAL

June 2017

Why putting the customer first has never been more important

Improving Customer Experience | Phosphorous Removal | Wastewater Technology and Treatment Data and Analytics | Water Conservation | Leak Detection and Repair

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

WELCOME z

Welcome

Exciting times for the water industry Welcome to the latest edition of the Water Industry Journal, which comes out amid exciting and challenging times for the industry.

There’s nothing like competition to take businesses on to the next stage of their development and we are certainly seeing that happening in the water industry.

Recent years have been a time of remarkable change in the sector and the effect of opening up the market to competition means that companies are increasingly looking towards improving the customer experience.

John Dean

Editor in chief

The reason that they make it such a priority is a simple equation; in a competitive market, good service adds up to retaining existing customers and attracting new ones and poor service does exactly the opposite.

Indeed, there is plenty of research to show that an impersonal experience is one of the most off-putting things for a customer approaching a company, whether it be for help or to make a complaint.

The history of utilities is littered with stories of companies leaving customers hanging on the telephone, exposing them to automated voices or plunging them into a telephone hell to which the soundtrack is Greensleeves. Once such stories have hit the headlines, the effects on the reputation of those companies has tended to be disastrous.

Water companies understand the dangers and are going out of their way to avoid the pitfalls, although the old adage that good manners cost nothing is not quite true because the companies are investing heavily in ensuring that their service is as good as it can be.

However, the basic tenet of the adage does hold true; if you ring an organisation and a friendly human being deals with the call and is able to tackle the request quickly and efficiently, you are much more likely to be well disposed towards the company.

This edition of the Water Industry Journal reflects on what has been happening and takes a look at some of the initiatives under way to

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guarantee a good experience for customers when they contact water companies.

Of course, words are one thing, action is another and this edition shows how water companies are translating intention into hardedged achievement.

Payment of bills is one of the ways in which customers are receiving a better service.

Water companies have been extending their payment methods, taking in not just traditional direct debit methods but also acknowledging that many people pay their bills online. That is a sensible move because people are increasingly moving into a cashless society populated by contactless technology and expect payment to be quick and easy.

Of course, customers also expect to see a good service on the ground and we are seeing companies increasingly turning to smart meters that give residents access to their water use information, online or over the phone, allowing them to see how efficient their home is and track how simple water-saving efforts can reduce bills. It’s a way of giving the customer a sense of control over the service they receive.

Customers also expect to see companies taking action to conserve water at a time when climate change is raising fears about drought in the years to come and they expect to see water companies detecting and repairing leaks efficiently. This edition of the magazine looks at some of the innovative ways in which water companies are improving the way they tackle both challenges as well as examining some inventive techniques being used to clean up wastewater.

These initiatives all add up to an impressive story to be told. Inevitably, it will take time to achieve everything that has to be done.

Yes, rivers are cleaner than they were thirty years ago, yes, the detection of leaks is vastly improved and yes, the customer experience is getting better all the time but much remains to be done.

However, as the stories told in our pages show clearly the industry is rising to the challenge.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

CONTENTS z

Contents

4-5

Contents

6-15

News

20-33 Improving Customer Experience 36-44 Phosphorous Removal 45-56 Wastewater Technology and

Treatment 60-67 Data and Analytics 70-71 Water Conservation

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60

72-77 Leak Detection and Repair

Editor

John Dean john.dean@distinctivepublishing.co.uk

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Design

Distinctive Publishing, Unit 6b, Floor B, Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 1LE Tel: 0845 884 2385 www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk

Contributors

John Dean & Francis Griss john.dean@distinctivepublishing.co.uk

Advertising

Distinctive Publishing, Unit 6b, Floor B, Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 1LE Tel: 0845 884 2385 www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk

Distinctive Publishing or Water Industry Journal cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may occur, individual products or services advertised or late entries. No part of this publication may be reproduced or scanned without prior written permission of the publishers and Water Industry Journal.

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Water company ‘one of best employers for women’ Yorkshire Water has been ranked as one of the top 50 best employers of women in the UK. The accolade has come from The Times, which has recognised Yorkshire Water in its annual Top 50 Employers of Women list.

Women make up 33% of the company’s workforce, which has substantially increased over the past three years. Middle managers are now 33% female and the number of senior managers has increased by 10% to 30% female.

Becky McDonnell, Head of Talent at Yorkshire Water, said: “We are succeeding in breaking down pre-conceptions that the utilities and engineering sectors are a man’s world.

“This is no longer true, as we have made a concerted effort to attract females to highly skilled front-line engineering roles as well as a diverse range of rewarding office-based roles in HR, legal, communications, science and environmental that exist within the company. The range of opportunities we have is enormous and will attract talented females of all ages into the company from a diverse range of disciplines.”

The company’s development programmes include a ‘Pearls and Gems’ scheme in which 79 women have taken part in to-date. Of those surveyed, 54% said the scheme resulted in a

role change, either sideways or upwards, or enhanced responsibility.

In partnership with Forward Ladies, the company also has a development programme for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics roles. So far, ten women have enrolled on the year-long programme and attend a variety of development sessions, webinars, workshops and networking events.

The number of young women who are part of the firm’s engineering apprenticeship programme has also increased by 20% from last year.

Customers ‘should be engaged in shaping the future of water’ Customers should be seen as active participants in the water sector, not passive recipients, according to Ofwat Chief Executive Cathryn Ross.

Speaking to water company senior executives at an event in London, Cathryn called on water companies to think more radically about how they view customers.

Instead of seeing them as recipients of services, the sector should see customers as

participants, who can identify issues and opportunities, she said.

The Chief Executive said: “Water companies made great strides at PR14 in talking directly to more than 250,000 customers. As a result, companies are now more focused on delivering what people need and want.

“We want to see engagement with customers taken to the next level. How can

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companies work with customers and use their knowledge, skills and creativity to help find ways to innovate?

“This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky theory, it is established business practice that helps unlock value and build trust. We want to see water companies not only catch-up but begin to lead the way. Doing so can help to deliver great customer service and resilient supply at a price all can afford.”

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Sagar Khadka picked up the award on behalf of Icon Water at the AMPEAK 17 conference

UK firm’s software wins key Australian business award

Radar sensor £460* Low-cost radar sensor for water level measurement

SEAMS, a UK-based software company, has in partnership with AECOM won a major award with its Australian client Icon Water.

One sensor, all round capability - Reliable level control

The company and engineering consultancy AECOM were jointly appointed by Icon Water, who provide water and sewer services to the Australian Capital territory, serving 165,000 customers.

for water and sewage treatment facilities, pumping stations and rain overflow basins. Level sensing for sludge processing and AD units. Open channel flow

Making use of SEAMS’ investment planning expertise and Enterprise Decision Analytics (EDA) software, Icon Water were able to develop their sewer strategy to achieve performance targets over a 20-year period.

measurement, open water and flood level monitoring.

Richard Hawkins, Accounts Director at SEAMS, said: “We’ve invested a lot of time and energy into developing gamechanging technology that’s unique in its field and this award means a lot.”

VEGAPULS WL S 61 ▪ Measuring range up to 8 m

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Icon Water has been awarded the AMCouncil Asset Management Award 2017 in the category for Asset Management Cost/Risk/ Performance. The award recognises excellence in the management of physical assets through their life cycle and showcases use of best practice Asset Management systems and processes.

▪ Flood-proof IP68 housing

▪ Operation via Bluetooth with Smartphone, Tablet or PC

Andrew Behn, (Project Lead) at Icon Water, said: “For Icon Water, this approach has delivered clear articulation and understanding of the balance of cost, risk, and performance with regard to our sewer network. The application of SEAMS’ EDA is the first of its kind in Australia.”

* Scaled pricing: 1 to 3 units £460 | 4 to 9 units 10% discount | 10+ units, price on request

“The new processes and systems, delivered in partnership with SEAMS and AECOM has helped us immensely in identifying and determining various impacts on levels of services into the future and overall benefits and costs under a number of different investment and intervention scenarios. This award is recognition of the benefits of using best practice asset investment planning.”

Further information: www.vega.com/wls61

Call +44 1444 870055

SEAMS was founded in Sheffield in 2002 and has since grown to become one of the UK’s leading asset management software providers.

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Severn Trent puts forward ideas on how regulatory framework could develop Severn Trent Water has outlined its views on how incentives can be further developed to drive companies to deliver improved customer service, better value and a sustainable agenda.

In the second of its Charting a Sustainable Course publications, called Designing incentives to deliver for customers, the company looks forward to PR19, highlighting the opportunities for rewards for improvements.

Dr Tony Ballance, Director of Strategy and Regulation at Severn Trent, said: “The aim of the regulatory changes we’ve seen in the water industry in recent years are to encourage companies to put customers at the heart of all they do.

“This means that everyone is on a journey as regulators and companies look at the best ways to drive the sector to deliver for customers.”

Among Severn Trent’s recommendations in the new document are: • There should be greater use of in-period ODIs to provide a clearer and stronger link between performance, remuneration and bill impacts • The financial significance of ODIs should be increased in PR19 so that companies can make more revenue dependent on what matters to customers (subject to a willingness to pay

• There should be no caps applied to forecast totex underspend to avoid undermining incentives on companies to develop more challenging plans • More than one category could be used to reward higher quality or more challenging business plans depending on the level of ambition shown • When the longer-term nature of decisions associated with areas such as resilience raise difficulties for the development of effective ODIs, output type incentives could be applied.

Designing incentives to deliver for customers

Dr Balance said: “For us, a workable overall package for PR19 to drive further efficiency overall and improved services for customers needs to be challenging, realistic, and clear and credible.

“Above all, the new package of incentives needs to drive leading companies to innovate and to become even more efficient, while also ensuring we can continue to finance our businesses effectively.”

The full report can read at www.severntrent. com/content/dam/stw/ST_Corporate/ About_us/Docs/Charting-a-sustainablecourse-designing-incentives-to-deliver-forcustomers.pdf

Considerate water company is honoured

Thames Water has secured an industry award for its considerate construction schemes in the City of London.

The company, which provides water and waste services to 15 million people, picked up a Gold Award in the City of London Considerate Contractor Streetworks Scheme 2017 awards.

It is the fifth year in a row the firm has won the award and judges noted how workers took pride in the jobs they were completing, and their awareness of the passing public and the environmental impact on the community.

Barry Rainger, senior regional Streetworks manager, said: “A lot of time is spent by our operational teams in maintaining excellent working relationships with local authorities, as well as high level communications, working groups and stakeholder management in order to be proactive, and

Authorities in striving to enhance its, and our, reputation of working together.”

actively seeking opportunities to stretch current working practices.

“Thames Water undertake approximately 60 per cent of works across London, therefore they are seen as one of the industry leaders in its approach to Streetworks excellence and impact of works.

“As such, we have a responsibility to lead by example, and be proactive in with Local

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Workers observe ‘quiet time’ where any noise needs to be kept to an absolute minimum in order to prevent inconvenience to companies and residents, often meaning working longer hours or at weekends in a bid to minimise traffic issues.

Additionally, workers have also been delivering letters informing people of any upcoming or ongoing works, to try and limit the impact.

J Murphy and Sons, a contractor for Thames Water, was awarded the silver award for its work on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project at the Chambers Wharf site, east London.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Multi-million pound investment in water supply South Staffs Water has completed a multi-million project as part of its commitment to providing a high-quality water supply.

Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, joined South Staffs Water employees, contractors and partners at an official ceremony to mark the installation of a new ultra-violet (UV) water treatment facility at the company’s Seedy Mill Treatment Works near Lichfield, held before the General Election was announced.

The project has converted two underground wet contact tanks into dry chambers to house a new facility that will add an additional stage using ultra-violet light to disinfect the water supply.

Pete Aspley, wholesale service delivery directory for South Staffs Water, said: “The use of UV light as a disinfection system is standard practice in the water industry. It is a proven, regulated and environmentally friendly technology that ensures water is free from harmful organisms. It also means less chlorine is needed, reducing the risk of issues with taste and odour.”

The project involved installation of more than 120 valves and four UV reactors, each containing 30 quartz tubes. The facility is one

of the largest UV water treatment plants in the UK. Pete said: “This is part of the commitment in our current five year business plan to invest

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more than £190m in our assets that as well as water treatment works. We need to ensure this network can continue to operate to provide a safe and reliable water supply for current and future generations.”

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Agreement leads the way for intelligent water operations Hydrosave, the leading specialists for leak detection and water conservation, has agreed an exclusive distributor agreement with Visenti PTE Ltd, a Xylem business, from Singapore.

Focused on the UK water and waste sectors, the distributor agreement will enable Hydrosave to offer 24/7 real time condition monitoring, pipe failure detection and predictive modelling on pipe networks.

Simon Dray, Managing Director, Hydrosave, said, “We are delighted to be working with Visenti. They are experts in pipe network hydraulic analysis, software systems and embedded sensing.

“Their international experience and our UK water operation knowledge is a great combination. Visenti’s solutions are compelling additions to our water operations, leakage, sensor deployment and condition assessment service. It is important to have a visionary strategy balanced with a practical application.”

Hydrosave and Xylem’s Visenti service comprises: • LeakView™: transient sensor deployments, 24/7 monitoring, event detection and water management • SurgeView™: transient analysis, predictive failure and pipe condition reporting

Hydrosave, an operational consultant and specialist contractor, has worked with half of the UK’s water companies and more than 1,000 industrial customers. The company collaborates extensively with technology partners. For further details contact them using enquiries@hydrosave.co.uk or call 0345 6040656.

Video presses home the safety message A hard-hitting video produced by Wessex Water and showing how loved ones could be killed due to the careless actions of drivers negotiating roadworks is to be shown to visitors to the offices of Dorset-based charity SafeWise.

Courses, which are delivered at the centre, in a bid to highlight the dangers of speeding past roadworks.

National statistics from the Health and Safety Executive reveal that every year at least one person dies while working on motorways and major roads in England and in the water industry alone three people die and 129 are injured by moving vehicles.

The safety charity will be playing the video in their reception area to visitors including those waiting to attend Driver Awareness

Repair and maintenance manager Wayne Hansford said: "We complete around 60,000 jobs in the road each year and the signing, lighting and guarding that we set up is

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essential for keeping the public and our workforce safe.

"Occasionally, cars will speed past roadworks, often trying to beat the lights, which can be dangerous to pedestrians, road workers and the drivers themselves."

Diana Newbury from SafeWise said: “We are delighted to have worked with Wessex Water to produce this video. It is an excellent way to remind people of the dangers around roadworks as we all want our loved ones to return home safely at the end of the day.”

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Politicians learn about blockages problem MP Andrew Jones and Leader of Harrogate Council Richard Cooper joined Yorkshire Water engineers on a routine blockage inspection of the town’s sewers. The event was held before the General Election was announced.

Harrogate is a sewer blockage hotspot with almost 200 blockages being cleared from its sewers over the past two years.

The main culprit is ‘flushable’ wet wipes as they don’t disintegrate once flushed and can build up once they enter the sewer network to cause a blockage. The blockages can flood people’s homes and gardens, and even result in local becks and rivers being polluted.

The MP and Cllr Cooper joined Network Engineers Oliver Escreet and Andy Dignam who hunt for blockages in Yorkshire’s sewer network and help keep it maintained. The visit involved putting a CCTV camera down the sewer to see if there were any blockages and check for any defects.

Yorkshire Water recently announced that they will be spending £1.1 million on a new specialist team to help keep the region’s sewers clear. The 22-strong team will have more than a dozen vehicles at its disposal, to

unblock sewers by jetting them with high pressure water sprays or using suction pumps.

Lee Pitcher, Head of Waste Water Services at Yorkshire Water said: “The sewers of Harrogate have been getting blocked up with all sorts; flushable wet wipes, thick toilet paper, fat, sanitary items, bricks and even a plank of wood.

“However, we can’t keep an eye on everything that goes in our sewers and that’s why we’re asking residents to help us keep them running clear and blockage free to reduce pollution and flooding incidents.”

Andrew Jones, attending as MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: “After seeing how small sewers actually are its inevitable that wet wipes and other unflushable items could cause a serious problem very quickly if they build up. We can all play our part to help protect our homes, gardens and the local environment by not flushing wet wipes, sanitary items and rubbish down the loo.”

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Reduction in water abstractions helps protect stream Affinity Water is reducing the amount of water it takes from the environment through abstractions by eighteen million litres per day (18Ml/d) at one of its pumping stations near Watton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire.

The pumping station linked to the River Beane has been used since the 1950s and it is expected that reducing the abstractions will benefit flows in the chalk stream and surrounding environment. Chalk streams are a globally rare habitat and there are 244 in England, of which around 10% are located in Affinity Water’s supply area.

The company has agreed that it will reduce overall abstractions by 42 million litres per day by 2020 and by 70 million litres per day by 2025 to deliver on its Business Plan commitment to leave more water in the environment.

It has also committed to deliver river restoration and habitat enhancement projects on The Beane and six other chalk streams, in partnership with the Environment Agency (EA), to restore them to a more natural state to encourage more wildlife.

Affinity Water has been working closely with the EA and local river group, River Beane Restoration Association, for more than 20 years to assess the impact of abstractions on the environment and the reduction was agreed as a result of extensive consultation with customers and local groups.

Dave Stimpson, of the River Beane Restoration Association, said: “The River Beane Restoration Association congratulates Affinity Water in bringing forward the 90% reduction of abstraction at the Whitehall Pump Station by a complete year. We have campaigned for twenty five years for a large reduction because the river has suffered for a long time from over abstraction causing low flows and drying in some areas.”

leaving more water in the environment and working in partnership with the EA to deliver environmental improvements will benefit our communities and our customers through the restoration of our chalk streams. We will be monitoring water flows and the ecology to assess the effectiveness of these changes overtime.”

Debbie Jones, Environment Manager with the Environment Agency, said: “This is a great example of what we can achieve by working together with companies like Affinity Water.

I look forward to seeing the River Beane chalk stream improve and I’m delighted that it could be delivered a year early. This is a fantastic success which will help to restore the River Beane for the benefit of people and wildlife.”

Mike Pocock, Director of Asset Strategy, Affinity Water said: “We strongly believe that

Trade association signs business services deal Water industry trade association British Water has agreed an exclusive business services partnership that will help its members improve cash flow and grow their international business.

It sets out how business payments should work to address the problem of late payment within SME supply chains and is funded by large financial institutions and works closely with trade bodies in many sectors.

URICA’s online platform gives companies more control over their cash flow, allowing them to invite their suppliers to cash in their invoices early, removing the strain of late payments.

Lila Thompson The agreement is with URICA, a supply chain funding network for use by small to mediumsize enterprises and was initially set up with funding from the UK Government via the British Business Bank.

British Water International Director Lila Thompson said, “We want to increase the number of British Water members exporting not only to traditional markets, but to new ones, too. We were very interested to see what URICA could offer our members and we’re delighted that they have agreed to an exclusive partnership in the water sector.

“British Water members working with URICA can receive much earlier payment on invoices than they might achieve through traditional routes. URICA also carries out independent

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checks to establish the financial status of customers to whom invoices are issued.

“This means that companies looking to expand into new markets and work with new clients have risk-free assurance that, not only will payment will be met, but will be met in a timely way.”

Katherine Herbert, Head of Partnerships at URICA, said: “Smaller companies often come under pressure and suffer serious consequences as a result of longer payment terms expected by larger businesses, often pushing the smaller players into cash flow negative status or even driving them out of business. URICA bridges that gap by injecting cash into supply chains, enabling businesses of all sizes to pay and get paid on the terms they want.”

Companies wishing to find out more about URICA should email lila.thompson@ britishwater.co.uk

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Industry scheme shortlisted for award A sector-wide initiative to clarify the meaning of building information modelling (BIM) in the water industry has been shortlisted for a Utility Week Star Award for collaboration.

Every water and sewerage company (WaSC) in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland joined trade association British Water and BIM4Water, a specialist volunteer group, to set a water industry framework for BIM.

Ofwat regulatory targets and that there is a lot of value to be gained from having a strong digital strategy.”

Paul Mullord, British Water’s UK Director, said: “Suppliers have sent a consistent message to the utilities about the efficiency savings to be had if they adopt a more coherent and consistent approach to the information they require to operate and maintain their assets across the lifecycle. They have listened and, with this document, demonstrated what extraordinary leaps can be achieved when the whole sector works together.”

The WaSCs, responding to comments from the supply chain, worked together to review the national BIM standards and document an agreed definition of what BIM means to them as clients. The draft BIM Guidance for the Water Industry Owner Operator was formally launched for industry review at the fourth British Water BIM conference on 30 March.

Andrew Cowell, chair of BIM4Water said: “BIM and the new guidance are about information management and how the water industry gears up to sharing data and operating in a digital environment. It is significant that water utilities have pulled together and are recognising the push for clarification from the supply chain.

“It is about a different way of working, with opportunities for efficiency in design,

The Utility Week Star Awards take place in Manchester on 23 June. delivery and on-going maintenance and asset management. Better information can create more resilient business plans and support scenario planning.

“Water companies are acknowledging that while there is no regulatory mandate for BIM, improving data sets will help them meet

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BIM4Water and British Water represent members from across the water sector including WaSCs, equipment suppliers, designers and contractors. Since 2013, members have been grappling with the meaning of BIM and in particular what BIM means for water companies and their customers.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Water company proves itself a good neighbour

United Utilities’ employees helped a community garden in Greater Manchester become dementia-friendly and more appealing to its younger visitors.

Staff from United Utilities, and its engineering contractor Laing O’Rourke joined Terry Morford, from Christ Church Community Garden to help clear a large patch of brambles at Urmston so the garden can be extended and improved.

The water company has also awarded IDEA, the environmental group that looks after the garden, a grant of £3,000 to help it develop the garden further.

Terry Morford, chair of IDEA, said: “The cheerfulness of the volunteers, and their hard work, made it a very enjoyable day and resulted in the whole area, originally covered in brambles and saplings, being cleared.

It represents a huge step forward for us in developing the garden.”

The community investment is part of United Utilities’ £200 million project to refurbish and improve its Davyhulme wastewater treatment works to the needs of the growing population of Manchester.

United Utilities’ community investment fund, United Futures, run in partnership

with community charity Groundwork, has awarded £48,000 to seven community projects located close to its Davyhulme wastewater treatment works, one of the biggest in the UK.

Keith Haslett, from United Utilities, said: “We want to be a good neighbour and believe it’s important to play an active part in the communities where we operate, and where our customers and employees live and work, as they’re vital to our business.”

Archaeologists trace hidden heritage of Yorkshire’s woodlands

Yorkshire Water has been working with archaeologists who have surveyed woodland across Yorkshire and discovered 406 areas of historical interest, some of which date back to the medieval era. the edge of Langsett woods near Barnsley, the remains of the abandoned settlement of Scar village in Upper Nidderdale which in the 1920s was a thriving village of 2,000 inhabitants and the drowned settlement of West End near Blubberhouses, also in Nidderdale, which was evacuated and flooded during the construction of Thruscross reservoir in the 1960s.

The surveys were carried out at 40 of the company’s woodland sites by JB Archeology Ltd, supported by local groups and specialists.

More information was uncovered on sites including the World War Two training area on

In additions, hundreds of tree carvings were examined at Ryburn wood near Ripponden some of which date back to men who were about to be conscripted to fight in the Great War. Geoff Lomas, Recreation & Catchment manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “We want to do our best to be a responsible landowner and one way we can do this is to conserve the ecology of woodland that we own for future

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generations to enjoy. This means we had to deepen our knowledge about the heritage of these sites so that when we want to carry out conservation work the heritage of these sites is not damaged. Lots of these places have a rich history and it’s nice to think that this will be preserved for prosperity’s sake.”

Mel Dalton, Heritage Officer at North Yorkshire County Council, said: “The surveys have increased our understanding of these areas of woodland. The most interesting aspect has been the 19th and 20th Century remains associated with the creation of the reservoirs and water works, including aqueducts, sluices, weirs, tanks, and even the remains of former workers’ houses. This has given us a fascinating insight into historic water management which was previously poorly understood.”

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Challenging times ahead for world's poorest communities A hard-hitting report has predicted that, with more wild weather forecast, access to safe water is going to get harder for the world's poorest communities.

Wild Water, released by the UK charity Wateraid, says that climate change will mean fiercer storms, heavier floods and longer droughts at a time when 80% of the global population already faces threats to its water security which puts at risk livelihoods, health and well-being.

Briefing

It says that half a billion people currently live in rural areas without access to safe water and that unpredictable rains can destroy fragile infrastructure, whilst prolonged droughts dry up rivers and ponds.

With contaminated water and a lack of decent toilets, the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria are fast on the heels of natural disasters.

Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and Mozambique are among the worst performing countries in the world for rural access to clean water.

The rural populations of Mozambique is an example. Over the past two years, both severe flooding and devastating droughts have hit the country, leaving millions of people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Wateraid, whose backers include UK water companies, says that the forecast is bleak but that simple infrastructure can help mitigate the dangers of extreme weather events.

A community with a well-maintained water source, such as a rainwater collection system, is much more likely to survive a drought. Well-built toilets help prevent the spread of human waste and reduce the risk of waterborne diseases.

©WaterAid/ Tom Greenwood

Julietta Chauque, 42, from Marien Ngouabi in Mozambique, said: “Our only hope is farming and without rain there is no farming, no food, and no means to survive and feed my children. I normally have to pay for water, but it is very difficult with no way to raise money.”

Wild Water

Wateraid says that progress is being made in countries like Cambodia and Malawi – where 89% of the rural population now have access to safe water – but that those efforts could be undone if efforts aren't made to strengthen infrastructure and make water and sanitation services more resilient to climate change.

The State of the World’s Water 2017

WaterAid is calling for more public and private financing of water, sanitation and hygiene. You can read the full report at www.wateraid. org/uk/news/news/stormy-times-ahead-for-worlds-poorest

Flood prevention project under way Severn Trent has started work on a £1.5m project to upgrade sewers in Hinckley to help prevent flooding in the Leicester Road area of the town.

James Arkesden, who is leading the project for Severn Trent, said: “This is a really key

project for us and for our customers in Hinckley as, at the moment, when there’s heavy rainfall, several homes are at risk of flooding. This scheme will increase the capacity of the sewers and that’ll really help reduce any chance of problems occurring in the future.”

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If everything goes to plan the scheme should be complete in September. The project forms part of Severn Trent’s commitment to investing in its infrastructure which will see the equivalent of £1,400 invested for every home and business the company serves between 2015 and 2020.

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James Fisher carry out successful visual inspection An inspection team from James Fisher NDT Ltd. was contracted by a major water infrastructure business to carry out a full visual inspection of the internal aspects of an underground service reservoir, made up of two 7.945ML tanks.

The purpose of the inspection was to validate and update details, and historical records held by the Asset Management Team, following a previous inspection; which had highlighted a number of Health & Safety Concerns relating to the load bearing capability of the roof and supporting pillars.

Due to these structural concerns, the tank had been deemed unsuitable for a “manned confined space entry inspection”. This was based on information gathered during a previous inspection, when damage had been noticed in a number of areas of the roof.

Throughout the initial discussion phase,

the proposal of using a joint UAV and ROV inspection was made, keeping the in-service side of the reservoir active and filled with water; utilising a swimming ROV, and operating a flying UAV on the out of service dry side. This completely removed the need for personnel to be put at any risk accessing the reservoir to carry out a conventional visual inspection.

To carry out the survey, the decision was taken to fill the wet side of the reservoir to around 95% capacity. This allowed the Swimming ROV to get closer to the roof structure, and inspect the top level supports. These could then be videoed, utilising an upwards facing fixed camera, mounted on the top of the ROV Control Housing. The forward facing manoeuvrable camera was utilised to carry out the more conventional subsurface video of the tank walls, floor, and the submerged support pillars.

The out of service side of the tank was left dry, to allow for the Elios UAV to operate, and carry out a full inspection of floors walls and ceilings, similar to the ROV Inspection. The advantage of the Elios UAV is that it is ideally suited to working in confined spaces due to its compact size, precise manoeuvrability and collision resistant cage. Its multi axis gimbal system, also allowed the Elios UAV to safely make contact with the internal aspects of the tank and ‘roll’ up, down, and across surfaces to give close up imagery of areas that simply would not be possible with most other UAVs. During the inspection, the visible condition of the internal walls, floor, roof, and supporting

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pillars were examined, with particular attention paid to any areas where damage and concrete spalling had been seen previously.

The UAV and ROV team were then able to produce a series of video files, which allowed the client and their Alliance Partners to formulate a comprehensive report on the general condition of the reservoir tanks and present their recommendations for remedial work that might be needed.

The videos produced by the UAV and ROV combination allowed for on-site review of the assets immediately following the inspection of both the Wet and Dry sides of the Reservoir.

This highlighted an apparent degradation in the overall condition, since the initial survey was carried out. This assumption was further re-enforced by the increased volume of concrete spalling debris, which was visible in a number of locations on both sides of the reservoir. The survey also identified a large volume of air bleed in to the structure but this was of lesser concern than the structural degradation.

The UAV and ROV, working in combination, have proved to be valuable tools in determining the condition and viability of this hard to reach structure; and whereas this kind of survey gives a strong indication as to condition, whilst vastly reducing the cost and risks associated with human access, there is still a need to have the areas of most concern, subject to a full structural substantiation survey. www.jfndt.co.uk

The Civils and Utilities specialists

KEEPING THE COUNTRY CONNECTED At Burdens our purpose is clear. To keep the country connected.

By using our expert knowledge and national reach we supply the essential infrastructure products and services that keep our communities functioning.

We understand the importance of keeping projects on schedule. And that means getting the right materials, to the right place, at the right time‌ Every time.

Connect with us to see how we can help you on 0344 292 7090. www.burdens.co.uk

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

The Young Water Professionals movement comes to Bath For someone at the start of their career in water, the University of Bath was the place to be in April as it hosted a total of 260 young water professionals across three events.

Bath hosts first ever UK Wetskills event The University’s Water Innovation & Research Centre (WIRC@Bath) in collaboration with the Wetskills Foundation, successfully organised the first ever UK edition of the Wetskills Water Challenge.

This is a pressure-cooker program for students and young professionals from across the world with a passion for water. It aims to promote cross-sectoral collaboration and foster potential new partnerships across Europe, by empowering knowledge and cultural exchange.

Bath hosted a group of 12 talented young water professionals from multiple cultural and scientific backgrounds who worked in transdisciplinary teams and formed innovative solutions for real-world challenges, such as flooding prevention, stakeholder engagement and resilient urban planning.

The event took place at the University’s Claverton campus over a two week period and was supported by the Bath Institute of Mathematical Innovation (IMI), the University’s Alumni Fund, Wessex Water, the Water Authority of Delfland, the European Water Traineeships and the Municipality of Westland. Expert input from across the UK water sector, including Bath & North

East Somerset Council and the Environment Agency, assured the scientific robustness of the event’s outputs.

The Young Water Professionals conference The water sector recognised some years ago that it was ageing and that it needed fresh talent if it was going to solve future important challenges. With this in mind, the International Water Association (IWA), the largest international network of water professionals with members in 130 countries, began to actively push for higher visibility and empowerment of Young Water Professionals (YWP). The UK YWP Chapter is one of the strongest in the world and its annual conference is one of the largest gatherings of YWPs and offers a tailored conference for professionals emerging in the water industry.

Organised by the University of Bath as part of its 50th anniversary festivities, together with a number of partners including Black & Veatch, Wessex Water, The Foundation for Water Research, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institution for Chemical Engineers, the conference brought together 200 speakers and participants from academia and industry, from the UK and abroad. The scientific and organising committee involved more than twenty early career and senior professionals to deliver a program packed with presentations,

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workshops, discussions, new ideas and opportunities for career development.

After a welcome speech by the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Bernie Morley, and the Chairs of the conference, Ana Lanham and Marta Coma, the tone for the conference was set by an inspiring series of short talks by senior and mid-career professionals from industry, consultancy and academia in a session entitled “My career in water”.

There were four workshops on breaking barriers in career development, unlocking the power of data in the water sector, the importance of cross-sectoral communication and ideas for better public engagement, all facilitated by professionals in the field together which provided attendees the opportunity to learn and develop new skills.

Excellent keynote speakers delivered a wide perspective of the challenges the sector is facing from the importance of communication and social sciences across the water sector, to the imminent DNA revolution, as well as the challenges to the sector and to the UK utilities.

The Future of UK Coastal Research – 13th UK Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference The 13th UK Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference (YCSEC) provided a

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unique opportunity for leading young coastal scientists and engineers working in academia and industry throughout the UK to present their work and network with their peers. Building on the success of previous conferences, the 13th YCSEC brought together over 60 early career researchers and practitioners from more than 30 UK and overseas universities, research institutes and companies for two days of fascinating presentations and exciting discussions.

To open the conference, Professor Ad Reniers from Delft University, an internationally renowned coastal modeller, gave a highly thoughtprovoking keynote presentation on ‘Recent advances in modelling of wave impacts on complex coasts’. Over the two day event, there were 27 outstanding presentations on topics including coastal tourism, beach morphology, wave processes, ocean engineering and port operations.

In addition to the talks, 17 posters were displayed facilitating discussions during networking sessions. The finale of the event focussed on bringing together the research students and early post-doctoral students in a friendly and collaborative environment, which was successfully achieved with a lively and entertaining conference dinner at the Tramshed in Bath.

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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Why putting the

customer first has never been more important The customer, so the old adage goes, is ‘king’ and that has never been more relevant than in these days when the water market has been opened up to increased competition.

With the non-household water market already open for competition and the household market primed to follow suit, water providers are being held to account for the quality of the service that they offer.

Getting it right means you retain or gain customers, getting it wrong risks losing out.

The result is that water companies are investing heavily in customer relationship management (CRM) systems, everything from creating call centres that answer queries quickly and efficiently to providing more flexible ways for customers to pay and ensuring that they are fully informed about the service they receive.

A lot of the investment is in creating responsive call centres because they are most likely to be the customer’s first contact with the company, sometimes with a complaint that they expect to properly handled.

companies have been extending payment methods, taking in not just traditional direct debit methods but also acknowledging that many people pay their bills online.

Companies are also using technology to improve the service they deliver to customers, including using mobile apps and web-based communication so that their teams are fully informed while out on the road.

For example, some companies are using apps to better co-ordinate appointments by their water-saving advice teams.

Water saving is a key way in which companies are improving communication with their customers and a key part of that process is the roll-out of smart meters.

Meters are being introduced all over the UK and Thames Water is a good example of what can be achieved

One of the priorities for water companies is designing an individualistic customer service approach, not just one staffed by people who read off a script but are instead trained to treat every customer as different and respond accordingly. Indeed, when surveyed, customers voted the use of scripts the No. 1 frustration when it came to dealing with call centres.

The aim of its smart metering programme is to reduce overall water use and improve leakage detection. Meters give residents access to their water use information, online or over the phone, allowing them to see how efficient their home is and track how simple water-saving efforts like four minute showers and turning the tap off while brushing your teeth can reduce bills.

Customers realise that things can go wrong but will be more likely to be understanding if they know that their enquiry is managed well and that call centre staff treat them as human beings.

Thames Water is offering free home visits, checking how water efficient a house is and installing water-saving gadgets.

Payment methods are changing as well. As we head towards the cashless society, water

After a home visit, a family of four could save as much as £180 a year on their water and energy bills. By reducing water use,

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households are experiencing lower costs right across the home, as heating water accounts for 21% of an energy bill.

Since the launch of the metering programme in 2015, Thames Water has delivered more than 60,000 Smarter Home Visits, saving around 2.5 million litres every day, the equivalent supply for more than 6,000 homes.

The new technology will also allow Thames Water teams to pinpoint where there are leaks on a customer’s pipe, helping to stop water from being wasted.

Danny Leamon, Thames Water’s head of metering, said: “The meters will be sending us accurate and up-to-date data on water use.

Higher and/or unusual readings could mean that there’s a leak, so with this information we can find and repair leaks faster, and see which pipes we should be replacing first.

“Smart meters are also great news for our environment as there are increasing pressures on our water sources. Not only do meters put customers in control of their water use, they also allow us to find leaks on the customers’ property, which we currently fix for free.”

The result of all this activity is an approach that puts the customer at the heart of water services like never before.

From better call centres to systems that give customers more control over usage, water companies are upping their game.

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Water companies are investing heavily in customer relationship management (CRM) systems, everything from creating call centres that answer queries quickly and efficiently to providing more flexible ways for customers to pay…

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Great customer service remains crucial in times of change for the water industry

By Nigel Baker, Managing Director at specialist outsourcer Echo Managed Services

With the non-household water market now open for competition, and the household market primed to follow suit by 2020, water companies must look for new ways to differentiate themselves in order to stay ahead of the competition. In any crowded market, businesses can’t compete on price alone – customer service is sure to remain a key differentiator.

But it’s not necessarily the best practice of others within the industry that water businesses should follow - inspiration should be drawn from companies in other sectors that consistently practice great customer service. Research shows that those in more competitive markets such as the leisure and financial industries tend to score best for customer service. Yes, the nuances of each sector may be very different, but the principles of great customer service remain the same – satisfying and keeping customers loyal.

Balancing technology and human interaction One of the core elements of good customer service is achieving the correct balance of helpful technologies and meaningful human interaction. Sure, customer relationship management (CRM) systems are vital to ensure knowledge is at a customer service advisor’s fingertips – however, water companies should be looking first and foremost at their people to deliver great service and added value.

Customer service agents should be engaged, empowered, and provided with in-depth training of any CRM system to ensure they get the most out of its features. While a welldesigned CRM can add value by providing a single customer view and minimising key strokes for agents, it’s the human touch which really adds value for customers. Indeed, our

research into customer contact preferences found that 53% of people still prefer to deal with service providers over the phone or face-to-face compared with other digital contact channels.

It’s also worth noting that while collecting data to build an accurate profile of a customer is vital, incoming changes to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) could bring about challenges for water companies– so they’ll need to be prepared for this.

Don’t let fast growth hamper customer service While there is lots of opportunity to be seized in the new market, businesses must remember that fast growth can often endanger customer service levels. Water companies should be prepared to scale up quickly to accommodate rapid growth by properly forecasting to ensure knowledgeable resource to handle enquiries quickly and effectively is in place.

Some companies might choose to bring in an experienced outsourced team to assist in-house teams in ensuring customer service levels are maintained during busy periods.

Appropriately engaging vulnerable customers Customers in circumstances of vulnerability must be a key priority for water companies.

In 2014, it was recorded that 2.5 million UK households struggled to pay their water bills.

But simply offering schemes to support those struggling to pay isn’t enough. Water companies must be more proactive in identifying instances of vulnerability, and ensure the process of applying for an affordability scheme minimises customer effort and supports as many eligible customers as possible.

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Reducing avoidable debt In both the household and non-household markets, water companies incurring debt from non-paying customers can run into cash flow issues. This is particularly prominent for those operating in the competitive retail market where margins are low and the wholesaler must be paid for the water they provide, no matter what – therefore, avoiding instances of non-payment wherever possible is a key priority.

It is worth remembering that some debt can be mitigated through the application of great customer service. That’s because not all late and non-payments are as a result of financial hardship. Research we conducted revealed that poor service and billing issues can lead to protest debt or customers simply forgetting to pay, with 47% of those surveyed saying they had defaulted on payments for these reasons.

Therefore, investing in reliable and accurate billing, coupled with proactive customer service, such as pre-bill payment reminders and swift complaint resolution, can mitigate the numbers of customers who fall into debt and reduce the costs involved with recovery.

Riding the waves of opportunity The non-household water sector is going through times of great change, with the domestic market set to follow. Whilst price will be a key driver in both markets, it’s those companies that put their people first, benchmark themselves against the best and apply a common-sense approach to customer service, who will continue to thrive in a changing marketplace.

For more information see echo-ms.com

With Echo, your customers are in safe hands.

When it comes to customer service, no one delivers like we do. With leading software and innovative customer support services, including resolving arrears, we’re here to keep your customers satisfied and to help you thrive.

The UK Water Market Specialists 0117 344 1500

|

ask@echo-ms.com

| echo-ms.com

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Discover how Affinity Water streamlined their processes with an innovative mobile app Why build an app for your business?

Today’s workforce is evolving rapidly and old systems are holding business back. Since the development of mobile apps, innovative corporations have taken the opportunity to mobilise their operations. As a result, they have seen internal processes transformed with efficient communication and real time data, which has instigated huge financial savings and a competitive advantage.

Companies with staff working on the field have particularly found mobile apps revolutionary. Paper admin is slow, inefficient and unreliable, whilst a bespoke app means workers can quickly fill in forms on site. The information captured on the app is delivered back to staff based at head office in real time and stored safely in the backend. Thus, a mobile app optimises efficiency, connects departments, and provides the company with live valuable analytical insights.

To discover more about how an app can accelerate your business, here is an in depth look at how Affinity Water used mobile technology to streamline complex business operations.

Introduction to the company

Affinity Water are the largest water-only supplier in the UK, supplying water for more than 130 years. They deliver more than 940 million litres of high-quality drinking water to their 3.5 million customers, every day.

The challenge

As a result of a new government lead initiative, water companies must now encourage customers to save water. In order to achieve water saving targets, Affinity Water’s contractor P.N Daly sought to optimise the efficiency of their logistics with a mobile app. With a relatively small team to book and perform the Home Water Savings Checks and a large number of properties to visit each day, the need to save time per job and create a slick, fast and efficient system was clear.

An Overview

Red C carried out three solutions. Firstly, we implemented a web-based administration portal to schedule installer appointments, enabling Affinity to efficiently coordinate their staff.

Secondly, we designed and developed an iPad app for Affinity staff to: 1. Book appointments.

2. Carry out home water saving checks.

3. Calculate the amount of water to be saved, and automatically send the customer a water saving report.

Thirdly, we designed a system to sync all data to a central database and visualise Key Performance Indicators via a dashboard in the web administration portal. This allows Affinity Water to gain valuable business insights which provide visibility to all staff members.

Coordinating staff within minutes

The web-based administration portal features a Booking Calendar which allows Affinity Water to view which installers are available at any given time, to assign jobs accordingly.

The calendar has reduced administration time and has enabled the company to effectively coordinate a large workforce.

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Working schedule automatically updated

Once appointments are booked via the app or directly through the web administration portal, the working schedule is updated to automatically set available appointment slots in the Calendar. This can be viewed in the appointments section of the web portal.

Goodbye lengthy admin times

Once at the appointment, the installer arrives with an iPad and checks into the job. They carry out an audit of the home, logging findings on the app. They select the free water saving products that are installed during the appointment, and these products are updated dynamically on the system. Using the water saving calculator feature on the app, the installer can demonstrate the amount of water the customer can expect to save. At the end of the appointment the customer can also choose to fill out a feedback form on the app if they wish. This data will upload in real time to update KPI dashboard.

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Affinity Water’s new efficient process of booking appointments

Visualise key performance indicators

From the web-based administration portal, Affinity can view key performance indicators.

This is visualised in the form of graphs and digestible statistics, enabling Affinity Water to quickly and effectively assess performance.

Improved customer communication

Once the appointment is logged in the system, customers are reminded of their upcoming appointment with three automated SMS’s that are sent directly from the web-based administration portal. This feature has reduced the amount of missed appointments.

Enterprise apps: The results

Affinity Water and many of our other clients alike have found that the introduction of an app benefited their business in a number of ways.

The app has streamlined Affinity Water’s processes by connecting staff and drastically cutting down admin time.

“Red C are great at communicating the details, so everybody understands what’s going on.”

Darta Jace, Contract Manager

Affinity Water iPad App These new processes have been instrumental in not only creating an improved experience for Affinity Water employees, but also for their customers. By investing in an app, Affinity Water have set themselves apart from competition, creating a bespoke system that is a valuable business asset.

By using the app, the contractors have made significant cost savings and efficiencies, making the contract a lot more profitable for them. They have also used the app as a unique

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selling point in winning over other large contracts.

To find out more, please contact Red C Mobile: www.red-c.co.uk 0203 397 9028 info@red-c.co.uk

Transform operations with a secure & efficient mobile app Red C is an award winning app & web agency in Shoreditch, London. We craft cutting edge visuals and innovative user experiences. We specialise in iOS & Android apps through to integrating backend databases and content management systems.

Huge financial savings & a competitive advantage

- Easily assign & schedule jobs - Record & manage photo evidence - Check in & out of jobs - Track engineers with GPS location - Record health & safety forms - Gather customer feedback - Display real-time KPI’s

Affinity Water, Water Saving App

Get in touch with us today 0203 3979028 | info@red-c.co.uk | www.red-c.co.uk

You know water… we know excellent customer delivery as the only differentiator…We’ll get you there

Simple and Effective Quality Assessment Services 3 Outsource your QA activity to us and achieve independence and cost effectiveness, we typically save our clients 40% by comparison to fulfilling internally 3 Measure what you want and how you want it – we’ll help achieve excellence within your business 3 Or License our unique QA and on-line coaching tool , called Aqua, to speed up results, information flow and resolution where needed 3 Full visibility 24 x 7 of your results 3 Use our 30 years global experience to your advantage

Allow us to help you achieve For more information, please contact: Jackie Naughton Email: Jackie@byc-aqua.com Mobile: +44 7528 036 481 Office: +44 121 258 0240 Web: www.byc-aqua.com

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Is your Water fluid or is it turning to Ice?

In our changing world of water delivery to customers the choice of provider is driven by how the customer is treated. With experience and legislation, we’re all competent at making sure the quality of water is suitable for the 65.14 million UK citizens. Customer expectation that water will be ‘on tap’ is a given so what’s left to differentiate us? … ask yourself .

How competent are we at meeting their expectations in customer delivery via our contact centres?

In order to truly succeed in todays’ competitive market place, the only differentiator you will have is the way in which your customers are treated by your brand ambassadors, the contact centre advisors/agents and their respective management. We appreciate that there are so many dependencies in the overall delivery, Infrastructure, third party suppliers, systems and processes to name but a few….

The contact centre will handle the majority of customer delivery volumes and our reality is that the days of using a script or call

guideline to manage customers is long-gone.

Scripts have been voted the No. 1 frustration by customers, so consider the approach you are taking to manage the multiple types of interactions necessary to fulfil your role as a water service provider.

Yes, you have compliance legislation, but again that’s a given and actually quite straight forward when understood and re-iterated as a culture within your business effectively.

Fulfilling compliance alone will not satisfy our customers, it satisfies legislation.

In order to meet all expectations, a new approach to customer delivery is required in 2017. Our customers know that things can go wrong and all they ask is that it’s managed well when it does go wrong. Creating brand

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loyalty is paramount for sustainability of your customer base be it consumer or Businesses or both. There is a huge misconception that your brand strength is a company asset; in the world of reality, your brand is not actually owned by you anymore, its strength is only as good as the last customer interaction.

With social media at the fore-front of our worlds, your brand is actually owned by your customers. Should they choose to destroy it, they can and that hinders any strategic aims you may have for retention and growth.

What can the contact centre do to ensure protection of this brand, given each advisor at the front line can influence a minimum of over 10,000 customers in one year of service?

The first thing is to ensure that your teams

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A few areas in reality should take priority and I’ve taken the liberty of listing three of them for you to consider: 1. Ensure that what you are measuring in your Quality function covers all aspects of customer delivery and provides you with honest realities as to what’s happening in your business, after all, who are you kidding? If you are focussing more on compliance than customer delivery, you are at risk, you can balance the measurement criteria to suit all needs and easily identify what’s working and more importantly, what isn’t. That’s the start to be able to implement solutions to fix the gaps.

2. Review your repeat call/contact reasons as this tells you where process improvement opportunities can start – remembering the cost to serve is paramount to your success – increasing calls and falling customer base/increased complaint ratios is not serving you well – our customers have choices and they’ll take them if not dealt with effectively

work with a customer ethos at the fore-front of each conversation. Typically, that isn’t driven by them; they are told how to behave with customers and what to say.

• Email effectiveness management

Your contact centre objectives, regardless of medium in customer management are as follows:

• Ensuring all aspects of delivery are measured effectively

• Telephony – effective set up with customer orientated IVR solutions • Answer rates – abandon percentages • Average handle times • First call resolution • Compliance processes and measures fulfilled in all instances • Effective data entry to ensure correct billing, correspondence with customers • Timely communication with all parties involved in the delivery process • Effective negotiation in ‘Collections of payments due’ • Fulfilling promises made to various stakeholders (especially customers)

• Chat response delivery effective and timely • Meeting quality monitoring volumes

• Achieving high quality monitoring results • Brand ambassadors supporting the desired messages to customers • Effective complaint management as it happens If you are being honest and scored yourself out of ten on each of the above, would you be happy if you were your customers?

Get external help if needed, it’s there and effective Having worked in the industry for many years and managing large contact centre environments, I totally appreciate some of the challenges call centres face at the various levels. So where can you start to make sure you are protecting your most valuable asset?

• (See right hand column).

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3. Embed the culture in your contact centre to focus on customer, this starts with your management team.

If your front line resources think that the way customers were managed three years ago will still work today, they are very much mistaken. Our industry has changed so much in that time and will continue to do so.

The culture of customer is your only differentiator – if yours is archaic, change it

Dare to be different, the days of ‘more of the same’ won’t work anymore.

Jackie Naughton CEO – BYC Aqua Solutions UK Ltd www.byc-aqua.com

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Millennial Relationship Management as well as leveraging the technology available, providing access to data and information and understanding buying behaviour, companies will also need to understand the Millennial psyche.

By Adrian Alexandru

Account Director Gentrack It’s often only the benefit of time that allows us to see how our predecessors have shaped the economic world we live in today. We can look back to see the impact of the hardworking ‘silent’ generation who were taught to be seen and not heard; the baby boomers who, by their very existence, demonstrated triumph in the aftermath of World War II; Generation X, the creators of the internet and ‘dot com boom’ rhetoric. And now; the Millennials; next up in the generational evolutionary process.

Adrian Alexandrou, account director at software company, Gentrack says it’s imperative that water service providers understand how to interact with this informed and shrewd generation. He says there will be no need to ‘look back’ to understand the Millennial impact because the catalyst of technology has allowed us to see the process in ‘real time’ and water businesses need to make sure they understand Millennials now.

Aged around 18 – 24 years old, at the moment, Millennials represent around 20% of the population and their influence is gathering pace. In The Observer (28.05.17) journalist Karen Kay states that Millennials are ‘turning the world of marketing upside down’. Meaning that the careers are catapulted by the kind of internet fame that has generated a whole new marketing genre.

So what does this say about Millennials? It says that with around 600 million + Instagram users worldwide (the preferred social media platform for the younger generation) social media influencers are advertising savvy and passing on this know-how to their followers.

Get personal These followers need to be presented with a unique line of communication. Presenting service offerings to an already knowledgeable group of consumers requires companies to put time aside to get a comprehensive understanding of their behaviours.

This doesn’t mean reverting to the ABC1 classifications from your marketing text book or fragmenting your database into age groups.

Although there will always be a role for sociodemographics to play in customer relations, today’s profile and behaviours are more colourful and ambiguous.

In part, this will mean having an active role in water and waste service sustainability and community-based water initiatives.

Sustainability and the environment are big drivers in the decision making process for Millennials, so being able to communicate these messages effectively should be a major part of your customer relationship management strategy.

Personalising offers will help marketing-aware groups feel more open to communication, so adopting a below-the line marketing approach to engage customers means both engagement and interaction resulting in a high functioning relationship with measurability to boot.

Variety is nice, on a device Millennials want choice, they want to see multi-product and service offerings that put them in the driving seat of their own services. Real-time marketing messaging and processing should form part of the marketing plan for water companies, customers who are able to switch more rapidly are likely to opt for your services.

As the Internet of Things, explodes globally, so do the opportunities for better customer relationship management. According to Intel, there were two billion smart objects in 2006 and it is predicted that by 2020 there will be 200 billion objects, accounting for 26 smart objects per person on earth.

The opportunity for frictionless commerce is also presented with the Internet of Things which uses data from devices and websites to provide buying opportunities to consumers as simply and easily as possible. This way of buying will become second nature for Millennials who have been brought up in an era of contactless payments and devices.

More connected devices in the future and the increased use of Artificial Intelligence in the home means more information is available to consumers, equalling more informed decisions and more data available to businesses means more informed marketing, resulting in the opportunity for further customer nurturing.

Millennial psyche Engaging on Millennial’s terms is the lynchpin approach to success for water companies. So,

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Demonstrating the availability of simple, yet rapid sign up processes for new connections will also hold weight for water supplier customers who value their time as well as their finances.

By incorporating these tactics water companies are presenting the Holy Grail to Millennial consumers; choice. It is what Millennials know, understand and expect.

Water 2020 In addition, as Water 2020 approaches, the challenges of resilience, affordability and climate change addressed within it are drawing closer for water providers. Customers will expect service standards to improve and bills to be lower and it is imperative that companies listen to Millennials on the issues important to them.

As a socially aware group, Millennials want to hear what companies are doing to address the community and environmental issues that are important to them. As with sustainability, this dynamic within an organisation is more important to this generation than their predecessors and companies need to pay attention to these emerging needs.

More change afoot Water providers need to adapt to a market that is changing more fundamentally and frequently than ever before. Predictable change, such as a new set of price review objectives, Water 2020 and the potential and possible slow move into a deregulated domestic market are one thing, but a sea change brought about by consumers raised on a digital diet changes the very nature of how we do business. Adapt to it, plan for it, remain agile and be prepared for Generation Z. Check out www.gentack.com for more information.

SCALE EFFORTLESSLY BOOST REVENUES EMBRACE CHANGE BILLING AND CRM SOFTWARE FOR OPEN WATER

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Seven reasons why customer service and secure payments are vital for water companies

#1 Competition will intensify and customer experience will be the new battleground: As the Water Industry embraces smart meters and seeks to rollout its own programmes it does raise some questions. With nonhousehold clients able to choose and switch water suppliers since April this year, and with the prospect of domestic households following suit, it’s clear that there will be implications to customer retention and experience.

Competition for business and non-household suppliers will intensify as consumers seek the best tariffs for this precious resource. To meet that you need to make sure you not only deliver the best service at the best price but you also need to deliver the best customer experience. #2 Suppliers will need to extend their security and PCI DSS compliance measures: In 2016 UK utility companies were ranked as the highest risk industry for data breaches[1].

With the ever increasing sophistication of hackers it’s becoming even more critical to ensure that your customers’ personal and payment card data is protected.

Payments through a water company’s contact centre may well be PCI DSS compliant – ensuring the customers’ personal and card holder data remain protected and secure – but online payments and automatic top-ups mean that these will also fall under the scope of PCI DSS compliance. Water companies will need to show that they have extended their solutions to cover these to maintain compliance and avoid the risk of a data breach. With a huge choice of payments options including Live Chat Pay, Apple Pay, Agent Assisted payments, Self Service payments and Contact Centre payments – suppliers can make sure that they are delivering outstanding customer experience that will help retain customers in a competitive world.

#3: –There will be a staggering increase in the volume of customer contact: To book and manage these installations a whole range of customer engagement, management and scheduling will be required.

So, suppliers will need to be able to scale up to handle this, making use of cost-effective channels such as Live-Chat and a complete Omni-Channel solution will mean you can engage with customers through the channels that work best for them. #4 New and shiny equipment = more tech support: With the fitting of smart meters and issuing of In-Home Displays (IHDs) comes the increased need to provide information and support.

Customers will have a wide range of questions such as “how do I use the IHD? What happens if I spill coffee on my IHD? Can I get a second IHD for the garage? Self-Service channels are ideal for providing help and support for these routine and frequently asked questions.

Using Knowledge Base content via web and apps as well as implementing technologies like Chatbots can deliver an accurate and consistent service across a large customer base and make sure that more vulnerable or less tech-savvy customers are not excluded. #5 Interactive is the new normal: As customers get to grips with their In-Home Displays and interact more with their supplier, they’ll also begin to expect more interactivity on suppliers’ websites and apps. If I can see my water usage while I’m stood in the kitchen, why can’t I see it while I’m waiting for the train home? #6 Life might get harder for the ‘left behind’ customers: In a post-2020 Britain suppliers should have a majority of their customers on Smart Meters.

But there will always be a portion of homes that could not, or for whatever reason did not,

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have their meters replaced. As this will be the exception agents will be less familiar with the processes and so find it harder to provide good support. This is the time that contact centres will need to have a good Knowledge Base content solution to help agents to serve those customers left behind. #7 Pre-payment becomes more compelling: With legacy prepayment meters customers would have to manually keep an eye on how much credit they had and, if a supplier didn’t offer self-service options, customers would have to go to a shop to buy more credit. With the introduction of Smart Meters customers will easily be able to see how much credit they’ve got using their In-Home-Display (IHD) or via self-service apps or web portals.

Topping up the meter will be done ‘over the air’ so customers can buy credit instantly without even needing to leave the house. This added convenience, coupled with pledges by suppliers to maintain price parity with credit customers, makes pre-payment a better product which could increase transaction volumes.

Eckoh are one of the leading providers of contact centre and secure payment solutions that deliver outstanding customer experience.

As a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider since 2010 we have extensive experience in helping our clients achieve and maintain PCI DSS compliance and so avoid the risk of damaging data breaches. We also operate our own PCI DSS compliant contact centre and so we know the challenges you face when delivering the best customer engagement. Find out more at www.Eckoh.com, read our Utilities case study or call 08000 630 730.

Sources: [1] Utility Week http://utilityweek.co.uk/news/dealingwith-data-breach/1253262#.WSKsKE11taQ

How to provide customers with exceptional service while protecting their data.

Matching or exceeding customer expectation, securely across all channels, is the key to retaining and attracting customers.

Offering secure, PCI DSS compliant payments plus all the benefits of Self-Service and Omni-Channel solutions makes Eckoh the most flexible choice for customer engagement.

• • • • • • • •

PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider since 2010 Over 20 years’ experience in running PCI DSS contact centres Agent assisted telephone payments - CallGuard 24x7 Self-Service and secure IVR payments Innovative payment options from Live Chat Pay to Apple Pay Seamless or zero integration needed Omni-Channel solutions for optimum engagement Renowned 3rd party support solutions.

As an award winning supplier to many UK utility companies let us help you boost your customer service.

Find out more: Call:

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A Stonbury Milestone - The first new build reservoir As the Reservoir Refurbishment Framework Contractor for South Staffordshire Water, Stonbury acquired the opportunity to tender for the design and build of a 10Mg potable water storage point at

daily basis and all with the same common goal at the heart of the team. This will enable, I have no doubt, the successful delivery of South Staffordshire’s ultimate business needs of supplying continued

SSW’s Outwoods site, on the outskirts of Burton on Trent.

wholesome drinking water to their clients – the public.”

The site had earlier planning permission in 2014 for a new build

Due to the residential nature of the site location, South Staffordshire

reservoir on the footprint of Reservoir No 1, which had passed its lifespan, however, the demolition and construction project of this tank was postponed due to other operational priorities within the South Staffordshire network. The option of the construction of an alternative Reservoir was considered and chosen to ensure the

Water have undertaken letter drops and meetings with local businesses and schools to keep them informed. The Stonbury project delivery team also set up a Community Portal system, which allows members of the public to follow the scheme and to communicate directly with the delivery team, asking any questions

continued supply of potable water to the local area.

they may have.

The tender process involved a high level of optioneering of all

The Outwoods Project on Community Portal can be found at

possible solutions, including temporary tanks, steel tanks, GRP tanks and the preferred, a hybrid solution for a reinforced concrete structure, which included pre-cast concrete columns and roof structure. This was offered as the most cost effective solution regarding whole life costs and design life, delivered to a very challenging programme.

Stonbury were delighted to be awarded the contract and have subsequently completed the detailed design stage which developed the outline design, submitted at tender stage. After a very quick mobilisation on site, Stonbury have made a very impressive start to the scheme with the excavation and preparation for the floor slab completed in a matter of weeks.

Stonbury Delivery Director, responsible for South Staffordshire Water , Jonathan Perryman, comments “to meet such a challenging

https://outwoods.stonbury.com for those that are interested in following this exciting and challenging project.

Key Facts - 10MG Storage Requirement - Return to Service date of cell is early July 2017 and including all site works and overall programme of 28 weeks - Over 350 tonnes of reinforcement in construction - Over 2000 tonnes of concrete in construction - Over 15000 tonnes of spoil removal in construction, 100% of which will remain on site and reinstated over the new reservoir once completed and set to grass

return to service date of the beginning of July 2017, it was critical to build on the already strong relationship held between Stonbury and South Staffordshire Water. It is wonderful to see the Outwoods delivery team growing from strength to strength on what seems a

Learn more at www.stonbury.co.uk

clean water

waste water

steel

concrete

civil engineering

INDUSTRY LEADERS IN THE REFURBISHMENT OF WATER RETAINING STRUCTURES AND ASSOCIATED ASSETS

REFURBISHMENT: IMPOUNDING & SERVICE RESERVOIRS - WATER TOWERS - DAMS - SPILLWAYS AQUEDUCTS - PIPE BRIDGES - PIPEWORK - CONCRETE/STEEL TANKS & VESSELS - CLEAN & SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS NEW BUILD: CONCRETE/STEEL TANKS & VESSELS WORKS: INSPECTION SURVEY - RELINING SPECIALIST COATINGS - CORROSION PROTECTION - WATERPROOFING - CONCRETE REPAIR - CLEANING & CHLORINATION DESIGN/INSTALL: SECURITY WORKS INC LPC4 ACCESS COVERS - ACCESS LADDERS, HANDRAILS & WALKWAYS - SURGE VESSEL S - M&E SUPPLY/ INSTALLATION CIVIL ENGINEERING: NEW BUILD - DEEP EXCAVATION - STREETWORKS - INTERNAL, EXTERNAL & UNDERGROUND PIPEWORK - VALVES - DRAINAGE - RETAINING WALLS - ACCESS ROADS, HARD STANDING & PARKING AREAS - CABINETS - SMALL BUILDING INSTALLATION - DEMOLITION - FLOOR SLABS & SCREEDS Head Office: Chawston House, Chawston Lane, Chawston, Bedfordshire, MK44 3BH t 01234 750924 e enquiries@stonbury.co.uk www.stonbury.com

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

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Water company trials

new sewage process Severn Trent is beginning to roll out new ground breaking technology to remove phosphorus from the sewage treatment process to meet new stringent targets.

The company has been trialling seven new technologies at its site in Packington, Leicestershire, two of which are world firsts, to find the best way to reduce the amount of phosphorus from water that is returned to the environment.

Phosphorus is a normal part of domestic sewage but conventional treatment processes only remove part of it. Four of the technologies that have been tested at Packington are proprietary and three are novel and have been developed by Cranfield University.

Severn Trent is investing around £120m in phosphorus removal technology up until 2020, an investment that will see around 100 sewage treatment works upgraded in order to meet new targets set by the Water Framework Directive.

Pete continued: “During the trials we’ve been using some really state-of-the-art techniques to understand which technology will work for our sewage treatment sites that greatly differ in size – from very small local sites to one of the biggest in Europe.

The new legislation means that many of the works will have phosphorus limits of less than 0.5mg per litre with some as low as 0.2mg per litre.

“We’ve already taken some of the learnings and have installed some new technology at three plants with another nine in the planning process.

Pete Vale, who is leading the project, said: “The Water Framework Directive requires us to meet much tighter phosphorus limits than we have in the past and our existing technology needs to be upgraded in order to comply with these new targets.

“This is just the beginning of the journey and we’ll be continuing this research to improve our phosphorus management practices and provide us with a more sustainable future.”

“That’s why we’ve been trialling several new types of technology at our site in Packington near Ashby-de-la-Zouch and we’re now getting to a stage where we can roll out some of the new tech across the region.

“The technologies on trial show a range of different techniques using physical, chemical and biological processes and we’re looking for different solutions for our different sites whether they are small, medium or large in size.

“We hope that by developing these we can get down to around the 0.1milligramme per litre level and greatly reduce the amount of phosphorus that goes back into our streams and rivers.”

An important element of moving towards a more sustainable approach is to not only remove the phosphorus from the sewage, but to recover it in a useable and valuable form, for example as a fertiliser. Phosphorus is essential for all life. It can’t be substituted or replaced, and it is a scarce and dwindling natural resource. It is one of three major plant nutrients and is widely used in fertilisers.

Pete said: “One of the novel technologies we have been evaluating, an ion exchange process, removes the phosphorus from the sewage without the need to dose chemicals and then in turn the phosphorus can be recovered in the form of a useful mineral (calcium phosphate). If this process is successfully implemented it has the potential to reduce the UK’s reliance on importing mined natural phosphorus rock.”

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The technologies being evaluated at Packington are: membrane filtration; nanoparticle embedded ion exchange; pile cloth media filtration; ballasted coagulation and clarification; immobilised algal bioreactor; absorption media reed beds; and iron dosed sand filtration. The ion exchange and algal bioreactor, both of which were developed

by Cranfield University, are being put into practical application for the first time.

The pile cloth media filters are now in place and operating at three sites with the technology selected to upgrade a further four sites. The technology, developed in Switzerland, uses a filter cloth on a disc or a drum to filter out the phosphorus containing solids that are generated by the dosing of iron immediately upstream of the filter. The technology has proven to be an effective, and typically lower energy, alternative to sand filters.

The ballasted coagulation and clarification process will also be installed at full scale at two sites in the near future. The process, developed on the east coast of the USA, is a three step process. The first step uses a coagulant such as iron to precipitate the soluble phosphorus, a magnetite ballast is then added to the water which acts as a seed for the precipitate and also to add weight to the solids. In the last step a polymer coagulant is added to help bind the precipitate and ballast together before flows enter a settlement tank where the solids settle quickly and efficiently. The sludge is removed from the base of the settlement tank but before the sludge is sent off for further treatment it is pumped through a magnetic drum. The magnetic drum recovers the magnetite from the sludge and from here it drops back into the process to be reused.

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Reactive media reedbed

Trial plants under construction

This is just the beginning of the journey and we’ll be continuing this research to improve our phosphorus management practices and provide us with a more sustainable future.

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Minding our Ultra-Low Effluent Ps & Qs Undeniably one of the major challenges in the AMP6 wastewater delivery programme – and well into AMP7 – are the strategies, technologies and scale of the requirements to meet the ultra-low total phosphate standards across the industry.

By Guy Forrest-Hay

Business Development – UK and Ireland, De Nora Water Technologies TOTEX, innovation, modularisation, buildoff-site and unmanned works are obviously aspects within the sector that need ongoing focus, but achieving stringent phosphate and metal consents in the most sustainable manner possible is, I believe, the biggest test of them all.

Uncharted territory?

Interestingly, the underpinning principles of chemical dosing, coagulation, flocculation and ultimately filtration are amongst the best understood and most widely applied across the sector, but applying them to deliver the ultra-low levels is challenging and still, to a large degree, uncharted territory.

As someone involved with both clean and wastewater process for over 20 years, I believe this challenge to be over and above those previously faced. The high-level dosing of metal salts throughout the process (typically ferric sulphate) has never been attempted before in wastewater, and certainly not upfront of existing and proposed tertiary treatment plants.

Whilst water companies and partners across the industry are working intensively to find the best solutions, I believe this may not be the time to be taking major leaps of faith with new technologies/processes supported by ambitious claims. To focus on tried and tested processes that have been continually improved over many collaborative projects throughout the AMP periods, may well be the right way to go.

Engaging with industry De Nora has been listening and engaging with many of the leading minds to keep abreast of the work being undertaken, the likely strategic directions and, crucially, what key suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) can bring to the table.

The UK Government Science and Technology Select Committee has revealed that the cost of implementing the Water Framework Directory (WFD) in the UK could be as much as £30 billion, with an associated operating cost of an extra £30 million per annum thereafter.

From recent conversations, it appears that 30 to 40 low P scheme projects per water company is not atypical, and the majority of these are still very much in the starting blocks.

As is often characteristic of the wastewater

side of the sector, every site has unique aspects - influent, imports, hydraulics, existing tertiary stages - but there is still scope for the ‘holy grail’ of standardisation.

Team-led approach Although the UK, through its CIP1 & CIP2 (Chemical Investigation Programmes) is further ahead than most other EU countries in terms of understanding, there is still so much more to do in terms of cost effective strategies, technologies and techniques to remove these substances.

Proven technology solution providers and innovators in the supply chain are passionate about bringing their know-how to the table and playing a larger role in meeting these challenges. Amidst the ongoing debate that water companies may derive benefits from closer engagement with key suppliers, a more refreshing collaborative approach is being taken – guided by UK Water Industry & Research (UKWIR) and the CIP2 programme.

As such, we are looking forward to the Big P Conference and Exhibition, on 4-5 July, in Manchester, which will be a key step forward in sharing the key findings of the trial work, and to start to develop the future pathway.

In our discussions with water companies, the following themes seem most prevalent: • The supply chain is valued and needed, particularly in the elements of tertiary treatment to remove phosphate and residual metals, as well as chemical dosing.

• An increased scope of ownership and input would be favourable, particularly in the areas of coagulation and flocculation.

• There is a strong desire for enhancements to existing technologies to meet the increasing requirements, such as removing an additional flocculation stage and asset.

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Expertise and Experience As a trusted supplier, with TETRA Modular and DeepBed Filters amongst the most widespread of tertiary treatment assets, De Nora is committed to playing a leading role in working with our valued clients and the wider sector to deliver this programme.

Across the business, De Nora has significant expertise in coagulation/flocculation processes, through our range of BALPURE® ballast water systems and OMNIPURE™ sewage treatment solutions for the marine industry. This expertise is being aggregated and we are well advanced in enhancing the TETRA offerings to include the coagulation and flocculation processes via a dedicated zone above the media bed. Not only will this optimise residence time and G Values, but allows variation in line with influent flows to ensure the formulation of the small flocs required for P removal - but still large enough to be removed by the TETRA media to ensure compliance.

De Nora is also evaluating truly innovative medias that can be retrofitted to existing TETRA filters to assist with phosphate removal as well as further key Priority Substances.

B-minded Despite the challenging landscape, environmental compliance has barely featured in the hours of chat about the dreaded ‘b’ word, Brexit. In my opinion, the need for solutions and compliance will be with us for the next 10-15 years. As a key supply chain partner, De Nora certainly relishes the opportunity to meet this challenge head on.

I hope to see you all in Manchester.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of De Nora Water Technologies.

A trusted partner for tertiary wastewater treatment DE NORA TETRA™ TERTIARY WASTEWATER TREATMENT

De Nora TETRA™ Tertiary Wastewater Treatment • Superior solids removal – Total Phosphorus to below 0.2mg/l.

• Low Operating & Maintenance costs: - No moving parts to clog or wear - Low backwash waters <4% and typically <2% - Virtually no media losses over the life of the filter

• Global install base & frameworks with UK Water Companies • Fully Modularised & Easily Extendable • Powerful TETRA Air & Water Backwash

DE NORA WATER TECHNOLOGIES • info.dnwt@denora.com • www.denora.com

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The UKWIR CIP Programme 2010–2020

Recent research has focused attention on trace substances in surface waters. As a result, current legislation establishes environmental quality standards (EQSs) for a wide range of chemicals in rivers where they may have the potential to damage flora and fauna or even pose risks to human health.

Many of the substances of interest have the potential to be present in sewage and treated wastewater. In order to address the challenge of meeting EQSs, the Water Industry under the coordination of UKWIR and in collaboration with UK regulatory agencies initiated the Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP). Initially, this involved an extensive effluent monitoring programme which was used: a) to prioritise EQS compliance risk for the substances of concern; b) to illustrate that current sewage treatment processes provide a significant, though not always sufficient, barrier against release of these substances to river waters, and, c) to show that domestic use of household products is the predominant source of the substances of interest.

hydrocarbons, wastewater is far from being the principal source.

It is also important to note that for some substances, including phosphorus and some

a) Monitoring of effluent quality at over 600 wastewater treatment works’ sites with

An assessment of the overall likely costs of measures to address potential compliance issues indicated the likely need for substantial investment by the Water Industry and of a consequent significant increase in customer bills. This focused attention on the need to deliver clear proposals for a way forward that are, likely to be effective, proportional to the Water Industry contribution to contamination, and demonstrably justifiable down to a detailed local level.

These requirements were the basis of the second phase of the CIP that was initiated in 2015. This £140M programme being undertaken from 2015 to 2020 comprises:

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corresponding determination of river quality upstream and downstream of the effluent discharge – this will form the basis of a high confidence assessment of the need for action to be taken at the site concerned (noting that such action might include control of input to the works as well as options relating to changes in treatment processes). These works have been chosen as representing the sites where low dilution and pressures of other non-Water Industry inputs are factors that might jeopardise EQS compliance; b) Evaluation of the likely effectiveness of novel wastewater treatment processes to provide assurance that discharges are of quality consistent with EQS compliance or at least that they contribute to significant improvements in river water quality – this is intended to provide a basis for options to achieve improved effluent quality where required;

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HydroCycle PO4

Remote dissolved Phosphate analyser

High rate algal pond wastewater treatment.

Images from Wessex Water

For long-term high frequency monitoring of remote locations, the HydroCycle PO4 is an advanced version of its predecessor, the Cycle-P.

c) Determination of different sources/inputs for contaminants of interest in five river catchments - consideration of the effects of water quality management options taken at different discharge sites in a given catchment on improvements in overall river quality and costs of implementation.

• Unattended • Up to 1,500 tests between service/reagent change • Battery powered (12v) • Telemetry options • Onboard: - QA/QC processing - reagent cartridges - calibration - logger

d) Associated work including a major series of treatment technology trials for the reduction of phosphorus concentrations in wastewaters and investigations into contaminant concentrations in the wastewater sludge treatment process.

The first outputs of this programme are currently being compiled, reviewed and assessed with the aim of identifying pollution control measures that are necessary, worthwhile and justifiable. This will ensure that the Water Industry continues to play its significant role in the protection of the water environment, whilst delivering a cost effective and sustainable service to water consumers.

For more info...

Tel: 01246 573 480 uksales@ott.com www.ott.com

For more information www.ukwir.org

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Phosphorous removal from wastewater “Water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather a heritage that must be protected.” accumulate large quantities of phosphorous within their cells (up to 20% of the mass).

When the biomass enriched in these bacteria is separated from the treated water, these biosolids have a high fertiliser value.

By Xavier Mear Product Manager, Lhoist UK

Increasing levels of European legislation, led by the Water Framework Directive, is putting great pressure on companies involved with wastewater treatment.

Nutrient removal and reduction technologies will continue to be at the centre of efforts on water protection. The presence of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous in wastewater effluents and their impacts on natural water bodies, continue to be a major concern for companies involved with wastewater treatment.

Phosphates, like nitrates, are responsible for eutrophication, causing a deterioration of an aquatic ecosystem by the proliferation of certain plants, including algae. Industrial emissions, but also urban waste streams, contain these pollutants.

Eutrophication – keeping the industry awake at night The presence of phosphorous in rivers and lakes is responsible for eutrophication, resulting in the uncontrolled proliferation of algae and excessive consumption of dissolved oxygen in the body of the water. It is thereby less available for other living species, and in particular fish, making it necessary to restrict phosphorous discharges into natural water courses.

Conventional biological treatment processes remove only 50% or less of the sewage phosphate and substantial improvement is needed to achieve 90% or more removal to reach effluent concentrations of 0.5 to 1.0 mg phosphate per litre.

A well-buffered system maintains the pH where biological activity is optimised and allows for a more efficient use of oxygen, leading to reduced energy costs. Treating wastewaters using lime-based reagents increases the wastewaters’ buffering capacity and helps the phosphorous removal step.

Phosphate precipitation Chemical precipitation is used to remove inorganic forms of phosphate by the addition of a coagulant and a mixing of wastewater and coagulant. The multivalent ions most commonly used are calcium, aluminium and iron.

Calcium Calcium is usually added to the process as hydrated lime Ca(OH)2. It is reported that addition of lime makes it possible to remove 85-90% of the inorganic orthophosphates present in wastewater.

The formation of calcium phosphate salts in aqueous solutions takes place following the development of supersaturation, with excess calcium ions reacting with the phosphate to precipitate hydroxyapatite.

Aluminium and Iron Alum is widely used precipitating phosphates, as are ferric chloride and sulfate.

For both reagents however, the resulting AlPO4 precipitates need to be removed by flocculation via the excess addition of a metal hydroxide, and typically lime is added to enhance this treatment step Neutralac SLS45 Solution The well-practised use of lime is covered in literature, coming out on top in tests looking at the efficacy of chemical precipitation with calcium hydroxide, coagulation and flocculation with aluminium sulfate as well as adsorption methods for the removal of phosphates.

Various methods of separating phosphate from aqueous solutions exist. The physicochemical processes utilised are based on precipitation phenomena by use of salts of calcium, iron or aluminium, or adsorption phenomena. Phosphate removal may also be achieved by biological processes.

In practical terms however, traditional powdered hydrated lime is best converted into a slurry prior to dosing into a wastewater.

Strategies

Rimex Metals Group, based in Enfield, is a specialist in metal finishing and architectural metals, producing surface finishes on stainless steel and other metals. The company has manufacturing abilities throughout the world and a global distribution network.

The removal of Phosphorous can take place successfully through a process called enhanced biological phosphorous removal.

Specific bacteria are selectively enriched and

Case Study

Phosphate removal from wastewater in the stainless steel finishing industry

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The company traditionally used low solids content lime suspension to treat effluent which is collected in two separate sumps – one for chromic acid-based, and the other for phosphoric/sulphuric based effluent.

All the effluent is dosed with an aluminium reagent before being neutralised with a strong liquid lime (Neutralac SLS45). This is a two-step process, with the final pH around 11.5, found to be the optimum pH for the formation of calcium aluminium sulphate oxide.

The effluent containing the calcium, aluminium and sulphate ions, is then passed through an ultrasonic reactor. The reaction chemistry and kinetics are altered so that sodium oxide is formed, resulting in a very fine precipitate.

Epofloc L1-R is then dosed to ensure heavy metals removal but it also starts the flocculation process. The effluent is them pumped to a lamella settler for separation of solids and liquids. Phosphate is finally removed by precipitation with aluminium and calcium.

Key Achievements The use of Neutralac® SLS45 had positive effects in the wastewater treatment procedure.

Neutralac® SLS45 has proved to be easy to handle, simple to pump and dose. Depending on dosage rates, Rimex has been able to: 1. Achieve removals of up to 99.9% for phosphates, and up to 99.7% for sulfates and heavy metals 2. Reduce its reagent costs by up to 20% 3. Reduce the operators’ workload considerably due to the lower number of delivery vehicles required.

Is our future GREEN? As phosphorous levels increase, algal blooms leave death in their wake.

The solution could not be simpler: • • • •

Optimize phosphate removal from your waste streams before discharge Improve filter cake quality Generate material for recycling to agriculture Enhance overall effluent treatment at a reduced cost through lower reagent consumption

Neutralac® SLS45 is the UK’s fastest growing, high strength liquid lime.

Test the water with a no-risk FREE field trial.

www.neutralac.co.uk

Xavier Mear Product Manager

T: 01298 768 641 M: 07968 755590

Lhoist UK, Hindlow Buxton, Derbyshire

xavier.mear@lhoist.com

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Phosphate monitor protects Cumbrian lake during restoration project Novel phosphate monitoring technology from OTT Hydrometry is helping the South Cumbria Rivers Trust (SCRT) to improve water quality during a project to restore a lake to the north west of Windermere. Funded

by United Utilities, the Elterwater Remediation Project has been created to improve water quality by increasing water flow through the lake and dramatically lowering residency time.

Elterwater is a high amenity value lake comprised of three basins measuring 930 metres long with variable widths up to 320m. The Lake is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Between 1974 and 1999 United Utilities operated a wastewater treatment works serving the Elterwater village within the consents of the day. However this and other sources, left a legacy of phosphorus enriched sediments in the inner and middle basins of the lake. These in turn caused eutrophic and hyper-eutrophic conditions leading to algal blooms, anoxia and poor water quality.

in the disposal of the enriched sediments.

Consequently, the preferred solution is to divert the becks. Dr Mike Sturt SCRT’s Technical Officer explains: “Soluble Reactive Phosphate (SRP) released from the sediment accumulates over time and becomes bioavailable resulting in a proliferation of algae and bacteria, which causes a lowering of dissolved oxygen and pH, which in turn causes an increase in SRP desorption from the sediment. So there is a complex cycle in play which causes thermal stratification and anoxic/high turbidity conditions in the summer months. As a result, Elterwater is incapable of supporting natural, healthy populations of fauna and flora beyond benthic invertebrates.”

Phosphate in the lake sediment is clearly the cause of the lake’s ongoing water quality problems, so the aim of the project is to implement a sustainable solution that does not cause an increase in SRP within the water body. Background phosphate monitoring therefore commenced in August 2014 and samples have been taken at 2 week intervals for laboratory analysis. However, continuous monitoring is always preferable, when possible, because spot sampling risks missing pollution incidents.

In the United Utilities asset management plan for April 2010 to March 2015 (AMP5) a study was commissioned that identified the key issues and resolution. These included improving the lake’s water quality by dredging to remove the phosphorus rich sediments or diverting two local becks to improve water turnover and prevent the conditions necessary for phosphorus release and the creation of algal blooms.

Traditional continuous phosphate monitors employ colorimetry and generally require mains power, which is often not available at remote sites. However, OTT’s ‘Cycle-P’ is battery powered and able to operate unattended in the field, running over 1,000 tests before a field service is necessary to change the reagents. When combined with telemetry, the instrument delivers almost real-time data at user-selectable intervals (typically 1 to 4 hours).

“The Cycle-P is ideal for Elterwater,” Mike says.

“The lake is an hour’s drive each way from our office, so the facility to leave it running, but with remote access, saves a great deal of time and money.

Dredging would permanently remove the phosphorus rich sediments but could cause significant environmental damage particularly

“Initially, two Cycle-P units were installed at Elterwater; either side of the middle basin, but after 1 year of operation, it became clear that

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one unit was sufficient – at the outlet of the inner basin.

“The performance of the Cycle-P has been excellent; it has proved to be accurate and reliable, producing good quality data that is consistent with laboratory analysis.”

The Cycle-P is an in-water total reactive phosphate analyser that has been designed for operation by both chemists and non-chemists.

The instrument has an onboard logger, and the quality of the data is underpinned by QA/QC processing in conjunction with an on-board NIST standard. The Cycle-P methodology is based on US EPA standard methods, employing pre-mixed onboard colour coded cartridges for simple reagent replacement in the field.

With a detection limit equal to or less than 0.0023 mg/L PO4-P, and a range of 0-0.3 mg/L PO4-P the Cycle-P is able to measure down to extremely low levels, which makes it ideal for the Elterwater application. However, a higher range can be specified at the time of order (0 to 1.2 mg/L). A newer version known as the HydroCycle PO4 has since been launched offering more advanced features.

The background monitoring undertaken by the Cycle-P (and lab samples) has not shown significant SRP in the water body because the release of phosphate from the sediment is quickly taken up by algae. However, the piped diversion of the Great Langdale Beck delivers around 122 litres/sec of very clean water, and the Cycle-P constantly checks that this is not causing a rise in SRP from the sediment. If alarm conditions arise, the system automatically sends a text message to Dr Sturt’s mobile phone. The Environment Agency has also installed a water quality monitor (DO, pH, EC, turbidity) at the same location and this also has a text alarm system.

Looking back, OTT’s Matthew Ellison says: “The Elterwater project was a success; no alarms were issued by the phosphate monitor, so water quality was effectively protected.” www.ott-hydrometry.co.uk

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

Fuzzy logic Nick Sexton

Programme Manager Anglian Water’s Innovation Shop Window An innovative and cost-effective piece of kit called Fuzzy Filter is helping Anglian Water manage its water recycling operation more efficiently. Developed by German manufacturer Schreiber Water, Fuzzy Filter uses a compressible bed of pink fuzzy sponge balls to sieve out solids from foul water before it is returned to a watercourse.

Here Nick Sexton, Anglian Water’s Innovation Shop Window Project Manager, explains how this and other innovations are being used to best effect at Anglian Water.

We’re currently using the Fuzzy Filter at our Friskney Water Recycling Centre, replacing the previous filter, which was labour intensive to clean.

Our Friskney Water Recycling team found, over time, we were spending more and more time manually cleaning the previous filter. So when the equipment was due for renewal, we looked for a more efficient solution.

By installing a Fuzzy Filter, which is a much better tool for the job, it now automatically backwashes and cleans itself. It doesn’t need as much maintenance, meaning we’ve got lots more time back to do more productive planned work. Plus, it’s much more effective and produces an even higher quality of treated

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effluent to be released into the nearby river.

Bringing in new products and innovations is an approach the whole business embraces. It’s important we keep using innovative products like this one to stay at the leading edge of our industry, and to drive efficiencies that make our business better and more cost effective for customers.”

Innovation is key to the future and central to everything we do at Anglian Water. Fuzzy Filters are just one example of where we’ve successfully met operational challenges with a collaborative approach.

Our Innovation Shop Window project, based in Newmarket, Suffolk, is at the epicentre of this.

We’ve created a microcosm of what a future water company could look like, today, and a showcase for both innovative technology but also collaboration with the best and brightest minds in the industry.

Newmarket is a discreet catchment which makes it the perfect place to run a real-world test facility. For suppliers it’s a test bed to trial products, services and initiatives, and develop viable commercial applications. For Anglian Water, we can drive innovation through collaboration across our business, supply chain and the entire man-made water cycle. It is also an opportunity to engage in new ways with our customers and provide them with the opportunity to influence the services we provide.

Crucially, by concentrating innovation in one physical place, we are unlocking synergies between new technologies and different ways of working more quickly than ever.

This accelerates our learning and allows us to improve customer service, environmental

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stewardship and the efficiency of our business at a much faster pace.

Anglian Water is seeking to achieve a range of goals through the initiative, such as reducing customer water consumption and chemical free water treatment. A number of water recycling technologies already being deployed include: • Nereda: A chemical free Phosphorous removal process from Royal Haskoning which uses aerobic granular sludge technology, which is being trialled to deliver higher quality effluent and energy savings simultaneously.

• Shepherd: While not suitable at all treatment works this is helping Anglian monitor oxygen demand on aeration lanes and providing valuable intelligence on aeration lane "health" and oxygen demand to optimise aeration and make energy savings.

• Mobile SLG: A method of dewatering sludge on smaller sites to reduce the need for tankering via road.

These are just a snapshot of the programme we are running in Newmarket. There are many other exciting projects on the horizon, including looking at anaerobic treatment, algae, and processes to recover nutrients like Nitrogen and Phosphorous.

Not every technology we trial will make the cut, but we are learning valuable insights at every step. Ultimately this is about being the most efficient business we can be, and using that efficiency to deliver the best service for our customers and stakeholders.

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Advanced Process Control – Is the Water Industry ready?

UK Water regularly says it is looking for new ideas to solve old problems: the rising costs of treatment, growing populations, ageing assets, and ever-tightening environmental standards. In 2008, Perceptive’s Advanced Process Control (APC) made the leap from petrochemicals into the UK water sector. It has since been used or assessed by 7 of the 12 UK wastewater companies, but the industry seems reluctant to embrace a technology that provides numerous benefits.

What is the technology?

Data-driven model-based monitoring, control and optimisation is widely used in high-value manufacturing sectors such as pharmaceuticals. The as-built plant can be pushed closer to constraints and operated closer to its optimal under all conditions, and with minimal operator intervention. This approach can significantly reduce the cost of operation – less energy, less raw material/ chemical, less risk of off-spec product.

A fundamental part of APC is its live assessment of data trustworthiness, ensuring that unreliable data is identified and screened before it has an adverse impact on the operation. Critical signals can be reconstructed in real-time from correlated data; even when a sensor fails, its ‘digital twin’ is immediately available for the controller.

Process capability (headroom) is increased by predicting exactly how much treatment will be required to achieve the desired quality.

The system recalculates an optimum control strategy every 90 seconds, based on incoming data, then makes multiple coordinated moves on the plant to compensate for changes.

This two-pronged approach provides more reliable, more efficient operation, even under severe conditions such as storms, first flush events or failure of hardware sensors.

Why APC is a good Fit for water?

Any complex process requires a balance between cost and quality. In wastewater treatment, costs increase and the risk to quality increases as asset condition degrades.

Cost and risk both decrease with more responsive, more reliable control. APC works precisely because it addresses cost and quality simultaneously.

When has it succeeded?

• When a clear set of goals and constraints has been identified at the onset of the project, and when the management team wants to see some real change to asset operation.

• When a strong project manager is in place and all stakeholders are informed and engaged.

“A fundamental part of APC is its live assessment of data trustworthiness, ensuring that unreliable data is identified and screened before it has an adverse impact on the operation. Critical signals can be reconstructed in real-time from correlated data; even when a sensor fails, its ‘digital twin’ is immediately available for the controller.”

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• When project delivery isn’t delayed or hijacked by unrelated on-site activity

Obstacles to Implementation The water sector thinks in terms of decadeslong asset life, years-long infrastructure projects. The consequences of failure can be huge; the industry is slow-moving and risk averse for good reason. But once an innovation is proven, some companies still remain reluctant to adopt it more widely or exploit its true capabilities. Why? Energy pigeonhole ASP energy savings of 35% have been delivered, while 20-30% are typical. But saving energy barely scratches the surface of what APC can deliver. If a project is conceived and delivered solely by the energy team, there may be less buy-in from other stakeholders such as asset managers and quality coordinators. Increased process capability equals extended asset life equals deferred capital expenditure. In the new world of Totex, this should be given a higher priority.

APC does not stand for “A Panacea Control” APC is extremely fault-tolerant. Because it is based on a digital model of process

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

behaviour, it can continue to optimise process performance even when data goes missing.

This makes it an ideal fit for an industry that accepts a degree of asset degradation. But APC cannot address fundamental problems like broken blowers, failed motors and nonexistent sensors.

Not Needed / Not Invented Here APC solutions are installed and supported around the world, built on robust and wellproven industrial standards. Home-grown systems require high levels of manpower for their development, deployment and maintenance.

Not for small sites Data-driven, intelligent, robust monitoring and control of any site provides hard and soft savings, no matter the asset size. Imagine if the data coming from 20,000 PE works with no 24/7 staffing was truly trustworthy? Imagine if faults could be detected before they impacted performance at such a site – what’s the value of pre-emptive maintenance?

Funding OpEx? Capital? R&D? Maintenance?

Gainshare? Spend-to-save? There appears to be no standard funding mechanism in place

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for this type of technology, either across the industry or within each company.

We don’t want a “Black Box” Good, neither do we. Each control system is fully transparent; the behaviour of the controller reflects the actions that a highly trained operator would take, if the data they responded to was trustworthy and if they were able to make coordinated control moves every 2 minutes.

Not an ‘Asset Standard’ No two sites are identical in their design, load, asset condition or operation. Yet some in the industry expect an optimisation scheme to be one-size-fits-all.

Complex APC is massively more sophisticated than PLC-based systems, far more fault-tolerant and responsive to changing conditions, and provides greater flexibility in its control scope.

Yes, it is complicated, in the same way that engine management system and fuel injection replaced inefficient carburettors.

Requires Too Much Time A comprehensive system, providing tighter levels of ammonia control, peak-tariff and

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TRIAD management, optimised handling of storm events and remote KPI dashboard reports can be designed, installed and commissioned within 3 months. Such a system will usually provide a hard payback within 12 months on a large site. Once the project is underway, owner input is minimal.

Going forward If the industry wants to exploit the benefits that APC can bring, a well-proven suite of tools and methodologies exists to realise them. As a first step, a low-cost process audit identifies the scale of opportunity that can be captured, as well as a detailed roadmap for delivery.

There has been investment in sensors and data capture, there is a desire to reduce carbon footprint, and a move towards totex and whole-life asset costs. The industry seems to be ready, but is it willing? www.perceptiveapc.com/water

Your process. Improved n better environmental performance n reduced operating costs n higher asset efficiency

REPORTING WATERMV WATCHDOG OPC SITE ETHERNET LIMS

PROCESS

SCADA PLC

SENSORS

ADVANCED MONITORING AND CONTOL – INTEGRATED

DATA RELIABILITY – BUILT IN

n

WindowsTM platform, industry-standard interfacing

n

Real-time analysis of all critical sensor data reliability

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A digital twin of your plant, derived from process and quality data

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Real-time digital twin of critical-to-quality signals

n

n

Predict how the plant will behave, predict the control moves needed

When a fault is detected, WaterMV automatically switches to the virtual value, alerts operating staff

PROCESS QUALITY - INTEGRATED n

Robust, reliable assessment of plant’s quality performance

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Live determination of risk of compliance failure for each parameter

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WaterMV adjusts the process automatically to minimise risk

www.perceptiveapc.com/water

BETTER CONTROL, REDUCED ENERGY, LOWER CARBON n

Predictive control reduces process variability

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WaterMV constantly calculates aeration requirements, alters setpoints of blower, motors and valves automatically

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Energy reduced by 25-35%, with no adverse impact on quality

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Quality, expertise and outstanding service Selwood is your pumping solutions partner

Selwood is the UK’s market leader in pump rental solutions and a world leader in the development and manufacture of pumps and related equipment.

We are renowned for quality, expertise and genuine 24/7 365 days-a-year service backed by one of the country’s largest fleets of quality pump products.

Combining decades of experience with a modern, forward-thinking outlook, we are proud to deliver the very best in products and service across the water, environmental and construction industries.

We know that each customer and each project is unique. We are proud to deliver bespoke installation, site surveys and exceptional customer service from our extensive network of rental branches across the UK. We have delivered thousands of installations, from small to large scale, all with exceptional customer service. Our customers include Anglian Water, Canal & River Trust, Wessex Water, Network Rail, E-On, Dorset County Council, United Utilities, Scottish Power, Morrison Utility Services, Skanska, Tarmac and Galliford Try. We invest in our employees heavily and always ensure that our staff are trained to the highest industry standards.

We develop our own British made diesel and hydraulic pumps for rental use worldwide and are at the forefront in utilising submersible pumps.

Selwood’s extensive product range includes: • The Selwood Seltorque vortex pumps, which are the foundation on which the company’s international reputation has been built.

These ‘S Range’ pumps are available from 4” to 12”, with solids handling capabilities of up to 5” and total heads of 32m. We have

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just introduced the S150M, a medium head addition to Selwood’s solids handling range.

• The Selwood ‘C Range’ C150 chopper pump - the ideal solution for pumping solids, sludge and rags. Super silent options are also available.

• Our ‘D Range’ offers robust high performance pumps from 3” to 8”, particularly suitable for water companies, pump hirers and high-flow applications • Our specialist “H Range” pumps, available from 3” to 8”, are ideal for high head de-watering, with up to 158m heads for quarrying and mining. Our ‘H Range’ also features abrasive resistant pump ends, ideal for those more arduous applications. Super silent options are available on most models.

Selwood’s pumping solutions specialists offer assistance, site surveys and advice from a nationwide network of pump rental branches.

To find your local branch, visit www.selwood.co.uk or call 03330 142 000.

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Exsel Pumps ‘the’ credible alternative Specialist pump hire solution provider for sewage applications Exsel Pumps has become the credible alternative to the more traditional national pump hire companies operating in the UK. That is the feedback the Exsel Team are getting as more and more water companies and their contractors become aware of Exsel Pumps’ capabilities. The feedback received goes further with a clear indication that there is a real need for an alternative temporary pump solutions provider particularly for sewage applications.

what makes Exsel the credible alternative is a number of factors:

The feedback has resulted in Exsel developing the coverage of the successful business model to now provide a national capability for its Special Projects Team. Until recently Exsel has operated successfully on a number of significant sewage pumping projects for seven water companies as an approved supplier, but has advertised the fact – until now.

• Larger pump and pipework offerings up to 48” discharge (1,200mm) diameter

Exsel Pumps is part of the Turner Group of companies headquartered in Glasgow with Exsel depots in the South, East and North of the country. The Turner Group has a turnover of £250 m with over 2,000 employees operating in 24 diverse companies. The Group operates a number of companies in Asset Rental industries with capabilities such as generators, vehicles, tankers, specialist access, portable cold storage and of course pumps.

• Unrivalled pump controls with latest level control and remote technology

Exsel Pumps Listens to the Customer Feedback

When the feedback is analysed as to why Exsel has been so successful and therefore

• Independent of any manufacturers – the right equipment for the application • Genuine temporary pumping solutions, particularly for sewage applications • Full service support capability including effective and safe installations

• Genuine out of hours reactive capability • Genuine rag handling capability of pumping equipment • Lowest pump energy/fuel consumption

Being an independent supplier Exsel can use its extensive pumping experience to select the right and most up to date equipment for the application. Not being tied to any particular manufacturer or own manufacture enables this capability. The majority of equipment in traditional national fleets is of a technology that is over 20 years old, despite the shiny canopy that packages the unit. The key factor this brings is the lack of efficiency and effectivity of the products that will affect pumping capability. Particularly, rag handling and energy consumption.

There is a level of complacency with the traditional companies that is driven by a lack of credible competition

• Focused on pumping without diversion

The larger rental companies, that also operate plant and tools, have the financial capability. But they don’t have the expertise and tend to focus on basic pumping such as dewatering on construction sites to support their existing customer base. But this tends to be a cyclic capability where prices are driven down to a point where it is not viable to hire out such pumps and then these companies pull out of pumping. But these companies cannot provide solutions for sewage pumping.

• Customer focus and interpreting the Customer’s needs in partnership

Consider the traditional national pump hire companies. This is the area of complacency

• Reliability and capability with younger fleet and maintenance regime • Innovative and cost effective solutions • Up to date fleet with higher efficiencies and lower running costs • Financial stability and strong Group investment – here for the long-term

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WASTEWATER TECHNOLOGY AND TREATMENT z

where for decades they have been in operation, most with a fleet of pumps designed in the same era and now offering a reduced level of service and capability. There is no doubt that once these are good reputable pumping companies. But it is sad to notice that they have lost the pumping skills, knowledge and attitude. They have also not developed their fleet capability to keep up with modern technology. They haven’t really needed to with the lack of real competition.

It is the customer therefore that effectively will suffer in the long term. No doubt the customer will get cheaper prices because the traditional companies can push a twenty year old pump out at the lowest price. But is that pump reliable, is it capable of handling sewage and is it really the lowest whole life cost of hire?

There are higher levels of fines being imposed for sewage and diesel spills and the necessity for reliable and effective pumping solutions is paramount when handling sewage. This is a serious consideration for the water companies where most sewage plants are near to water courses or the sea. The potential cumulative damage in terms of environmental and financial impact by using the cheapest equipment is therefore enhanced.

Consider the Whole-life Cost of Hire Consider the whole life cost of hire. Water companies do so with capital purchases, quite rightly as energy costs are generally the highest portion in the life of an installed product. So why not consider the same for a temporary pumping solution?

If a single 6” diesel sewage pump can save over £600 per running week in fuel costs compared to a cheaper rate option, with no loss of performance and with genuine rag handling capability, why would it not be considered?

Consider then two such pumps running on a temporary project for one month. The fuel savings are around £4,800 for what is a typical application. Saving £50 (25%) or £100 (50%) on the weekly rate therefore has no significance.

It is not considered as it has not previously been offered. Yet time and again the rate is the benchmark to which water companies will always look at and it is a smoke-screen.

The technology and equipment is out there with diesel pumps to provide this fuel saving.

But not in traditional fleets that are tied to specific manufacturers or to their own manufacture. The cost of developing a new fleet of pumps is very expensive and it is no wonder the traditional companies avoid this issue. That is why Exsel is able to be that

credible alternative as its sewage diesel fleet utilises these pumps as standard.

Alternative Offerings by Exsel Pumps Provide the Full Capability

But there are also other alternatives to diesel pumps that are not generally offered by the traditional pump hire companies. Again the main reason is that they don’t have the equipment in their fleets.

Exsel Pumps is also able to offer a range of immersible pumps from 3” (80mm) to 32” (800mm) discharge that can operate in dry well, immersed and submerged applications.

But importantly, they can also be provided surface mounted with vacuum priming systems that allow a multitude of capabilities.

Add to this the control equipment with level controls and variable speed drives along with remote monitoring.

Exsel has been involved in sewage and other projects where the traditional pump hire companies have walked away and not been able to offer a solution. The Exsel capabilities have ensured a solution could be provided including the full installation and pump management. Therefore, Exsel has already proven to be a credible alternative as a specialist temporary pump solution provider.

the credible

alternative Exsel Pumps is independent of manufacturers and therefore is a recognised credible alternative to the existing pump rental companies offering genuine innovative temporary pumping solutions.

• National major pump project capability

• PLC control capability

• Pumps up to 32” (800mm) diameter discharge

• Genuine rag handling pumps

• Pipework up to 48” (1200mm) diameter

• Independence from manufacturers to choose the right equipment

• Full installation capability nationally

• Lowest fuel and energy costs

Contact us: Fareham Depot:

Unit G5 Fort Wallington Ind Est Military Road, Fareham Hampshire PO16 8TT Tel: 01329 229800

Kent Depot:

Unit 4 Vicarage Lane Ind Est Vicarage Lane Hoo, Rochester, Kent ME3 9LB Tel: 01634 253635

A

Leeds Depot:

Lotherton Way Garforth, Leeds West Yorkshire LS25 2JY Tel: 0113 3854579

Group Company

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who else?

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Little space, lack of oxygen and hazardous substances Workers in the water treatment industry who enter the confined spaces of ducts, manholes and vaults need to trust that they can also get back out again safely.

Although the definition of a confined space varies between jurisdictions, which leads to numerous local regulations, it is generally recognised as;

the situations with the highest accident rates are: Repair and maintenance work (24 percent of recorded cases), followed by cleaning work (12 percent) and inspections (11 percent).

• A space that is mostly covered by permanent walls.

What are the most common causes of accidents?

• A space with typically little air exchange.

• A space where hazards due to substances, contamination or compounds which exceed the normal danger level can occur.

Confined spaces include, but are not limited to, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, pits, manholes, tunnels, equipment housings, ductwork, and pipelines.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) of the UN and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), USA, estimates that worldwide around 200 people die each year due to accidents in confined spaces in industry, agriculture, and private households.

Approximately two thirds of these accidents were caused by toxic atmospheres, which in 70 percent of the cases had prevailed there even before entering the spaces.

Official national statistics rarely contain all accidents and the precise extent of its consequences (type of injury, severity of the injury, deaths). According to a study performed by the University of Berkeley, California/USA,

The causes of accidents which occur during confined space entry work in the wastewater treatment industry vary: They include a lack of, or insufficient assessment of the danger, underestimating the danger, or the use of personnel who don’t have training for confined space entry work, despite all of the regulations. Other potential causes include underestimating the concentration of gases inside the canal or structure (oxygen content – OX, explosion risk – EX, toxicity – TOX) or unexpected biological processes such as rotting and fermenting processes.

Workers and/or supervisors may have received training on how to behave in confined spaces, but they may have insufficient knowledge of how to use gas measurement and breathing protection equipment.

Knowledge, skill and experience are often lacking even when it comes to checking the atmosphere inside a space immediately before the start of work. Errors in judgement often result because the measurement is taken at

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the wrong location: During entry into a shaft, it is possible for CO2 or digester gas (a mixture including CH4, CO2, H2S, O2, and H2) to have formed and settled at different heights. This means that the atmosphere can appear safe when measuring from a safe position, while dangerous gas concentrations are present when the person bends down into the shaft.

So it is important for workers in these areas to always carry a mobile gas measurement device and emergency escape equipment directly on their bodies. In addition to digester gases, the gases which are flammable and/ or poisonous at certain concentrations and are typically found in wastewater treatment facilities include CH4, CO2, H2S, O3, CL2, NH3 and VOC's. The formation of digester gas can also result in a lack of oxygen. An elevated oxygen concentration, for example due to leaking lines on welding equipment, can lead to the spontaneous combustion of oils and fats and also explosions. To ensure that the workers are protected when gases are present whilst working in confined space, they should use breathing protection.

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z WASTEWATER TECHNOLOGY AND TREATMENT

Eliquo Hydrok Asset Life Optimisation really works!

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

Following the plants OM guidelines for all operational procedures is the obvious first stage to maintain optimal performance, however inevitably time has an affect and remedial action is required to ensure the treatment works are operating at their best.

Eliquo Hydrok can provide a complete managed solution to various process upgrades, asset refurbishment, planned and reactive maintenance and asset optimisation. As principal contractor, or in a subcontractor capacity, this kind of work requires a knowledgeable cleaning of the asset sympathetic to the fitted technology and an understanding of the operational functionality with care and due diligence for the whole project.

For example, a project at Flag Fen WwTW for Anglian Water/@One Alliance demonstrates the service: • It was highlighted that the inlet screens were possibly allowing rag and debris through to the works and that much of this was collecting and settling in the aeration lanes.

Debris laden diffusers at Flag Fen • March 2015 the @One Alliance notified Eliquo Hydrok of a decline in the performance of the Activated Sludge Plant.

• The draining down of Lane 2 revealed large quantities of rag and sludge within the tank on the aeration pipework/diffusers and a sticky deposit coating the diffuser membranes.

• Eliquo Hydrok carried out inspection and tests on samples of the worst affected diffusers and concluded that most could be cleaned to restore the performance close to “as new”.

• Eliquo Hydrok were contracted to carry out the physical washing and acid cleaning

of the fine bubble diffusers that remained serviceable and the replacement of a small number of the most badly contaminated diffusers in all 3 lanes. This work was carried out by draining and cleaning individual lanes in sequence and the refurbishment was and on completion, the ASP was returned to service to the original design performance.

To discuss how Eliquo Hydrok can help in asset life optimisation contact Jason Howe, jason.howe@eliquohydrok.co.uk or Ian Hammond, ian.hammond@eliquohydrok. co.uk or call 01726 861900

ASSET LIFE OPTIMISATION Extending the life of an asset with planning Asset optimisation Planned and reactive maintenance Asset renovation and refurbishment Pipe work and process modifications

Acting as principal contractor or subcontractor, a complete managed solution.

Before and after

Tank and lane cleaning Temporary treatment processes

ELIQUO HYDROK LTD I T 01726 861 900 I sales@eliquohydrok.co.uk

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www.eliquohydrok.co.uk

Cobra Hydro offer a complete solution What we do Cobra Hydro UK is a fast expanding company for the design, manufacture, and installation, of odour control systems, sludge dosing applications, and dust suppression requirements, across the United Kingdom, and most recently, internationally.

Environmentally Friendly Protecting the environment is always at the forefront of our minds. Therefore, we choose to use environmentally friendly products such as Atom AD which is used in not only odour control equipment, but the food industry too.

Qualified Personnel Cobra Hydro UK produces all equipment in house, to a very high standard, and employs qualified personnel in the manufacture, and installation of this equipment. We carry out a full site survey, and consult with the client at every stage of the process, to ensure all their requirements have been met, and if necessary we can design one-off units, to meet the client’s specific requirements.

Cobra-ANL

Dry Vapour Unit

• By adding Cobra ANL to sewage, the sulphide in the sewage water is removed • Effictively and safely removes H2S • Effective in Sludge, Compost and Wastewater • Environmentally Friendly • Highly effective at low dosing • No tanker deliveries

• No water supply needed • Can be used anywhere (inside buildings, open yards, exhaust stacks and ventilation systems) • Has an immediate impact • Simple to operate and install • No need for large storage tanks • Economical to use

Network Anti Odour Filters • Minimising the effects of chemicals • (Odourful and Odourless) coming from sewage systems • Safe, quick and user friendly installation Comes in various sizes • Has high absorption capacity very good mechanical strength and absorption capacity

Tel: 01794 522672 Email: sales@cobrahydrouk.co.uk Web: cobrahydrouk.co.uk Unit 9, Greatbridge Business Park, Budds Lane, Romsey, Hampshire, SO51 0HA

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The Importance of Backwater Protection – ‘Prevention is better than cure’ You’ve heard of the old saying ‘prevention is better than cure’... well that’s certainly true when it comes to protecting our buildings from water and sewerage backflow.

With the frequency of heavy rainfall predicted to increase, effective backwater protection devices are becoming an essential component in the battle against property flooding. Not only that, but local authorities and insurance companies require such protection!

IPS Flow Systems recently added the Universal Water and Rodent Non-Return Valve (NRV) to its range of flood protection products.

The new WAR Non-Return Valve is the first of its kind; the unique shape and design allows it to open clear of sewer walls on both straight and bent inlets making it the first Universal Non-Return Valve available for all 110mm/4” pipes.

This valve has a unique design, with a shaped, stainless steel reinforced flap that has an integrated mechanism that allows it to be locked watertight. This revolutionary product has been designed and manufactured in

the UK and offers protection from flooding, rodents and noxious fumes.

The lockable handle allows you to close down entry pipes to inspection chambers to allow uninterrupted maintenance.

50% of all flood damage is caused by backflow of sewers into properties via sanitary pipework. The Universal Water & Rodent NRV is a simple, cost effective start in protecting your property.

110mm/4” UNIVERSAL FIT DESIGN

WATER & RODENT NON-RETURN VALVE

The new WAR Non Return Valve is the first of it’s kind.

The unique shape and design allows it to open clear of sewer walls on both straight and bent inlets making it the first Universal Non Return Valve available for all 110mm/4” pipes.

Please scan the QR code to order now, or for further details contact our sales team on Freephone: 0800 975 7971.

IPS Flow Systems, Seaham Grange Industrial Estate, Seaham, Co Durham, SR7 0PT Tel: 0191 521 3111 www.ipsflowsystems.com

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

Financial Awareness for Managers: Boring and irrelevant?

It’s only boring and irrelevant if there is too much of this The problem

Imagine it from the learner’s perspective: you are an operational person focused on the here and now and you are facing a week of “current assets” and “debtors due after 12 months”.

Worst of all, the tutor is a financial whizz but who lives in a world of spreadsheets and reports. Nightmare.

The solution

My solution, which I know from student feedback, is to use every day concepts to introduce and embed ideas before introducing the technical terms. Even better, relate the concepts and ideas to the students current work. Add in lots of discussions and working on practical examples together and you have something that students like.

And not enough of this!

I used this approach in March for two cohorts of “Managing financial Resources in the water industry”. Did it work? You judge.

Feedback Cohort 1 average feedback score 98 % Cohort 2 average feedback score 89 %

But did they learn anything?

Judged formally: everybody passed the end of course test with many learners scoring in the 90s and each student submitted a highquality assignment which easily met the requirements of the awarding body.

Less formally: I loved watching them come to understand that their pay rise was the company’s increased cost of sales, and that cashflow was important and needed to be managed.

Away from work they quickly related discussions on interest to their mortgages with a number setting up overpayments to reduce their mortgage term.

I think we can say that they learned.

More formal proof of learning Would you like more formal evidence of learning? How about before and after assessments for each topic area with assessments conducted online and results reported by student and class?

I can offer this.

“Over the moon with Bob. Great learning techniques and slide shows really helped in our learning. Makes the course so much better with a knowledgeable trainer. Thanks very much Bob, it’s been great.”

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My offer

I can offer bespoke training or accredited financial awareness courses. You tell me what you want to achieve and I will tailor a solution for you.

As examples: You want “Financial awareness for scientists” or “Financial awareness for engineers”. Because of my wide industry experience I can put together carefully tailored courses for both, based on the subject matter but based on a CABWI standard.

Even better, I will know both the technical subject and the financial elements well and am able to interact authoritatively with the students in language they can understand.

And I can do this for Operational manager and project and programme managers if that’s more your thing.

Delivery

I will come to you, deliver the training and conduct the assessments. All assessments will be subject to independent internal and external verification.

Interested? call me or drop me a line.

M: 07554 994855 E: bob@windmillinsights.co.uk

Me in a nutshell

40 years’ water industry experience

Water, Wastewater Scientific and Managerial roles, 9 positions in 27 years with a regional water company Head of Research for EU Skills

Head of Quality for a licenced water company

Cranfield MSC, MBA, Chartered Scientist

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

WATER TREATMENT WORKS

Smart Tanks / Smart Networks How the internet of things can deliver best in class water quality.

Panton McLeod are excited to be working with US industry leaders PAX Water Technologies to help revolutionise the way water quality is managed across distribution networks.

The suite of solutions provided by Panton McLeod and PAX Water Technologies offer the industry the opportunity to make a major step change in terms of improving water quality compliance while also reducing operational costs, energy and chemical usage.

Using smart monitoring, powerful yet energy efficient mixing, accurate dosing, intelligent THM removal and responsive residual control software the distribution network can manage itself. The combined impact results in reducing customer contacts and preventing water quality failures.

Panton McLeod’s Paul Henderson explains, “the traditional approach to treatment and distribution considers each as a separate phase, water is produced ‘manufactured’ to the highest standard under closely controlled factory like conditions before being sent out through distributions assets with the goal of maintaining sufficient quality through to the customers taps.”

“To enable the water to make this journey and retain sufficient residual it is often highly chlorinated before it sets off, and although this does safeguard against bacteriological growth it can lead to increased levels of regulated DBPs (disinfection by-products) such as THMs (trihalomethanes).”

“Higher chlorine levels can also create customer contacts for taste and odour, but even with high chlorine, or chloramine residuals the monitoring of the distribution system is often quite rudimental.”

“When things go wrong, water companies are quick to act, but this means the intervention has been too late, even when they do intervene their decision making is based on estimations and misinformation.”

“With increasing competition in the market, ever rising compliance standards, customer expectations and pressure on operating budgets it is time to take a step back and think about the challenge again.”

It all starts with a mixer Storage assets such as service reservoirs provide essential resilience to supplies, and are as such, a buffer in the distributions system. Although regularly sampled, most reservoirs are designed to store water, and not create sufficient mixing, water often short circuits from inlet to outlet with the remaining water stagnating in dead zones.

Asset owners can assess the quality of the water before it enters, and as it leaves, but sampling the true condition of the water within the whole asset is not possible. This results in interventions including secondary chlorine boosting being made without sufficient knowledge of the condition of the body of water held within.

The installation of an energy efficient active PAX mixer provides several immediate benefits, these include removal of the dead zones leading to consistent water quality across the whole asset, greater disinfection efficiency, reduced sedimentation, lower levels of biofilm formation and the ability to rely on the outlet sample as a true representation of the stored water quality.

Residual Control Whether chlorine or chloramine is used as the primary disinfectant, a healthy and well managed residual is essential to protect public health, prevent bacteriological failures and avoid customer contacts.

Failure to efficiently dose the stored water can increase DBPs or lead to raised incidents of nitrification. Traditional methods of residual control involve manual sampling, or automated sampling without the benefits of a well-mixed tank, neither offer an appropriate solution.

By installing a fully automated MonoclorTM RCS (residual control system) a storage tank can monitor its own residual and intervene to maintain a predetermined level of compliance.

The MonoclorTM RCS achieves this through constantly monitoring the residual within the well mixed tank. The water quality station and MonoclorTM RCS Smart controller work in conjunction with an automated dosing skid to deliver chlorine or chlorine and ammonia at the point of need, and the active feedback loop ensures free chlorine or monochloramine remain at target levels.

THM Removal In addition to managing residual levels within the distribution network it is also possible to extend treatment processes past the fence line of the water treatment works.

The PAX TRSTM (Trihalomethane Removal System) is a chemical free, energy optimised solution to remove THMs through a combination of mixing, aeration and ventilation technology.

Due to the nature of THMs, which form over time through the reaction of natural organics

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and chlorine, the system can be deployed at specific areas within the distribution system.

This targeted investment provides cost savings when compared to alternative solutions which focus on treating 100% of the works output.

The PAX TRSTM system also provides guaranteed success against the predetermined process goal.

The network effect By connecting smart assets through Scada integration, a smart network can be created and controlled from a central point. This holistic approach to network management allows greater control than previously possible.

Experienced network operators are still able to provide governance and oversight, monitoring station performance is calibrated and verified, and the elimination of manual interventions removes the risk of human error.

Water quality is protected and maintained across the whole storage network whether that be large strategic reservoirs early in the system, or smaller local storage points at the furthest point from the treatment works where water age can traditionally affect water quality performance.

MonoclorTM RCS systems provide stable disinfectant residuals and prevent the risk of nitrification, and where required, PAX TRSTM systems manage THM levels and improve resilience of supply by allowing retention times to be increased.

Best in class water quality A step change in improving water quality performance without significantly increasing operational cost can only be achieved by considering the challenge in a new way “smart distributed treatment” provides that solution.

Networks of smart assets provide an energy efficient means of protecting and improving water quality from treatment to tap. Intelligent active feedback controls remove the need to deploy operational staff, and efficient disinfection prevents compliance failures and customer contacts.

To find out more about how Panton McLeod and PAX Water Technlogisies can support you contact Paul Henderson at paul.henderson@pantonmcleod.co.uk

Improving Water Quality throughout the network

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z NEWS

Confined Space Services • Asset inspection, cleaning and reactive repair • Low pressure/DWI approved cleaning • Effective against cryptosporidium

WATER TREATMENT WORKS

Pipeline Inspection • Cable-less leak detection • Up to 50km sections • Acoustic & HD video

Robotic Cleaning • Asset remains in service • No confined space entry • Onsite waste water treatment

Relining Preparation • Restore hydraulic capacity • Dust-free, trenchless process • Dries pipe for immediate lining

Mixing and In-Tank Treatment • THM Removal • Residual control & optimisation • Eliminate stagnation

Other Services Available • Emergency response • Training & consultancy • Well remediation • Industrial & Process water • Raw water services

Robotic Inspection • Asset remains in service • Prioritise investment • No confined space entry

New Asset Commissioning • Pipeline pressure testing • Cleaning and disinfection • Onsite waste water treatment

Tel: 01896 663 330 info@pantonmcleod.co.uk www.pantonmcleod.co.uk 2

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z DATA AND ANALYTICS

Treating data as a valuable asset to become WISER Data is changing our world and the way we live and work at an unprecedented pace. It is transforming the way the water industry operates and is becoming increasingly critical. With the massive growth in data and the Internet of Things, plus rapidly evolving methods for analysing data, the importance of data across every aspect of the water sector will only intensify.

Natalie Jakomis Head of Data, Welsh Water

Undoubtedly the sheer amount of data water utilities are creating is big, but the expression ‘big data’ is far too basic, focusing on the volume instead of the tremendous opportunities data and analytics create. There needs to be a better phrase that describes the enormous shift in technology, culture and the world. It doesn’t matter how much data water utilities have, it is whether they use it successfully to generate actionable insight that is essential.

Using data strategically In order to succeed, water utilities must begin to question everything, starting with their strategy. If water companies want to become a data business, they need a robust and inclusive data strategy covering decision making, operations and data as a business asset, otherwise known as monetisation.

Welsh Water’s data strategy is known as WISER (Welsh Water Information Strategy Enterprise Roadmap). The aim, is for the business to govern and manage its data in a disciplined and co-ordinated manner to optimise the value of our investment in data assets, support effective and efficient operations, mitigate legal and regulatory risk and ultimately improve the delivery of services to our customers and stakeholders.

The data strategy acts as a roadmap for what Welsh Water want to achieve and

what we need to put in place for that to happen, including firstly a comprehensive data governance programme, that acts as the building blocks for the analytics, followed by data collection methods, analytical tools, infrastructure investments and upskilling the Data Science talent and other data teams across the business. As well as a sequence of actions, it is about creating a data culture and moving beyond data silos to a more joined up approach where everyone across the business understands the value of data as a key business asset and data becomes at the heart of all decision making and business operations. The pressure on water companies today are ever increasing; pressures to comply with regulatory and industry standards; to reduce cost and improve efficiencies; to meet customer expectations and pressures to operate in an uncertain and constantly changing economy.

To be able to meet these demands, the water industry must rely on combining consistent, accurate and reliable data to provide real insights that can be used to improve knowledge, understanding and decision making about the business, operations and ultimately the customer. Consequently a successful data governance programme is the cornerstone for data transformation and requires strategy, people, process and technology. It is important for water and wastewater companies to think about these components in this precise order. Some companies make the mistake of acquiring technology before they have fully outlined the strategy, people and process components of their data governance program. This typically results in problems because the requirements of the technology cannot be clear without first defining the path of the data governance program.

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Data in practice For Welsh Water, the ultimate goal of data governance is to deliver business value quicker and with greater accuracy, by saving money; ensuring data reliability, consistency and repeatability; guiding all current and future analytic activities and improving confidence and clarity. A compelling technology platform that is adaptable to changes in the technology environment is crucial to provide the agility required to meet the needs of the business.

There are three analytical buckets for a water utility – product and device analytics; network and operational analytics, and customer and employee analytics. The first focuses on physical items within the water sector, such as equipment and machines. For example, undertaking predictive maintenance which predicts when certain equipment or devices are in need of maintenance, what sort of maintenance, or the likely maintenance and replacement materials. Or carrying out maintenance scheduling optimisation which improves the planning of resources, in order to optimise the replacement and upgrading of failing or under-performing parts of products.

Else, balancing maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) inventory with predictive maintenance needs in order to reduce inventory costs and minimise obsolete and excessive inventory via maintenance MRO inventory optimisation.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

Analytics about networks and operations can include predictive models to reduce the likelihood of non-compliance within water or wastewater operations; network performance optimisation that predicts and optimises waste or water network performance across multiple usage scenarios. Or it can include identifying, monitoring and preemptively predicting the failure of unplanned operational, network or resource interruption at assets to reduce unplanned downtime.

One successful example of operational analytics within Welsh Water is the service reservoir (SRV) bacteriological predictive model that provides a ‘risk score’ for every sample taken at each SRV, essentially providing the likelihood of a sample failure occurring. The model has been deployed and embedded within the water operational teams to help maximise compliance and enhance the benefits of predictive analytics in the reservoir management process. A second example is a waste initiative, known as the Treatment Performance Forecasting (TPF) model, where models have been constructed to predict effluent non-consent at wastewater treatment works for Ammonia, Biological Oxygen Demand and Total Suspended Solids.

Improving customer service Water utilities are one of many business-toconsumer industries that can benefit directly from data and analytics. Data allows water

DATA AND ANALYTICS z

and wastewater companies to map the DNA of their customers and if water companies ensure the privacy of their customers is not threatened, data and analytics can deliver personalised insights that provide a holistic view of their customers. The benefits of such knowledge and understanding can help the water industry better understand customer sentiment and water usage; improve customer engagement; influence Service Incentive Mechanism (SIM) and customer behaviour enabling companies to obtain a customer centric view of their world and organise information accordingly to support the needs of their increasingly vocal and social customers.

Today’s consumers expect their water utilities to provide the same high standards of customer and user experience, as the on-line social networks and e-commerce leaders provide their customers, especially with the media attention given to ‘smart’ infrastructure upgrades. It is imperative for

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water and waste water companies to take the long view and build a robust and competitive data capability to manage their data and information, and support their future business operations in an efficient and sustainable manner.

Data and analysis is no longer just for data people. Water utilities need to ensure that data has equal attention on the same level as customer, operational and talent strategies, especially given developments in robotics and artificial intelligence that will naturally have an impact on business models and every day operations within the water sector.

Data can help water utilities run their operations more efficiently, reduce costs and risks, improve compliance, better understand customers and help provide a targeted and personalised customer service. It is an exciting time for the water industry, and data is as the centre of it. www.dwrcymru.com

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z DATA AND ANALYTICS

British Water seeks case studies for data and analytics library • Contributions will feed into data and analytics code of practice • Unsolved challenges sought along with successful projects • Data and analytics driving major efficiencies in water British Water’s Data & Analytics Focus Group is calling on professionals from the water and utilities sector to contribute case studies and unsolved challenges. A searchable, universally accessible digital library is being created by the group to share examples of best practice and encourage collaboration.

director at SEAMS. He says the data and analytics library, which will be hosted on British Water’s website, should include examples from all levels and areas of business and operations.

British Water technical director Marta Perez said, “We would like as many case studies as possible from within the water industry and from other relevant sectors. Data is where the big efficiency gains in water can be made, but there is still a lot for utilities, large water users, academics and practitioners across the supply chain to learn.”

“The remit is very broad, from the data capture that feeds into strategy planning for the fiveyear price reviews UK utilities have to produce, down to where in the network monitoring devices are placed.

The Data & Analytics Focus Group brings together experts on data capturing, processing and usage from across the industry and is open to all British Water members. The application stories will feed into a code of practice currently under development by the Group.

Joe Roebuck is convenor of the Data & Analytics Focus Group and business analytics

Broad remit

“Examples could come from asset management, customer service, process efficiency, leakage, water quality, cyber security and health & safety. We are also interested to find best practice in the visualisation and communication of data – how to match data display and dashboards to different users.”

Roebuck says the group also would like to hear about the outstanding and emerging issues facing utilities and large water users on the data and analytics front, as well as completed projects.

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“What are the challenges facing end-users?” he asks, and “what do they need from the supply chain?

“Better understanding and huge efficiencies can be achieved when the correct data is gathered and analysed appropriately. A rich bank of application stories and industry challenges will help the group develop a robust code of practice.”

Submissions should be made on the specially designed template, which can be downloaded here www.britishwater.co.uk/data--analytics. aspx or requested directly by emailing Marta.Perez@britishwater.co.uk. The deadline for the first wave of submissions is 31st July 2017.

The next meeting of the British Water Data & Analytics Focus Group is 7 September 2017.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

DATA AND ANALYTICS z

Collaboration offers benefits in corporate water sustainability Corporate water users are looking to underpin their business and sustainability strategies with real-time data and analysis in water risk management and new partnerships and collaborations are expected to emerge to accommodate this change.

One of the first is a pairing between global technology company Microsoft and water management specialist Ecolab.

In an interview with Jim Hanna, Director of Datacenter Sustainability for Microsoft and Emilio Tenuta, Vice President for Corporate Sustainability, Ecolab, BlueTech Research Chief Executive Paul O’Callaghan finds out more.

Jim Hanna

Emilio Tenuta

Collaboration between companies providing IT and water management services can deliver major benefits in corporate water sustainability.

Emilio Tenuta, Ecolab’s Vice President of Corporate Sustainability, explains how their relationship with Microsoft came about, saying: “We’ve been a customer of Microsoft for some time, as users of their CRM [customer relationship management] platform and they’ve also been a customer of ours. We’ve been working in their data centres from a water management perspective.”

Jim Hanna, Director of Datacenter Sustainability for Microsoft says: “The partnership with Ecolab means we can leverage our understanding of these types of large-scale partnerships along with the technology and make it happen.

“Microsoft plans to be part of that conversation in the long-term. But for me, it’s also about creating a virtuous cycle of improvement in the cloud, powered by the cloud. That means using these cloud-enabled insights to drive new efficiencies within our data centres.”

One visible outcome of the Microsoft-Ecolab partnership is the Water Risk Monetizer, industry’s first publicly available financial modeling tool, which enables businesses to factor current and future water risks into decision-making and was developed by Ecolab in partnership with Microsoft and Trucost.

Jim Hanna says: “Research suggests that half of the world’s population will be dealing with water stress conditions, where demand for water exceeds supply, by 2030.

Clearly, these are unprecedented times and in unprecedented times, you need unconventional partnerships.”

Emilio Tenuta explains further, “One of the things that we’ve been working with Microsoft on is risk related to water at different sites around the world.

“For any company, the first step is to assess the monetised risk in order to identify and prioritise where to implement water strategies. The second part is understanding how water is being utilised in those hot spots. Finally, once a company understands

where these opportunities for solutions and expertise are, they can begin to manage water differently.”

Ecolab and Microsoft have worked closely together to address water challenges at Microsoft’s data centre in the US city of San Antonio.

“Obviously Texas has been facing its share of water stress,” says Tenuta, “so at the San Antonio data centre we were looking to better understand the amount of fresh water that was used for the critical cooling system to cool the servers. We wanted to optimise that fresh water use.”

Jim Hanna and Emilio Tenuta co-presented a keynote address at BlueTech Forum on 7 June.

“For any company, the first step is to assess the monetised risk in order to identify and prioritise where to implement water strategies. The second part is understanding how water is being utilised in those hot spots. Finally, once a company understands where these opportunities for solutions and expertise are, they can begin to manage water differently.”

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z DATA AND ANALYTICS

Big Data…The Internet of Things…

We hear a lot about them, and increasingly all of our lives are being affected by them.

What might they mean for water management?

In this article I’m focusing on the drainage networks that we rely on to live as we do in a highly urbanised society. Imagine living without sewers and road drainage to take away our waste and the runoff when it rains.

But how much do we really know about these systems – where they are, what maintenance do they need to remain serviceable, how long they will last, how will they cope with increases in population and a changing climate? Worryingly, the answer is ‘surprising little’.

That’s not to say the industry has not made a lot of progress. In the last 50 years we have seen innovations such as CCTV to capture images of the inside of sewer pipes, sophisticated computer models to predict the hydraulic performance of networks, and computer databases replacing paper sewer records. Where these good things mostly fail, however, is to recognise that sewer networks are not static entities – they change over time.

Their serviceability changes as sediment is moved around the system affected by high and low flows during wet and dry weather.

Their condition changes as they deteriorate structurally, in response to intrinsic and extrinsic influences that we can’t predict. The flow in them changes as areas are urbanised or redeveloped, as populations age through rearing families through to living alone in old age, as water saving measures reduce dry weather flow and as rainfall patterns change.

Not only is the sewer system a hugely valuable asset that allows us to live in urban centres as we do. It is also a very expensive asset, probably well in excess of £500bn replacement value. It accounts for 68% of the total value of the regulated water companies’ infrastructure and non-infrastructure assets. Wholesale replacement would be unthinkable, so it is timely that as a nation we are now addressing

sustainable futures for these national assets.

In 2016, UK Governments’ Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) published ‘Creating a great place to live’, its strategy to 2020, including enabling resilience in the water sector. Defra now expects sewerage companies to understand the condition of their assets, including any deterioration. In just three sentences, in paragraph 48 of their strategy document, Defra have articulated the reason why big data and analytics will be key tools for managing sewer networks – water companies will have to understand the condition of their assets and their rates of deterioration. Focussing attention only on the 20% so-called ‘critical’ sewers and letting the rest go hang will no longer do. Defra recognises that better data will be needed to support the process. New technology to replace the old ‘snapshot’ methods of data collection such as CCTV surveys and shortterm flow surveys should now be embraced.

A good example of the current state of the art in data and analytics for sewer and drainage networks, is Acoustic Sensing Technology’s SewerBatt™ Vision system. SewerBatt Vision™ is being used by water companies, highways and rail network managers to quickly and economically gather data about the whole of their systems not once, but repeatedly. The acoustic data is collected in a few minutes, processed automatically into information about the pipe and then immediately sent to the Cloud. From here, utilities can plan both immediate and longer-term evidence-based intervention strategies, and a number of asset owners are already using SewerBatt™ Vision in rolling, long term programmes to routinely inspect all of their drainage assets. Through better understanding of what condition their drainage assets are in and how they are changing, utility companies no longer have to

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rely on fixed-interval scheduled maintenance programs, and can move towards a ‘just in time’ maintenance strategy instead of a ‘justtoo-late’ clearing up visit after the flood.

What does this mean for the utility companies? They hold the liability of ensuring these vast infrastructure networks provide the required levels of service to their customers and to the environment. Systems like SewerBatt™ Vision that through data and analytics provide actionable insights into the performance of entire networks and how it changes over time will become the norm for asset management. This will allow utility companies to plan their investment decisions from a position of strength. One of the most important things that the big data revolution facilitates is the breaking down of data silos.

The best insights come from combining different data sets. SewerBatt™ Vision can combine serviceability data with other wholenetwork data such as the consequences of failure. Big data analytics that take account of which pipes are losing serviceability combined with consequence data about which buildings would be flooded, which roads and to what depth and where pollution will occur will become routine. This will allow utility companies to focus investment not just on the worst pipes or where the consequence of failure is greatest. Instead, a true risk-based approach will give the best value for customers and the utility companies.

Regulators impose severe penalties for failure to perform. SewerBatt™ Vision empowers utility companies to be in control of outcomes.

Richard Long

Chief Technology Officer Acoustic Sensing Technology Ltd

SewerBatt Vision Empowering sewer and drainage network operators to do the right thing in the right place at the right time.

Saving time and money, reducing flooding and pollution, improving service for customers.

Making sewer network performance visible.

What is SewerBatt™ Vision?

SewerBatt™ Vision uses acoustic technology to very quickly and economically find out if pipes are serviceable and communicate that knowledge back to the people that need to know. This avoids unnecessary CCTV survey and cleaning and focuses interventions where they are needed.

The outcome? Flooding and pollution are reduced, customers get a better service, the asset owner saves money and reduces risk.

What can SewerBatt™ Vision do for me?

SewerBatt™ Vision empowers owners and operators of drainage systems.

Be they water companies, highway authorities, rail infrastructure operators or industrial site managers, SewerBatt™ Vision is creating new insights about unserviceability and deterioration.

How can an acoustic technology give me ‘Vision’?

SewerBatt™ Vision automatically consolidates all serviceability data into our cloud database. Survey results are immediately available to customers. By giving visibility to network serviceability, intervention planning is responsive to needs as conditions change. Having all the serviceability and performance data about whole systems in one place allows powerful analyses to generate efficient long-term investment strategies.

What’s the business case for using SewerBatt™ Vision?

SewerBatt™ Vision makes it not only possible to survey much more of the sewer and drainage network than has been economically feasible using traditional technology. It also makes a compelling business case to do so.

By showing asset owners which pipes are serviceable, and only intervening when and where necessary, budgets go further.

Who is using SewerBatt™ Vision?

SewerBatt™ Vision is being used by UK water companies, highway authorities and rail infrastructure companies. In every case, the speed and economy of SewerBatt™ Vision is empowering them to improve their network management performance without increasing budgets.

Acoustic Sensing Technology (U.K.) Ltd | Manchester Business Park 3000 Aviator Way | Manchester | M22 5TG | UK 0161 266 1086

www.acousticsensing.co.uk

office@acousticsensing.co.uk

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

Invicta Site Solutions deliver robust and resilient RGF Valve Replacement Scheme Invicta Valves Limited Site Solutions, has successfully completed a Rapid Gravity Filter (RGF) valve replacement scheme at a large Water Treatment Works for clients, Affinity Water. The scheme was competitively bid and had an approximate value of £230k.

BEFORE: Showing valves and actuators in below floor chambers

AFTER: Showing the actuators on extension spindles above the mesh floor

Work on the scheme began in August 2016 and was completed in October 2016. The Invicta Site Solutions Team carried out the works utilising the extensive product range of the world leading valve manufacturer and parent Company, AVK Group.

The project also involved work on the valve’s actuators which were situated below floor level, in chambers, making access difficult and cumbersome. Previous commissioning and maintenance works had to be conducted under Confined Space processes and conditions – not at all ideal.

The scheme specification involved replace, supply and fit all valves, penstocks and actuators on 8 RGF’s which in total included: 32 No. Butterfly Valves (4 per filter) 8 No. actuated Penstocks 8 No. manual Gate Valves Invicta Site Solutions National Sales Manager, Alex Philo explained the team’s approach, “This was a challenging scheme and we were able to draw on our extensive expertise and skill sets as well as utilise the product and resource capability that being a member of the AVK Group brings. All products, M&E, steelwork, and supplementary services were provided ‘in-house” - This is what I believe makes the Site Solutions offering unique, we can supply a full turnkey solution, from supply, design, fitting, and maintenance. We also offer a refurbishment offering within our workshops.”

After comprehensive consultation with Affinity Water, the solution identified and recommended by the Invicta Design Team, was to bring the actuators above floor level, making the works easier and safer to access and perform.

Invicta installed open mesh floors above all of the valve chambers and repositioned the actuators at waist height through the mesh floors, using extension spindles.

“This solution will benefit Affinity Water for many years to come, not only will works be easier in the future because we have negated the need for Confined Space working, but also all of the products supplied by the AVK Group are maintenance free - we believe this is a robust and resilient solution.” Alex continued.

The scheme also required refurbishment work including the replacement of existing

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pipework, flow metres, penstocks, actuators, gearboxes, extension spindles and pedestals as well as all associated electrical works.

Stuart Smith, Affinity Water Production Engineer and Project Manager for the scheme, said, “There has been a positive and collaborative approach between us and the Invicta Site Solutions teams on the scheme.

The combination of innovative thinking and a resilient solution meant that we could move forward confidently.”

For further details on this scheme, please contact:

Alex Philo

National Manager Invicta Site Solutions Mobile: 07876 860319 E-Mail: alph@invictavalves.co.uk

EXPECT... SOLUTIONS NOT ONLY PRODUCTS

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

EDITORIAL

INVICTA SITE SOLUTIONS

Our Site Solutions offer delivers a bespoke valve and penstock service that can provide you with a comprehensive ‘one-stop shop’ approach to your projects.

We provide an extensive solution based package designed to solve the challenges that the UK Water Utilities and delivery partners face on a daily basis. From feasibility and life-time maintenance and from inception to completion, we can provide you with a service that offers best practice, cost efficiency and longevity no matter where you are in the UK.

VALVE, PENSTOCK AND ACTUATOR: • Supply / Installation / Refurbishment / Replacement • Site Surveys • Health Checks • Bespoke Fabrication SERVICES OFFER: • Scheduled Maintenance Servicing Contracts • Extended Warranties • Post Contract Training • UK Coverage ASSOCIATED ANCILLARIES: • Enabling Works • Electrical Installation • Civil Engineering Services • Equipment Commissioning • Design / Manufacture of Ancillary Equipment

Invicta Valves Ltd Units 9 - 12 Boxmend, Bircholt Road, Parkwood Ind Est Maidstone, Kent, ME15 9YG T: +44 (0) 1622 754613 E: sales@invictavalves.co.uk

Invicta Site Solutions T: +44 (0) 1622 754613 69 E: sitesolutions@invictavalves.co.uk

Member of the

group of companies

www.invictavalves.co.uk

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z WATER CONSERVATION

Dry weather calls for innovative thinking in the water industry

During the last month or so there’s been one word making headlines more and more often – drought. This winter was the driest winter period in 20 years, leading to lower than normal water levels in rivers, groundwaters and reservoirs across England, especially in the south-east. the risk of ‘drought’ is ever increasing, is there more than could be done to be more resilient during dry weather conditions?

Jerry Bryan

Chief Executive Officer Albion Water Despite some rainfall in the middle of May dry conditions are expected to return so it seems that talk of potential water shortages and even the introduction of temporary water use bans could be back on the agenda as we near the summer. With climate change meaning

Many water companies provide water saving advice and devices to their customers. These include things like advice to shower instead of bath, turn off taps while brushing teeth or providing water saving shower heads.

Although these measures can help reduce water demand it’s time to get smarter.

At Albion Water we’re doing things differently and leading the way in this field. We provide alternative water & waste water solutions to large housing developers and builders where they’re facing challenges from the monopoly

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water companies. The solutions Albion puts in place to enable developments to get off the ground have sustainability at their heart, meaning water demand is reduced from the outset.

With major development growth required to sustain the population increase in the UK over the next 20 years, there have been numerous debates about the impact new buildings and increased industry will have on the environment. Combined with greater pressure on water resources water management is gradually moving further up the development agenda. However, given the lack of previous investment, there are lots of opportunities for developers to reduce water demand and

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

ensure that new developments play their part in protecting our rivers, wetlands, reservoirs and lakes.

The cost of providing new water resources is rapidly increasing, and the available options are relatively limited. In addition government legislation now mandates improved water efficiency in the built environment, including Part G of the Building Regulations, which developers must meet as part of planning requirements. These more stringent rules mean more and more developers are looking for additional support and strategies for meeting water consumption targets.

A recent report called ‘Water Resources: Long-term Planning Framework’ published by Water UK in September 2016, highlighted that increased investment in water infrastructure would be necessary to keep up with likely demand. Historically, a lack of investment in infrastructure also results in significant waste through the distribution network. And that’s where Albion are helping to change the way we do things to deal with the challenges ahead.

Part of Albion’s solution is to build waste water treatment plants on site putting less pressure on existing infrastructure. We also consider incorporating sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) into water recycling schemes.

These include water attenuation ponds and natural wetlands. Not only do these measures improve water efficiency but they also add to the character and desirability of new developments through increased biodiversity and improved green spaces.

We’ve taken basic water recycling concepts, coupled it with 21st Century engineering practices and our understanding of managing the water cycle, to produce a reliable non-

WATER CONSERVATION z

drinking water (green water) supply for use in toilet flushing and garden watering, saving drinking water for washing, drinking and food preparation. We provide these green water services to our customers at discounts to the cost of drinking water, saving the household customer money while reducing water demand and enabling today’s environmental standards to be achieved.

An example of how Albion Water has helped a developer meet water efficiency targets is at Upper Rissington village in Gloucestershire which consists of 350 existing homes and 368 new build houses. Developer Linden and Bovis Homes contracted Albion Water to provide water and waste water services to the new houses and to adopt the old private water and sewerage infrastructure in the village. Albion replaced the leaking water network, removing the old pumping station and abandoning the reservoir. This resulted in a reduction in total demand of 0.75 Ml/d. We installed Automated Meter Reading technology across the site which enables the company to track and spot gradual or sudden changes in water use. Local woodland and wildflower meadows were also adopted by Albion to be managed as sustainable ecological resources or public open spaces and Albion continues to grow community engagement through the green spaces in and around the site.

At Albion Water we recognise the need for alternative and sustainable solutions in today’s changing environment. The recent dry spell highlights the need for innovative thinking and new, smarter ways of managing water to increase resilience during dry weather conditions.

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Case Study: Chigwell

It's not just Upper Rissington that’s had the Albion treatment, the company also developed a site in Knowle, in Hampshire, and is currently working on a new development in Chigwell, Essex.

Oaklands Hamlet, Chigwell, was formerly occupied by an unplanned community incorporating various small scale business interests. The brownfield site is now being developed

by Countryside Homes and consists of 450 new homes, and 25 acres of public open space.

Countryside approached Albion to provide water and waste water services due to the challenging demands associated with developing the site and the experience that we could call on to establish regulated services that met or exceeded Countryside’s expectations.

We are currently working with Countryside to lay the water mains and services to the development. Each house is also connected to a green water supply which is sourced from highly treated recovered water. The green water feeds the toilets and outside tap in each house and customers pay a reduced tariff for this water.

We also worked with Countryside to develop the sewerage system and plan to construct a small waste water treatment plant in a corner of the site.

Through Albion, Countryside has saved more than £2 million and customers will also save on their water bills.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR

Tackling leakage a

top priority for Southern Water

We are proud of our overall leakage record and have repeatedly led the industry in this area. Since the water industry was privatised in 1989, we have reduced the amount of water lost to leaks on our pipes by two-thirds.

Phil Tapping Southern Water Leakage Manager

Southern Water is on track to meet our five-year target for reducing leakage by two million litres a day to a total of 86 million litres a day.

To provide some context, that's about 15 per cent of the total amount of water we put into supply each day. After 2020 we want to go even further and our ambition is to bring leakage down to 75 million litres a day by 2040.

Currently, we have an expanded leakage team in place, made up of more than 120 people. They are all focused on finding and fixing leaks on our 13,700-kilometre network of water mains, with additional support provided by a further 400 Southern Water employees.

Proactively contacting customers During 2016, we identified and repaired more than 20,000 leaks on our network.

Over half of these were found and addressed proactively by our leakage team. The remainder were reported to us by customers via our dedicated Leak Line.

We also rely on leak alarms that are built in to the water meters, which we installed under our pioneering universal metering programme. The alarms alert our engineers to unexpectedly high water consumption, enabling us to contact customers even before they might know any leak exists.

We can then highlight where they have a leak on their private supply pipe or plumbing system, so they can reduce any water wastage. Of course, we also fix any leaks on our pipes that are pinpointed.

Investing millions Tackling leakage on our 13,700 kilometre network of water mains is a top priority for us and we work to do this as cost effectively as possible, investing tens of millions of pounds across the five years to 2020. Customers clearly told us they want leakage reduced as much as possible - while at the same time keeping bills as low as possible.

We have a strong track record in leading the water industry on effectively managing water resources, both in the immediate and

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longer term. For example, we were the first company in the UK to introduce water meters on a universal basis from 2010-15, helping to bring down water use by an average of 16 per cent per household and introducing a fairer charging system, with customers paying for what they use.

New resources While making the best use of the water available, we have also invested and will continue investing millions of pounds in significant schemes to secure new water resources.

By 2020, we will implement an aquifer storage and recovery scheme in Sussex to store water in an underground â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bubbleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for use in the summer when demand is at its highest. The water is pumped into the bubble from rivers in the winter when flows are usually high and when the water would otherwise be lost out to sea.

Other key investments include water re-use schemes in Kent and Sussex and a desalination plant in Hampshire further down the line.

Looking even further to securing the future resilience of our network, we are investigating the viability of new technologies to help us find and fix potential

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR z

Tackling leakage on our 13,700 kilometre network of water mains is a top priority for us and we work to do this as cost effectively as possible, investing tens of millions of pounds across the five years to 2020.

leakage hotspots before they even happen.

For example, using radar, thermal imaging and sonar technology, may help us spot small leaks from our network and take action before they get any worse.

Sharing water supplies An important part of our strategy is to move water resources around the region from areas where there are ‘spare’ supplies to areas where there are not enough.

In some cases, this means laying new pipelines in our own supply area across Kent , Sussex and Hampshire. In other cases, this involves sharing water supplies with neighbouring water companies.

As part of our water resources planning, we are providing water supplies to South East Water in Kent and receiving water supplies from Portsmouth Water in Hampshire.

Working in partnership Working in partnership is an important part of our strategy to improve the quality and flow of water in rivers and underground aquifers so that we can rely on them for longer.

For example, we have included several schemes to work with landowners to reduce

the amount of nitrates that reach river and groundwater supplies.

By working with landowners and environmental groups, we can also improve the flow and biodiversity of rivers. This makes them more resilient to water abstraction, particularly in droughts.

Water restrictions We believe all stakeholders, including our customers, need to have confidence in our ability to supply high-quality drinking water on demand. We have therefore begun work to help stakeholders prepare for the possibility of drought conditions in our already water-stressed region.

One of the measures we aim to meet is keeping the number of temporary use bans to an absolute minimum – such as asking customers not to use hosepipes. During 2016–17 none of our customers experienced a temporary use ban, but we know that any failure on our part to plan ahead properly could mean we have to introduce them in the future.

Therefore, hand in hand with our efforts to reduce leakage from our network are ongoing plans to manage the impact on our water supplies of issues like climate change and population growth.

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Maintaining our sites and infrastructure We are continuing to invest in maintaining and replacing our treatment works and pipe networks so we can deliver a high-quality service to customers.

Among the projects we are proud to have invested in during 2016 are: • the Gaters Mill trunk main installation in Southampton, which will be used to transfer water to our customers in Hampshire and which forms part of our wider water resources programme • the £8 million Woolmans Wood mains replacement scheme in Chatham , Gillingham and Rochester , which will improve water supply in the region • extensive improvement programmes at Brede and Beauport water supply works.

The combined investment in the above projects alone totals more than £20 million.

The only truly unmanned fixed network monitoring system: Correlate and pinpoint leaks as they appear, and save water and costs from the comfort of your office.

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR z

Permanently installed correlating radio loggers help reduce leakage and save operational and environmental costs ZONESCAN ALPHA, the permanent network monitoring system developed by Gutermann, helps minimize nonrevenue water.

The system uses correlating radio loggers, permanently deployed along the pipe network, which allow water utilities to automatically identify and pinpoint leaks, thanks to the capability of the system.

Overnight, when the water usage is at its lowest, pressure is at its highest and ambient noise sources at a minimum, the loggers record sound files and transmit them to collector units above ground. These then transmit the data to the cloud-based software platform Zonescan.net which displays both the position of all loggers and the identified leak positions on the GoogleMaps platform. The leakage team has fresh network data every day and can remotely investigate leak suspicions, run correlations on changed parameters, eliminate non-leak noises based on the noise spectrum of the sound files, and pinpoint the exact location of identified leaks within less than a meter.

The Zonescan Alpha platform is a self-learning management tool, which enables water utilities to make informed decisions about network infrastructure and manage the process efficiently from leak identification to excavation and repair.

Since the technology was launched in 2010, numerous projects have been installed throughout Europe, USA, Asia and in the Middle East. In every case, leaks could be identified and pinpointed within days of the first installation. Zonescan Alpha pays for itself through water and cost savings and can help reduce the likelihood of workplace incidents by having the system installed on dangerous roads and unsafe work areas.

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Staff News

Gutermann strengthen their workforce in the UK with improved coverage in the Northern region. Tony Fidler is the new UK Regional Sales Manager based in Sunderland. Tony brings with him a wealth of knowledge with 30+ years in the water industry specialising in Trunk Main Leak Detection and Pipe Condition Assessment. His extensive technical knowledge enables him to provide a complete customer service. Tony can be contacted on: tony.fidler@gutermann-water.com www.gutermann-water.com

WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR

HWM wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2017 PermaNET+ water network monitoring system recognised in Innovation category Utility monitoring specialist HWM has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2017.

The Innovation award recognises HWM’s PermaNET+ system, which constantly monitors water networks to detect signs of leakage. Able to detect a problem as soon as it occurs, the system significantly reduces both the size and impact of leaks, reducing damage to the network and saving water.

PermaNET+ was chosen for the largest ever deployment of leak noise detection equipment by Affinity Water. 20,000 units were installed to cover a water network serving over 3.6 million people.

Now in their 51st year, the Queen’s Awards are the UK’s most prestigious industry accolade, celebrating and encouraging business excellence in the UK. The Innovation award is given to companies that have shown outstanding commercial success due to innovation over two years, or continuous commercial success over five years.

Winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise means HWM can now use the official emblem on all publications for five years, showcasing the best of British business.

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

Congratulations to Z-Tech’s James Pike He recently won two apprenticeship awards from Hartford Regional College Awards Night.

Dwr Cymru Welsh Water – Flowmeter Verification Framework Z-Tech are delighted to win the Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Flowmeter Framework, a 3 year framework verifying over 100 meters across Wales.

adding to the verification customer lists of: Scottish Water, Thames Water, Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, Sutton and East Surrey, Southern Water and Kelda Water.

Jamie Chamberlain, Water Networks Business Unit Manager said: “Yet another great framework win for the verification teams,

I envy the teams that get to deliver this contract, they will get to see some spectacular scenery!”

Apprentice training – what ‘great’ really looks like!

James, one of Z-Tech’s recently qualified Electrical Apprentices, showed exceptional work ethic amongst his peers to be awarded ‘Electrical Apprentice of the Year’, and ‘Work Based Apprentice of the Year’ – the only apprentice on the night to be awarded a Double Award!

James said: “I was as surprised as anyone to get the double. I’m really glad all the hard work paid off in the end, with particular thanks to the support from Z-Tech and my tutor Fred, we worked hard to the end.

Now I’m qualified, I’m looking forward to working with Z-Tech and helping our customers with Electrical install work.”

Uniper’s Engineering Academy had a fantastic turnout for the cross-industry apprenticeship delivery event, sponsored by Z-Tech.

More than 45 people from various industries and three different water regions came together to see how the power industry delivers apprenticeship training at the Uniper Engineering Academy, Ratcliffe-on-Soar.

Green Fleet of the Year Z-Tech were delighted to receive a ‘Highly Commended’ at the prestigious Fleet News Awards, hosted at the Grosvenor House hotel, London.

The event highlighted the recent introduction of the new apprenticeship levy, explained in detail by Louise Barlow of the Education & Skills funding Agency (ESFA). This was followed by a tour of the Academy’s training facilities which include electrical, control & instrumentation and mechanical workshops, a live 11kV high voltage training network and power station simulators for operators to practice on.

“We helped to organise this event as my area of the business supplies Z-Tech technicians for water and power companies to supplement their staffing levels and there is a national shortage of instrumentation and control technicians.

Jon Marks, Z-Tech’s Labour Business Unit Manager said: “Z-Tech have a number of apprentices at Uniper’s Engineering Academy as we believe that the facilities are some of the very best in the country.

“We need to support our ‘home grown’ talent and have done this in a number of ways, from becoming a Technical Partner for the Peterborough UTC, through to helping to train lecturers on current technologies.”

For more information www.z-tech.co.uk

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The awards are now in their 29th year and represent the pinnacle of fleet achievement.

Michael Swinhoe, Z-Tech’s CEO said: “We’ve come a long way with fleet since our first Energy Saving Trust review in 2009: implementing all their recommendations and beating our carbon reduction targets in 2013. It’s now about reducing fleet emissions, particularly Nitrogen Dioxide in the capital and our cities – it’s killing people and we have a duty of care to be part of the solution.”

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z NEWS

De Nora Launches Innovative Capital Controls® MicroChem®3 Chlorine Analyzer and Controller Global water and wastewater treatment pioneer develops next-generation approach to measurement and management of chlorine and other critical parameters.

De Nora, a leading supplier of electrodes and water treatment technologies, announces the launch of Capital Controls® MicroChem®3, a multi-parameter water analysis system offering both measurement and control of chlorine-based compounds and other critical elements in one versatile instrument that can be specifically tailored to individual applications. Since 1960, the Capital Controls® brand has developed products built on an intimate knowledge of relevant science, technology, and applications, combined with a first-hand understanding of customer needs. The latest in this line of innovation, the MicroChem3 combines the best features of De Nora’s sector-leading product lines with new advancements for superior flexibility and ease.

Features include a color touchscreen display, menu-driven software for seamless set-up and operation, and a USB interface for software updates and data log downloads.

Business Development Officer, De Nora. “The MicroChem3 was specifically designed to ease and improve the user experience, starting with the simplicity of one single solution for chlorine management that functions as both analyzer and controller. We are very excited to get share the impact of this product with our new and current customers.”

“While the latest in science and technology are at the foundation of all of our products, it is the needs of our customers that truly drives product development at De Nora,” said Luca Buonerba, Chief Marketing and

The MicroChem3 analyzer and controller can be used in conjunction with De Nora’s preferred range of wet ends to measure and control any combination of chlorine, chlorine dioxide, pH, ORP, conductivity, and 4-20mA e.g., flow. As part of De Nora’s superior commitment to customer service, extensive post-sale support is available worldwide to address any technical questions, part customization, or product updates, and to provide training and assessment of individual water treatment system efficiency.

Accolade for company Staff in Wessex Water’s operational contact centre have been recognised with an award from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS).

The company is one of only ten in the UK to achieve a ServiceMark with distinction, the highest level of accreditation available to the 500-plus members of the ICS.

Contact centre manager Luci Sheppard said: "It means a lot to have won this award - we win a lot of awards for customer service as a company but this is the first one purely for the contact centre.”

Jo Causon, chief executive of the ICS, said: “Wessex Water is part of a growing band of organisations who understand

Water company signs deal WaterSmart has announced a new strategic partnership with South Staffs Water to engage with their customers through a digital analytics and communications platform.

South Staffs Water is implementing technologies to improve water-use efficiency while driving improvements in customer satisfaction.

aim is that through the WaterSmart platform, our customers will become more actively involved in the shared challenge of how best to manage our precious water resources.”

WaterSmart provides households access to easy-to-understand information via emailed water reports and a web and mobile portal.

Robin Gilthorpe, WaterSmart Chief Executive Officer, said: “South Staffs Water is an industry leader and their embrace of innovative technology approaches in a quest for improved customer engagement is an ideal fit for the WaterSmart platform.”

Phil Newland, Managing Director of South Staffs Water, said. “We are excited by the use of technology to engage with our customers. Our

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that a well thought-out customer service strategy can positively affect the bottom line. ServiceMark with distinction is a sign that the organisation is determined to demonstrate a commitment to continuously improve customer service standards and constantly evolve plans for service improvement.”

Honours announced The Institute of Directors Scotland annual awards ceremony recognised two members of two of Scottish Water’s leadership team.

Director for People, Workplace & Organisational Development Shirley Campbell and Scottish Water Chair Lady Susan Rice CBE, picked up awards. Shirley Campbell was named Female Director of the Year.

As well as the main categories, two discretionary awards were made, one of which went to Scottish Water Chair. Lady Susan Rice, CBE, who won the IoD Scotland Chair's Award for her work as President of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.

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WATER INDUSTRY JOURNAL JUNE 2017

z NEWS

WPL looks to Europe for growth in domestic packaged treatment plant • European investment supports WPL Diamond installer network • Demand for UK wastewater expertise expected to continue post-Brexit • Bi-lingual website targets French market Wastewater specialist WPL is targeting the European market with investment in its Diamond compact packaged treatment plant range. The company, which is based in Hampshire, says the investment in digital marketing will support its growing network of customers and installers in France.

The suitability of the WPL Diamond for use in domestic applications means it is necessary to give ordinary householders, who may not have specialist knowledge of wastewater treatment, a clear understanding of the product’s capability and installation requirements. With this in mind WPL has launched a bi-lingual website for the WPL Diamond.

Market strength WPL managing director, Gareth Jones, is confident its European investment will pay off, despite market fears over the implications of Brexit.

He said, “France is our closest trading partner and this investment builds on a successful 10 years for the WPL Diamond range in France.

We are committed to growth within the French market and the technical expertise of a company like WPL is valued by our European clients.

“It is a market where a high amount of technical input is required, a need which is unlikely to diminish post-Brexit.”

Web campaign WPL’s new website is easy to navigate and focused at customers who are seeking basic information about the products. The website,

Installation of a WPL Diamond compact package wastewater treatment plant for off-mains domestic drainage which can be accessed in French and English supports WPL’s new campaign – Simple, Reliable & Discreet – aims to raise awareness among customers of the key benefits of the WPL Diamond package wastewater treatment plant over traditional septic tanks.

Unlike legacy equipment, modern packaged treatment plants are designed with an aerated process to accommodate the increased volumes of water used in contemporary households. The WPL Diamond has the added advantage of high quality process in a compact, single tank which is easy to install and maintain.

Jones said, “WPL has been at the forefront of wastewater treatment for 26 years and our priority has always been consistency in the quality of our products. The WPL Diamond range provides value for customers over the long-term and delivers on environmental responsibility too.

“The new website and campaign supports our network of independent experts who match our values for delivering high quality, reliable products. We believe that by investing in our brand, we are also investing in our network; ensuring that they are given the right tools to maintain and grow their businesses.”

Minimal maintenance WPL Diamond compact package wastewater treatment plant

The robust system has minimal maintenance requirements, is sited entirely below ground and has the flushest lid on the market reducing visual impact on the landscape. The campaign informs customers that they will

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not even know that the WPL Diamond is on their property.

Ken Green, managing director of KLG Services Ltd, which has been installing and servicing sewage treatment plants in the UK for over 25 years, said, “As an installer and service provider, I know that the WPL Diamond that I am servicing after 25 years since its installation will be the same high quality as the day that it went into the ground. If I had the choice, I would always choose to install a WPL Diamond which is why I recommend it to my customers.

“In my view, if you invest in your home, why wouldn’t you invest in your wastewater treatment plant? Especially considering it can help with increasing your property re-sale value.”

Technical compliance WPL began testing on the WPL Diamond in 2006 in order to fully comply with European and French standards. The package plants conform to European standard NF EN12566-3 2014 (CE marked) and agréments ministériels – 5 to 20 EH: n°2015-011-ext1à3.

Andrew Baird, technical director of WPL and convener of British Water’s Package Treatment Plant focus group said, “The WPL Diamond is fully compliant with French legislation and has been independently tested multiple times at an accredited testing facility in Aachen, Germany.”

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