SUMMER 2019 ISSUE202
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Welcome to the 2019 Summer Edition of the Institute of Water Magazine. As many of you will be aware, we are making the final preparations for the Institute of Water’s Annual Conference which I am honoured to be hosting in the fantastic city of Belfast. I’m very excited about the conference and the speakers we have secured for you. If you haven’t booked your place at the conference yet please do so soon, as I have no doubt that this will be a very valuable and knowledgeable event for you. We’ve called the conference ‘Disrupt or be Disrupted’. Disruption is taking centre stage across the industry and globally renowned leading disruption expert and motivational speaker Leo Johnson from PwC will help us consider the transformation that is taking place with emerging digital technologies and business models. These innovative new technologies and models including robotics and automations will undoubtedly benefit our businesses and change the shape of future customer services. We’ll also be looking at environmental disruption. The water sector has a profound effect on the environment and we have a key role to play in examining the impact we have and what we can do to mitigate this. The Institute of Water Annual Conference is the ideal opportunity for us to gather together, to explore and debate what this means for the water sector and how we can rise to the challenge. The Institute of Water Annual Conference continues to be one of the most niche and respected events in the water sector calendar and I’m looking forward to meeting many familiar faces again, as well as welcoming many new ones too. As always, our conferences strive to inspire, to provoke debate and to get the sector to stop and think about the challenges we face and
how we can work together to meet those challenges.
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Features
26 Leadership 32 Digital Solutions 36 Wastewater Networks 48 Asset Management 68 Water Quality 76 Drought Resilience
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Institute of Water Conference if we didn’t find the time to celebrate and award the outstanding work that is happening across the water sector. I’m especially excited to be hosting the Institute of Water President’s Dinner which will be held within the magnificent setting of Belfast City Hall.
Back to the Magazine, as always we have a great selection of features that will help members with their learning and professional development. Under the theme of Drought Resilience, Anglian Water tells us how it will meet the challenges to keep the taps running for generations to come and from Water Resources South East, we hear about their plans for greater regional drought resilience. We also have a great article from my very own Chief Risk Officer, George Ong about NI Water’s use of parametric insurance to help transfer the financial risk of major incidents and weather events.
Regulars
We also have our regular features such as New Registrants, Rising Stars, CPD and we catch up with what our volunteers have been up to in Area News. I hope you enjoy the magazine and I really look forward to seeing many of you at the conference.
4 Members Updates 6 Annual Conference 8 Environment News 10 Engineering News 14 New Registrants 20 CPD 22 Drilling and Tapping 24 Rising Stars/Mentoring
Sara Venning President-elect, Institute of Water Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Water
Institute of Water HQ: 4 Carlton Court, Team Valley, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear NE11 0AZ Website: www.instituteofwater.org.uk President: Douglas Millican Chairperson: Simon Cyhanko Chief Executive: Lynn Cooper PR & Communications Manager: Lee Hansom Tel: 0191 422 0088 Email: lee@instituteofwater.org.uk Advertising: Martin Jameson Tel: 07342 850 289 Email: martin@jimjammedia.com Designed and produced by: JimJam Media Ltd Email: sales@jimjammedia.com
The Institute of Water is the only professional body solely concerned with the UK water industry. We can support and develop your career whoever you are and whatever you do. We do this by providing a unique learning, developing and networking framework. For details on how to join visit www.instituteofwater.org.uk today.
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NEW COMPANY AFFILIATES OutForm Consulting Ltd OutForm Consulting Ltd have recently joined as full affiliate members of Institute of Water. Working across the UK and Ireland, we are a growing team of experienced management consultants. Established in 2018 by Brian Thompson, a former National Infrastructure Director for a leading construction consultancy and Padraig Mckenna, Managing Director of a successful consulting business, our vision is to deliver world class consulting services to our clients. We are delighted to formally join IoW, made even more special by the fact that the upcoming AGM will be held in Belfast this year.
OutForm have a proud history of working in the water sector with clients and contractors alike and we look forward to continuing our close affiliation with the IoW and its fellow members over the coming years.
To find out more about OutForm and our team, visit www.outformconsulting.com and follow us on LinkedIN. or call +44(0)28 9091 2888.
Brian Thompson and Padraig McKenna, OutForm Consulting Partners, “We take a people centred approach to drive sustainable results through our down to earth and straight to the point style.”
Create 51 Create 51 is a strategic communications agency with particular expertise in the water sector. Run by three directors, Rebecca Burgess, Jane Gould and Penny Hodge, Create 51 works with several water companies, the Water Resources in the South East regional group, Water UK, UKWIR and the UK plumbing register founded by water companies, WaterSafe. We pride ourselves on our common-sense approach and we like to keep our communications clear, simple and jargon-free. We’ve spent a good part of the last few years supporting companies on their water resource,
drought and business plans – from customer engagement and drafting plans to engaging with Customer Challenge Groups and stakeholders. Beyond this we’ve found time to run media training, create and deliver engaging consumer campaigns and draft critical policy submissions.
communication strategies but also playing an active role in how material is communicated and measuring the impact. We also like to think we’re fun to work with. Meet us at create51.com.
We regularly work with a range of associates and consultancies specialising in design, digital and customer and market research. Our approach is not only about producing excellent
TAKING A CAREER BREAK? If you are going on long-term leave or taking a career break then you will be pleased to hear that the Institute of Water is now able to ‘freeze’ your membership payments for up to one year whilst still allowing you to access all the benefits of membership.
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One you have returned to your role, let us know and we’ll simply ‘unfreeze’ your payments so that they resume as normal.
“Remember, some events are available as webinars, so they can be accessed from anywhere.”
Lynn Cooper, Chief Executive of the Institute of Water, said: “Many people at some point will take a significant amount of time away from their career. We want to stay in touch with any members in this situation, sending them Magazines and Journals and details of events.
If you are currently, or due to be, away from your water sector role with the intention of not returning for quite a while, contact Institute of Water to discuss this option by phoning 0191 422 0088 or email info@instituteofwater.org.uk.
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If you have a professional registration through the Institute of Water, you will still need to pay the renewal fees at the point of renewal to keep your registration active.
MEMBERSUPDATE
NEW FELLOW MEMBERS Congratulations to two Institute of Water members, Nick Ellins and Heidi Mottram. They have both recently been awarded Fellow Membership in recognition of their outstanding contribution and dedicated service to the water sector. L2R: Sara Venning, Nick Ellins and Ronan Larkin
Nick Ellins, Chief Executive of Energy & Utility Skills was presented his certificate by Institute of Water President-Elect Sara Venning, Chief Executive of NI Water and Area Committee President Ronan Larkin, Director of Finance and Regulation at NI Water. Heidi Mottram was presented her Fellow certificate following her key-note presentation at the recent One Day Engineering Conference, by Jo Parker, Institute of Water’s Vice President Engineering and Lynn Cooper, Chief Executive of the Institute of Water.
L2R: Heidi Mottram. Lynn Cooper and Jo Parker
Both Nick and Heidi are Institute of Water Past Presidents.
INSTITUTE OF WATER COMMITTEE MEMBERS OF THE YEAR 2019 WINNERS ANNOUNCED The Institute of Water is proud to announce the National and Regional winners of the Committee Members of the Year award. The Institute of Water is greatly supported by a number of volunteers who are committed to professional development, sharing best practice and supporting their professional body. The Committee Members of the Year Award shines a light on the great work of our volunteers and awards those who have gone the ‘extra mile’. Through a nation-wide call for nominations, members of the Institute’s eight Area Committees were asked to nominate one of their peers who they think has demonstrated outstanding commitment to their Area committee and to the Institute of Water.
The Institute of Water Head Office Team carefully judged the submissions to select who they felt were the top three volunteers. The winners will be presented their awards at the upcoming Institute of Water President’s Dinner and Awards being held at Belfast City Hall on the 26th June. Lynn Cooper, Chief Executive of the Institute of Water said: “Thanks to all our volunteers for their time, hard work and enthusiasm, without which many of our offerings wouldn’t be possible. Congratulations to the Award winners and others who were singled out by their peers for special mention.”
The Committee Members of the Year Award was launched in 2018 and is part of the Institute of Water’s commitment to championing excellence within the water sector. Nominations for next year’s Committee Members of the Year will open in February 2020. To find out more about the Committee Members of the Year Award please contact Megan Williams via megan@instituteofwater.org.uk or Sarah Dunn via sarah@instituteofwater.org.uk.
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ANNUALCONFERENCE
INSTITUTE OF WATER ANNUAL CONFERENCE, 27-28 JUNE 2019 “Disrupt or Be Disrupted” – How Disruption is Transforming the Water Sector ‘Disrupt or be disrupted’ is the ultimatum being put to delegates at the Institute of Water’s 2019 Annual Conference, which takes place on the 27th and 28th June at Titanic Belfast. Hosted by Sara Venning, Institute of Water President-Elect and Chief Executive Officer of Northern Ireland Water, the conference is titled ‘Disrupt or be Disrupted: How Disruption is Transforming the Water Sector’. Business expert Sir John Parker will lead us into the conference, considering how the demands of the water industry are constantly evolving and how this conference aims to take a glance into the future to see how technological advances can improve our responses and bring benefits to our customers, as well as environmental considerations.
BOOK YOUR PLACE AT OUR ANNUAL CONFERENCE’S ASSOCIATED EVENTS! Institute of Water AGM
26th June 2019, 12pm – 1pm Members of the Institute of Water are invited to attend our Annual General Meeting. Taking place in the Titanic Hotel, this is your chance to meet Institute of Water Head Office staff and Board members, hear about the performance of your institute and ask any questions about your membership or the Institute of Water as a whole.
Meet the Leaders
26th June 2019, 2pm – 4:30pm
Disruption is taking place across the industry and speaker, Leo Johnson from PwC, a globally renowned disruption expert and motivational speaker, will help us look at the transformation that is taking place with emerging digital technologies and business models.
Go to instituteofwater.org.uk/disrupt19 to read the full conference programme and to book your place.
Meet the Leaders is a vibrant and active event and is sure to get you engaged and energised, ready for the full Conference.
President’s Dinner & Awards 26th June 2019, 7pm – late
Regular flights to Belfast run from nearly every major airport and flight tickets can be much cheaper than train tickets.
*Calculated using https://flighttime-calculator.com/
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Hosted by Z-Tech, the social night is a notable feature of the two-day Conference where places are always in high demand. The tradition of this renowned event is that the venue and entertainment are kept topsecret and the organisers have never failed to impress.
Institute of Water’s Young Person’s Network Launch Meet the Leaders is one of the Institute of Water’s most lively events where you get the opportunity to ask leaders from across the water sector their views and opinions on the topics which matter to you.
The flight times are much shorter than you think.* Glasgow to Belfast – 39 minutes Newcastle to Belfast – 48 min Birmingham to Belfast – 55 min Heathrow to Belfast – 1hr 8min
27th June 2019, 7:30pm – til late
This year, the Institute of Water Northern Ireland Area Committee is working hard to deliver an event with plenty of ‘craic’!
The conference will also explore disruption to the environment and the role of plastics within water companies, and technology expert and entrepreneur Oliver Rees will take us through the changing nature of the workplace. We’ll consider the importance of reputation within our organisations and how we can attract the best talent in the sector.
GETTING TO BELFAST
Z-Tech Social Night
28th June 2019, 1:30pm – 3pm
Join us to officially launch the Institute of Water Young Person’s Network as we look forward to how we can support young people through the Institute. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow young water professionals within the Institute of Water and get to know your local YPN representative.
Join us for the Institute of Water’s 2019 National President’s Dinner and Awards, one of the most prestigious social events of the year for members and water sector partners, which will be held at the historic Belfast City Hall.
Go to instituteofwater.org.uk/ disrupt19 to find out more and book your place.
T I TA N I C
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B E L FAS T
27-28 JUNE 2019
HOW DISRUPTION IS TRANSFORMING THE WATER SECTOR
Join us for the latest industry thinking, digital technologies, environmental and reputational issues, mixed with a social programme in the heart of Belfast that’s not to be missed! Further information and to book:
instituteofwater.org.uk/disrupt19 @InstWater #disrupt19
BOOK NOW
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ENVIRONMENTNEWS
THE INSTITUTE OF WATER LOOKING AFTER THE ENVIRONMENT As water professionals we all know that water is precious, that it’s important to look after the water environment, and that at home and at work we need to work hard to reduce our carbon footprint and minimise waste. But as a professional Institute serving the water sector we also need to be aware of our environmental impact as an organisation. In order to help us identify our significant environmental impacts, and to monitor, control and reduce them, we have developed an Environmental Sustainability Policy and Environmental Management System. Our aim is to be a more sustainable professional body by empowering staff, committees and members to make environmentally-driven decisions, strive for sustainable innovation in the water sector and promote an environmentally responsible culture at our events. We are very grateful to Volha Sinkevich, Water Quality Data Scientist at Anglian Water, who volunteered to draft the policy and prepare the metrics, and who cheerfully met a demanding timescale and exacting organisational needs.
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We will: ■■ identify and analyse any significant environmental impacts of our Head Office operations and our Area activities; ■■ develop an environmental action plan, implement relevant procedures and establish a transparent way of monitoring the results; ■■ aim to reduce our carbon and water footprints by reducing water and energy
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consumption as well as paper and plastic use, and promoting greener travel choices; comply with applicable environmental legislation – including any local EMS at venues used - and keep up with regulatory changes; seek to understand human - environment relationships and ensure that new procedures have no adverse impact on the wellbeing of our people, especially vulnerable participants; we commit to improve the health and wellbeing of our staff and members by sustainable event planning and offering opportunities for social interaction and physical activity; we aim to recognise health inequalities by ensuring that everyone has access to a good quality environment by checking health and risk documentation at the venues, and promoting and sharing good wellbeing practices; look for awareness and competence in environmental sustainability when awarding professional registration; implement a sustainable event planning procedure and use an effective channel of communication to share good environmental practices across Institute members; motivate members and stakeholders to be compliant with our environmental policy; favour local food suppliers and ethically
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sourced produce, seek to minimise food waste, and aim to reduce water use; recognise and reward sustainability-oriented innovations; influence our community to become environmentally “literate” and aware by providing a range of learning opportunities and by showcasing this policy at our events.
Colleagues at Head Office have started monitoring water and energy use, and waste, and aim to make improvements in these as well as in transport, food and event culture. Members in the Areas will be provided with guidance to help ensure that their events become even more sustainable. The Policy and its implementation will be formally launched at the AGM in Belfast on 26 June, and will be reviewed annually by the Board to ensure that it continues to be appropriate to all areas and activities of the Institute of Water, and that the established procedures contribute to the positive change we are committed to making to the environment. Professor Ian Barker Vice President Environment
SOCIETY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT UPDATE It’s all change in how the Society for the Environment is governed: it has just received Privy Council approval for a revised Charter and governance arrangements. This means that there will now be a Board of directors to lead the Society, rather than an informal ‘Cabinet’. At an Extraordinary General Meeting in April our Vice President Environment Ian Barker was elected to the new Board. One of its first tasks will be to develop a new strategy for 2020-25 to set out how the Society can best contribute to ensuring that we have the environmental professionals to tackle the challenges facing us all. Now that environmental issues are making headlines on a daily basis it reinforces the
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scale of the challenges and the need for skilled professionals to tackle them. On 1 May the Institute of Water had its five-yearly Licence Review by the Society for the Environment, to ensure that we are still a fit and proper organisation to be awarding the professional registrations of Chartered Environmentalist and Registered Environmental Technician. The review visit went well and we are confident that they will be renewing our licence. As part of the visit they reviewed
a random sample of files of applications and assessments. They were complimentary of our records and liked the feedback given to applicants (and sponsors) which comes from the notes and comments made by the assessors. So a big thank you to our assessors who appraise the applications for professional registration, and thanks also to all of you who have put yourself forward to gain recognition for your professionalism.
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ENGINEERINGNEWS
ENGINEERING CONFERENCE 2019 - A REVIEW A bleak day for the weather, an exciting one for the Institute of Water’s One Day Conference: Back to the Future. This was the first Institute of Water event I have attended and it will not be my last. friendly faces which really brightened up the grey day! With representatives from a range of UK water companies, not-for-profit organisations, academics and consultants the conference allowed plenty of opportunities to look at the challenges and how we inspire the future from different perspectives.
by Ruth Scott
Water Efficiency Analyst for Northumbrian Water Group I came across the opportunity to attend this event through an email communication titled ‘Back to Future – Shaping the future of the water industry’. It really caught my eye and sparked interest, being a part of the UK water industry at the moment and contributing to its future. To learn more about the challenges the industry may face and the innovative solutions being put in place to tackle this were particularly attractive to me. The online registration process was easy and the pre-event information was really useful and beneficial. The conference venue was the Discovery Museum in Newcastle (ideal for transport links and access). I was welcomed with
The event began with an exciting opening from Jo Parker MBE introducing us to the event and setting the aim for the day. Followed by an inspiring keynote from Heidi Mottram, Northumbrian Water CEO, around the topic of innovation and its importance right now and in the expanding future. The day was broken down into three sessions for the day with tea breaks in between (with delicious biscuits) and opportunities to network throughout with other delegates, to share knowledge and experience and with excellent presentations with couple of ‘Delorean’ references thrown into the mix! Two key messages really stood out to me from the event; Firstly, “Don’t be afraid of failure, be brave enough to try”. Which was quite fitting as I was trying an event like this for the first time! Secondly, we need to be ready for the future as we will have no other chances. We do not have a Flux capacitor or Time machine like Marty McFly. History does repeat itself and we must fully ensure we are prepared to tackle the water engineering challenges which will be brought to
light, which this event did. An interesting session on “What are the skills needed for the Water Engineer today and tomorrow?” brought some thought provoking ideas and needs to light. One thing I noticed was the passion for the industry being present in a room full of future water industry professionals, engineers and leaders which was certainly motivational as well as encouraging. To finish the day, an interesting pan discussion on future challenges faced by the water industry plus an examination of the supply and demand for engineers in general and looking at some ways in which young people can be attracted to engineering. I am an Institute of Water member so the event was free to attend and only cost my time which was certainly worth it and I was impressed by the event in comparison to others I have been to in terms of the quality of the speakers and sessions. I will take away with me the importance of starting conversations and engaging around careers within the water industry and the skills which will be required for our future within the sector. As a first timer, I would not hesitate to join Institute of Water at another event and would encourage all, not just first timers to get involved and see what the Institute brings to the water sector for themselves.
RESULTS OF THE GROUP EXERCISE Engineering Conference delegates were challenged to think about the competencies they felt are needed to be a professional water engineer currently and what would be needed 10 years in the future. They were asked to list no more than 10 and some groups struggled to stick to this. Once they had listed their top competencies, each delegate was given 10 votes which they could allocate as they chose on their lists or
any of the lists from the other tables. Views were varied and hotly disputed and it certainly got people talking. Of all the competencies, environmental
awareness came out top with 10 different tables listing this as a requirement and 47 votes being allocated. Another competence which came out strongly was the ability to learn. How this was referred to varied; continued >
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ENGINEERINGNEWS curiosity, active listening, keeping up to date with latest technology and inquisitive were all descriptions which just showed the importance of our CPD offering. Again 10 different tables included some variation and the competence gained 33 votes. The next two most popular competencies were the ability to communicate with a variety of people and adaptability. These both picked up 24 votes although only listed by 4 groups, the understanding of ethics gained 15 votes so is clearly seen as an important competence. Creativity, problem solving, an understanding of digital technology along with a multidisciplinary approach gained a similar number of votes. Other competencies mentioned included financial acumen, systems thinking, customer awareness, H&S awareness, self awareness, leadership, collaboration, the ability to develop others, analytical and ability to work in teams. Clearly us water engineers are
expected to have a multitude of talents. For the future many groups saw the requirements as more of what they’d listed for the current requirements but unsurprisingly an understanding of digital technology was seen as more important plus the capability to pass knowledge on to others. Big data got a mention and the need for customer awareness and adaptability in a variety of forms gained in importance. Clearly we set ourselves high standards which
will not be relaxed in the future. This feedback will help the vice president engineering provide feedback to the Engineering Council for the consultation of the final draft of the revised specification for professional engineering competencies (UK SPEC).
FEMALE STUDENTS CHALLENGED TO ‘AIM HIGH’ FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN ENGINEERING DAY In support of the upcoming International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) 2019, Cranfield University hosted an interactive event, encouraging young female students to ‘Aim High’ and consider a career in engineering. On 30th April, female Year 7 students from local schools including Stantonbury International School and Sports College, Biddenham International School, Castle Newnham School, Wixams Academy, Holywell School and Daubeney Academy were invited to the Aim High event, held at Cranfield University. The event gave the students the opportunity to interact with leading female engineers and to attend talks and practical demonstrations with Cranfield University, Boeing UK and other exhibiting companies. The students were also able to tour key facilities at the University, such as the Aerospace Integration Research Centre and the Cranfield Impact Centre – one of just three FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) approved test centres in the world, crash-testing Formula One cars. The students have been challenged to act as a leadership team and work together with their classmates to create their own ‘Aim High’ magazine using content from the event. The magazines will be submitted in June,
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ahead of INWED 2019. The winning school will have their magazine printed and will also receive a visit from one of the organisations or engineers who were at the event. The Aim High INWED 2019 event aimed to inspire the next generation of future female engineers and to increase awareness of the various engineering disciplines – from aerospace to motorsport and manufacturing. It gave the students an opportunity to experience first-hand the exciting work that is taking place – both at Cranfield University and in the wider industry – while showcasing the ways in which engineering contributes to society, the environment and people’s wellbeing. Alongside Cranfield University and Boeing UK, companies who attended the event included: Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, BAE Systems, Nissan, Unilever, Rolls-Royce and Anglian Water. Professor Lynette Ryals OBE, Chief Executive of MK:U Ltd, said: “Through the Aim High event, we hoped to open up the world of engineering
to young women. By engaging the students in practical activities, and giving them the opportunity to interact with leading women in the field, we aim to inspire more young women to pursue careers in engineering.” As sponsors of INWED 2019, Cranfield University and Boeing are committed to supporting female engineers, improving diversity in the industry and encouraging young women to engage with engineering as a career.
SCIENCENEWS
SAVE THE DATE! SCIENCE CONFERENCE 2019 The date and location of this year’s One Day Science Conference is set - so get this date in your diary! The event will take place on Wednesday 2nd October 2019 at Social 7, within The Landing, situated in the heart of MediaCityUK in Salford. The title of the conference has yet to be fully decided but we urge you to keep this date free as we look forward to announcing more details soon. The conference will be a very important CPD opportunity for many of our members and, as always, a great networking opportunity. The One Day Science Conference is part of the Institute of Water’s specialist conferences, which work on a rotation basis around the themes of science, engineering and environment. These conferences are free for Institute of Water members to attend.
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PROFESSIONALREGISTRATION
BECOMING PROFESSIONALLY REGISTERED Taking the steps towards professional registration can seem a daunting process for many members. Mark Sampson, a Hydrologist with Mott MacDonald, shares his journey through the professional registration process: time. I remember the application process being fairly simple and the award was a great way of illustrating environmental competence for anyone who only has a few years’ experience, or if their experience was particularly heavy in one particular area, as mine was. The REnvTech award also gave me a greater association with the Institute of Water, and I have been able to meet more and more people over the years through the Institute.
by Mark Sampson
Hydrologist with Mott MacDonald “I first started thinking about Environmental Chartership a few years ago whilst I was completing my final year of a part-time MSc in Hydrology and Water Resource Management. Having worked in hydrology for around five years within the water resources team at Northumbrian Water, I believed I had the technical ability to consider applying, however, the leadership and project management aspects were lacking. Coupled with the fact that the Master’s degree would exempt me from having to submit a Master’s Equivalency Report, I decided to hold off applying and instead opt for the REnvTech registration, which was reasonably new at the
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Fast forward a few years and my situation was fairly unchanged in terms of being completely involved in projects as a technical specialist, with little or no management and leadership roles to speak of. The only difference being that I had moved to Mott MacDonald, as a Hydrologist within the Water Consultancy Division. A lot depends on the work that comes through the door, and in my case, I worked with Anglian Water on their PR19 WRMP for almost all of my first year at Motts, however, project management roles presented themselves shortly after, mostly in the form of UK flood studies and large hydraulic flood modelling projects, and I felt I was able to demonstrate the necessary qualities to apply for Environmental Chartership with the Institute.
My application was deemed fit for interview, and I met with two very friendly assessors in a dulllooking Environment Agency office in Kettering. I wouldn’t go as far to say that the interview was a ‘friendly chat’, as others had implied in previous Institute of Water professional registration meetings I had attended, however, it was certainly a friendly environment and I was given plenty of opportunity to talk through my experience, which was intentionally focussed on the weaker areas of my application. I felt the interview process went well and I was soon pleased (and also relieved) to hear I had passed and been awarded the professional status that I had been working towards for a number of years. I found that this professional award is much more important in the consultancy world compared to a water company, however, it is also very important to me personally and I am extremely proud to have been awarded chartered status. Six months down the line and I still need to update my business cards though!
I’ve got to admit the application took a fair while for me to complete, although I was juggling work with a two hour commute each way, as well as gutting and modernising a newly
BECOME PROFESSIONALLY REGISTERED
The Institute of Water is licensed to register Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers, Engineering Technicians, Chartered Environmentalists, Registered Environmental Technicians, Chartered Scientists, Registered Scientists and Registered Science Technicians.
Find out more at WWW.INSTITUTEOFWATER.ORG.UK
Professional registration recognises competence and expertise in a subject
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acquired soon-to-be home. I’m happy to report that with a 30min cycle commute each day and a fully functional home, my life is now much less chaotic.
area and demonstrates an understanding and knowledge of this expertise. Having a professional accreditation brings high self-esteem, higher earnings potential and improved career prospects. Becoming professionally registered is a great example of Continuing Professional Development and is often recommended or preferred by certain industry bodies and regulators.
NEWREGISTRANTS ENVIRONMENT Ioana-Maria Muresan
GIS Specialist, RPS Water Chartered Environmentalist
As a young professional, I’m looking for new challenges and thinking about what I want to do next. The first time I heard about chartership it felt like a good opportunity to do more for myself. I saw it as the next step in my career. As part of my role in RPS Water and as a member of the Institute of Water, on my road to chartership, I got the opportunity to self-develop and discover ways to innovate and implement sustainable problem-solving solutions. Achieving the chartered status, concreted my committed to sustain and contribute to the environmental protection of water resources, supply maintenance and public health.
Matt Cole
Solutions Engineer, Wessex Water Registered Environmental Technician
Applying for professional registration is something I had wanted to do for a long time. After discussing with colleagues, I decided to take that first step. Achieving professional registration demonstrates to my colleagues that I have a great understanding of environmental issues affected by the water sector, and specifically the extensive issues construction can have on the planet. I would highly recommend applying. You may feel that you don’t have enough experience yet or how to demonstrate it but it’s amazing when you take that opportunity to look back at how much you have done in your career already and what you continue to do on a dayto-day basis. I can’t wait to apply for my CEnv in the near future.
ENGINEERING Andrew Pollock Senior Project Manager: Managed Delivery, Scottish Water Chartered Engineer
Liam Johnson Design Engineer, Amey Engineering Technician
I’m delighted to have achieved chartered status through the Institute of Water. The process of preparing for and attaining chartered status was relatively straight forward, with the review being quite enjoyable. I received great support and encouragement from the Institute of Water membership team and also from my family and work colleagues. I take a lot from the fact that chartered status is achieved through peer recognition of my competence, commitment to my profession, the environment and to society. I am proud to be a member of the Institute of Water and would encourage other water industry workers to also consider membership.Achieving chartered status and becoming professionally registered provides my employer with confidence that I am committed to maintaining and increasing my knowledge, skills and competence levels to address the engineering and technological needs of my profession. Professional registration demonstrates my commitment to professional standards and to continued professional development.
As I am in the first few years of my career in the water industry I am keen to progress my career anyway possible. Going for EngTech is a great starting point to achieve my goal of one day being chartered and also to open up new opportunities within my technical role as a Design Engineer. In the coming years I am hoping to use my experience to start working towards IEng with the Institute of Water.
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ENGINEERING CONTINUED Petros Mylonopoulos
Senior Engineer, RPS Chartered Engineer
I have been recently awarded Chartered Engineer status by the Institute of Water. The process was quite straightforward. It was a great way to be able to look back and link the experience I gained from my past projects to the engineering competencies. The interview with my assessors was a pleasant experience. Being a non-native English speaker and having a different background, there were cultural barriers that I had to overcome when I moved to Scotland from Greece. I would like to thank Rob Bradley - my mentor in RPS Group - for his ongoing support and his encouragement. Hopefully I can now give something back to the water business community as a mentor too. I would definitely recommend members to apply for registration.
SCIENCE Deanne Evans
Water Quality Regulations Coordinator, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Registered Scientist
I was encouraged to apply for professional registration by a colleague and my first thoughts were; could I really do it and have I done enough to be successful? My colleague advised me to jot down everything that I do and have been a part of and then start filling in the application. I was quite surprised how much I have done and the level of skill and knowledge I apply to my role. This made me feel more confident in applying. I am proud that I have achieved this level of professional recognition and would encourage others not to doubt themselves and go for it…..next step Chartered Scientist!
Mark Porter
Water Quality Regulations Manager, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Chartered Scientist
Helen Thomas
Laboratory Operations Manager, Anglian Water Chartered Scientist
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I was encouraged to apply for Chartered Scientist status as my employer had worked closely with the Science Council to make it straightforward to go through the process. The website is simple to use and it lets you complete the application in stages to make it easier to fit it around work demands. Professional registration as a Chartered Scientist recognises the experience and knowledge I have gained over 20 years as a scientist working in the water industry. It also acknowledges how my skills have been used to make a practical difference in my working life.
I am proud and delighted to have been awarded Chartered Scientist status. Having fallen into a career change after graduating university, this is a valued recognition of the work I have done over the last 16 years. It wasn’t until I came to write my application and review my CPD that I realised just how much I have achieved, including five years open university alongside working full time in the laboratory. It’s a great recognition of all the skills I have acquired along the way and has certainly demonstrated the value of CPD!
NEWREGISTRANTS SCIENCE CONTINUED Emma Camm
Laboratory Manager, Portsmouth Water Chartered Scientist
Michelle Munden
Laboratory Operations Manager, Anglian Water Chartered Scientist
Kadar Qone
Environmental Sampling, Anglian Water Registered Science Technician
Andrew Davey
Principal Consultant, WRc Chartered Scientist
I first became a member of the Institute of Water in 2016 after hearing about and attending the South East Area Weekend School. Since then I have attended several IWater events which have built up my skill base and enabled me to network with other people/businesses across the water industry. Through IWater members in my workplace and at events it was clear that the IWater is committed to helping everyone develop their skills and knowledge, but also create an environment for innovation and sharing best practice. This led me to applying to be a Registered Scientist. However, on completion of my application, my workplace sponsor pushed me to submit my application for the Chartered Scientist registration. The one thing that worried me throughout the application was the Professional Review – it actually turned out to be the best bit! It allowed me to discuss my work and thoughts, and gave me confidence in my industry knowledge. It has been an enjoyable experience, one I could not have achieved without the support of my colleagues and I am proud that I pushed myself to be professionally recognised as a Chartered Scientist. I have worked for Anglian Water for 18 years and I’m currently a Laboratory Operations Manager for Trace Organics at their central laboratory. I achieved Registered Scientist in 2017 and I was keen to continue my professional development so becoming a Chartered Scientist was the next step. I had some really great feedback from Registered Scientist professional review that inspired me to take on new challenges which enabled me to demonstrate the required competences for becoming a Chartered Scientist. I would encourage anyone thinking of applying for professional registration to go for it as it’s such a great feeling when you receive the certificate. The process is straight forward and there is a lot of guidance available on the website and also through mentors and workshops. I feel very proud to have achieved Chartered Scientist status as it recognises the knowledge and experience that I’ve gained throughout my career. I’m now looking forward to mentoring others to help them fulfil their goals. I always wanted to maintain the knowledge and competence developed over past years and this qualification gave me the opportunity to develop my scientific skills and a framework to support my future career development. I would encourage anyone interested in the environment to apply and get the recognition they deserve which is also transferable across sectors.
I have worked as an environmental scientist in the water sector for 15 years, in both research and consultancy roles, and wanted to gain professional registration as a way of demonstrating my professionalism to colleagues and clients. Chartership has been at the back of my mind for a number of years but joining the Institute of Water a couple of years ago inspired me to take the plunge and made the process seem much more straightforward and achievable. Like many people, I rarely find time to reflect on my achievements and experiences, and so producing my competencies report provided a valuable opportunity to take stock of my career to date. The professional review interview was a surprisingly enjoyable experience, being a relaxed discussion about my career history, what I’ve learnt along the way, and the broader context within which my work sits. Becoming a Chartered Scientist has boosted my confidence and helped me identify key areas for my future personal development. I would recommend the process to anyone who wishes to progress their career in the water sector and will be encouraging members of my team to update their CPD and work towards preparing their own applications.
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WINDMILL INSIGHT SOLUTIONS
MINING ROUGH DIAMONDS
OR WHY THE BEST CANDIDATE MAY NOT BE THE OBVIOUS ONE What do you do with a team member best described as a rough diamond, technically brilliant but a challenge to work with? How about promoting them to a critical management position? While not without risks, it can work. As interim Water Quality Monitoring Manager for Southern Water, I had to form a team to provide scientific expertise to the new Compliance and Resilience (CAR) directorate. Being a new team in a new section, the team principal required exceptional technical and leadership skills.
Making the choice I see managers as the conductor of the orchestra, able to combine a broad technical understanding with great leadership skills to liberate their team’s potential, so this was my aim. Informal discussions on potential candidates brought up Lee Dark’s name. Reaction split broadly into: “he’s a pain, recruit at your peril” or “he’s good but can be prickly”. No-one was lukewarm about Lee, something I thought potentially valuable.
Looking beyond the obvious Lee’s technical expertise was never in doubt, but I didn’t know how he would adapt to running a team of widely differing capabilities. At interview I asked how he thought others saw him. He immediately he offered the thought that “I can be a challenge, but I know my stuff and am passionate about doing it right”! He also spoke fluently on how he would grow and develop the team, especially that they were trained before being thrown into the mix and gave examples of how the team could help Southern Water improve its compliance. In the end it was an easy choice.
How did it work out? In a recent 360 appraisal Lee got the highest team score of all the CAR managers for his engagement with his team. And that was just the icing on the cake. Lee and his team earned the respect of the business, working on projects including assessing the company’s reservoir sampling points against the Water Quality Regulations, Hazrev (Hazard Review) looking at Monitoring and Sampling across all of Southern Water’s water treatment works and the critical on-line monitoring trial to accredit the data to the ISO17025 standard.
Lee somehow found time to apply for and get Chartered Scientist, getting good feedback on his application and CPD plan, and being recommended as an assessor for the Institute of Water. Since his appointment he has also taken on the role Technical Manager working alongside the Quality Team helping to ensure Southern Water maintains it’s ISO17025 accreditation.
Managing the risk What if I’d been wrong? Southern Water appointments have a probationary period and, while unpleasant, terminating an unsuccessful appointment is necessary. Just remember that that you appointed them and have some responsibility here.
Moral of the story Do take soundings when recruiting but make up you own mind. If in doubt, interview them and ask directly about relevant issues. And don’t beat about the bush.
A footnote
Lee is a dedicated manager whose main focus is on his staff. He goes above and beyond to ensured we are all content in our roles as monitoring scientists. I am very glad he is my boss! Grace Gledhill
Our manager always encourages us in self-development. He is giving us the best training and support, to do the job to the highest standard. We can always count on him and he can always count on us. Magdalena Sobkowiak
How did I develop the idea of giving people a chance? Back in the mists I time I was like Lee. Great technically but a challenge to work with because I felt frustrated by my role. Once I got an opportunity, I blossomed. Ask yourself this: How many Lee’s and Bob’s might there be in your organisation?
“And his team says…”
Team wellbeing is very important for Lee. He provided us with all necessary training prior to our roles and responsibilities. He supports us 100% and we can count on him any time and day. Ewa Esposito
As Academic Director, my aim is to help your managers be effective in range situations. This case study shows how a well-considered recruitment risk can reap great benefits for an organisation in quality-critical environments. Such skills cannot be developed by courses and qualifications alone but need a rolling programme of learning and practical experience to deliver a pipeline of effective individuals. At BWEC, we would be more than happy to discuss how we could help you achieve this. Email: bob@bwec.org.uk
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CHECKING DEVELOPMENT OUR CPD MONITORING EXERCISE Hopefully by now you are aware that we think your development is important. All corporate members of the Institute of Water commit to active participation in CPD, in some form or another. The bodies that licence us to award professional registration; the Science Council, the Engineering Council and the Society for the Environment; require this and also require us to undertake an annual check that our members are complying. In 2018 we wrote to a sample of our corporate membership, requesting that they submit a record of their CPD in the preceding year. These are sent off to a dedicated team of volunteer assessors who work in pairs to assess the records and provide supportive feedback to give something back to those who submitted.
We have just analysed the results of the 2018 exercise and thought it was worth sharing some of the results. Fifty-five members were selected at random, with roughly equal proportions of those on the each of our three registers, plus a sample of our corporate members who are not on a register. All CPD records were scored against six criteria, all over which are part of CPD best practice. Although scores varied widely, there were some interesting trends, which we thought we’d share with you. Some CPD records were excellent (and these have been put forward for consideration in the Institute’s CPD Award) – others lacked all but the most basic components of a good CPD record and scored very low. It was good to see that these were in the minority, though, and most submissions received an acceptable score. Average scores were very similar between the three professional disciplines. Environmentalists were most consistent, and showed the least variation in overall scores. The average scores for corporate members were lower, possibly reflecting a slightly less experienced group (some of whom perhaps had not yet achieved professional registration), or simply that this
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group were less familiar with the key elements of CPD. When we look at the scores for each CPD component, the picture becomes even more interesting. Not surprisingly, the recording and variety elements were the highest scoring – noting down the development activities we undertake is the first thing we think of in relation to CPD records. Engineers seemed to be particularly good at keeping an accurate CPD record! They were less diligent when it came to reflecting on the learning that they had undertaken – this was a weak area generally, but it’s an important one as it ensures we are actively considering the benefits of any
development we do and refining our future development needs and the approach we take as a result. The other category where scores were low was development planning, where the scientists led the way in a weak field. It’s a good idea to have a methodical and targeted approach to most of the learning we do, as this is the best way of ensuring it is relevant and going to meet our needs. Setting some thoughts on aspirations and skills gaps in an overarching development plan is a great way of making sure this happens. As ever, the CPD monitoring exercise has given us some food for thought as to how we can
CPD better support members in getting the most from their CPD. One way is to improve the guidance available, and you should start to notice a greatly expanded section on how to approach CPD on the Institute’s website. Our CPD tool has always been a good way of ensuring you are approaching the task in the right way, but we are currently working on making this even better – improving the usability and making it possible to include a development plan as the first stage in the CPD process among other improvements. The CPD monitoring cycle will begin again at the end of this summer - as ever we are incredibly grateful to our dedicated team of assessors who lend us their expertise and make the whole thing possible.
Putting CPD at the heart of career development There are lots of great examples of Institute of Water members working to help colleagues to recognise the benefits of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Anglian Water employees, Natasha Page, Water Quality Risk Manager and Nicola Johnston, Training and Development Scientist recently held a series of workshops to define what CPD is and why it is so important. Here they share what they did:
“This year we are encouraging Anglian Water employees to embrace CPD no matter what stage of their career they are at and utilising it to drive their personal development. The workshop was attended by a wide variety of roles from apprentices through to team leaders and managers. Many were new to CPD, so we set out to give an idea of what activities count towards CPD. When it comes to CPD people are often surprised to find what they can include such as: ■■
On the job learning
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Supervising, mentoring or training
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Organising events both in and out of work
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Work shadowing/secondments
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Being a representative for a committee
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Involvement in a professional body
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Volunteering
This is not an exhaustive list but if you are learning and developing it counts. During the workshop we asked participants to define some goals, and then get suggestions of how they could achieve those goals. We had some great
examples of shared learning and experiences including helping to suggest appropriate mentors for professional applications, but at the same time did make it clear that you don’t have to be going down a professional registration route to complete CPD. Matthew Lea (Water Quality Scientist) and Matt Leeson (Groundwater Project Manager) gave some excellent examples of how they approach to setting goals. Both showed that activities in and out of work count towards CPD and highlighted the support that personal development goals can give to professional development. The final section focused on recording CPD and all the options available from spread sheets to bespoke portals. We use the Institute of Water CPD portal as a great example of best practice and we’d certainly recommend that members take advantage of this. These workshops are part of a wider strategy within Anglian Water’s Water Services to develop a CPD Champion Network across all roles. This has enabled us to spread the message further at team meetings and encourage them to explore how they can shape and develop their careers.”
SE WATER INNOVATION CHAMPIONS More than 20 innovation champions have completed the innovation champion course at South East Water UK.
[Some of the programme graduates with their innovation project posters]
The course is designed to embed a culture of innovation within the day-to-day operations of the company, providing key staff members with the knowledge, tools and expertise required to drive forward new and exciting ideas which staff from across the business generate. The participants, who volunteered to join the community from across the business, teamed up to deliver multi-departmental initiatives as part of the certified and accredited programme.
much had been achieved in such a short amount of time. There was great consistency in how the teams had approached the diverse issues and opportunities.”
Initiatives were diverse and ranged from enhancing site recycling rates to development of new systems and technologies.
Paul Sutherland, Managing Director of +ADD Strategy, said: “The new methods and tools the teams used demonstrated the value of design thinking. We consider it is essential to enable this capacity in complex businesses such as water companies who are focussed on meeting challenging performance targets.”
The teams applied methods and processes learnt throughout the nine sessions to better define challenges, seek sponsorship, research and test assumptions, co-design and validate solutions with colleagues, stakeholders and the supply chain. Mary Sabalis, Head of Business Systems at South East Water said: “It was fantastic to see how
Some of the projects developed during the programme offered substantial efficiencies, enhanced customer value and new revenues to the business and are set to be implemented with the support of management.
Tertius Rust, Innovation Lead at South East Water said: “This is one of several initiatives we are delivering to build agile and design led innovation within the business. We will be delivering a range of innovation campaigns both internally and with the supply chain community this year.” +ADD Strategy is retained as an innovation partner for South East Water and is delivering a diverse range of initiatives supporting innovation strategy, culture, systems, processes and practical programme delivery. #innovation #partnering #training
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DRILLINGANDTAPPING
PAST CHAMPIONS ANGLIAN WATER CLAIM BACK TALIS MEN’S TROPHY The Institute of Water’s National Drilling and Tapping competition took place in Birmingham at Utility Week Live on the 21st and 22nd May and proved again to be an exciting two days, drawing in a lively crowd, fantastic support and a lot of noise! The Talis Men’s competition saw a close battle between underdogs Clancy Docwra, who have never previously made it to a Drilling and Tapping final and past champions Anglian Water who were both looking to take the trophy from last year’s winners Northumbrian Water. The competition came down to the last run as both teams successfully secured a ‘quality tap’, however it was Anglian Water who stormed to victory and claimed back the title from Northumbrian Water with a run of 2 minutes 13 seconds. Jason Barratt (Solutions Delivery Engineer) and Lee Maddock (Clancy DOCWRA operative) from the Anglian Water team will now go on to represent the UK once again in next year’s 2020 World Water Cup competition in Orlando Florida! Jason was delighted with their final run and said: “We had to stay cool under pressure and bring it home safely, sometimes that can be the difference between a win and a loss. We’re thrilled to have the Talis title once again and look forward to representing the UK in 2020!”
There was no Women’s competition again this year, however Northumbrian Water Ladies team were recognised for their participation in the UK competition and awarded by sponsor Mueller.
COMPETITION 2019 RESULTS 1st Place and Winner of the Talis Men’s Trophy
2nd Place
Clancy Docwra, 2mins 36 secs
3rd Place
Waternet, 2mins 47secs
Anglian Water, 2mins 13secs
The UK Drilling and Tapping competition is organised by the Institute of Water. The next competition takes place at Utility Week Live in Birmingham’s NEC 2020. Entries and enquiries to Megan Williams (Institute of Water) at megan@instituteofwater.org.uk. www.drillingandtapping.co.uk
Drilling and Tapping Sponsors
We’d also like to wish Colin Pearson and Alan Dixon the best of luck from Northumbrian Water who are competing at the ACE competition, representing the UK in Denver this month!
FAREWELL TO WULLIE DOHERTY The 2019 Drilling & Tapping competition also says goodbye to one of our longest serving judges Wullie Doherty (Scottish Water). Wullie joined the judging team in 2005 and has decided to step down from the position after being involved with the event since 1998. The Institute of Water would like to express our sincere thanks for the time, effort and dedication Wullie has given over 21 years and we wish him the best of luck for the future! The Institute of Water would like to thank all the teams, sponsors and judges involved in this year’s competition. There will be a full write up of the competition in the next issue of the magazine. www.drillingandtapping.co.uk @drillandtapping
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IChemE Forms of Contract An internationally acclaimed series, developed to reflect best practice in the process industries
The Red Book – Lump Sum Contract
The Brown Book – Subcontract for Civil Engineering Works
The Green Book – Reimbursable Contract
The Orange Book – Minor Works
The Burgundy Book – Target Cost Contract
The Silver Book – Professional Services Contract
The Yellow Book – Subcontract
There are currently two suites of contracts available, one suitable for the UK market and another for international use. Each contract contains a model form of agreement and general conditions, supplemented with detailed guide notes to assist the user in preparing a contract.
MB0095_18
Available in hard copy, PDF and editable word document formats.
www.icheme.org/shop
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RISINGSTARS
BEING A RISING STAR I was thrilled to have achieved a place on this year’s Institute of Water Rising Stars Programme. Already it has been such an amazing experience!
[Rising Stars 2019 visit Wessex Water, L2R: Jonathon Banks, Georgia Brown, Rose Shisler, Rebecca Skuce, Brandon Morris, Mohammed Saddiq, Director, GENeco, Thomas Kelly, Charlotte Rhodes and Hayley Wakeford.]
By Rebecca Skuce
Project Manager at Scottish Water Horizons and 2019 Rising Star Just recently I had the opportunity to visit Wessex Water to see first-hand some of the great things that are happening in the water industry south of the border. We got the chance to hear from Mohammed Saddiq, Director of their energy company GENeco, who gave an inspiring insight into the company’s history and pioneering new technologies. One of which is the famous BioBus that you might have heard about - the UK’s first bus to be powered entirely by human and food waste! One of the main reasons I applied for the Rising Stars programme was to help broaden my knowledge of the water industry and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges it faces. And so far it certainly hasn’t disappointed. Not only have I been able to meet a fantastic bunch of like-minded people, I’ve also been able to hear directly from some of the most influential
people in our industry about key issues and new developments in our sector. This plays really well into my role as Project Manager for Scottish Water’s Development Centres, two facilities set up to enable companies and researchers to test new innovations in large-scale environments to help protect our vital water resources. This is an area that is really close to my heart and is one of the reasons I took up Earth Science at the University of Glasgow where eventually I completed my PhD in the removal of pollutants from water and waste water. In Scotland we are privileged to have an abundance of water, but world-wide only 3% of this precious resource
is drinkable. According to the Global Footprint Network to maintain our current consumption levels we would require 1.7 Earths! I’m really passionate about protecting our water resources to meet future needs and sustainability goals. I also see this as a hugely inspirational time with a chance to make real change. The Rising Stars programme provides me with a unique opportunity to do just that. I’m thrilled at having the opportunity to attend and present at various industry events where I will have the chance to input into some of these key challenges. At the time of writing this, I’m very excited about an upcoming visit to Anglian Water to learn more about their Innovation Shop Window!
RISING STARS
2020
Are you new to the water industry and feel you have potential and appetite to progress? We will soon be looking for our Rising Stars for 2020. Applications will open in August so keep an eye out for emails and our social media channels about Rising Stars. To apply, you must be a member of the Institute and at an early stage in your water sector career. For more information visit instituteofwater.org.uk/rising-stars
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MENTORING
CONTEMPORARY MENTORING The Institute of Water recognise how mentoring can be key part of an individual’s professional development. It’s a great way to unlock potential and support career goals and there are benefits for the mentor as well as the mentee. Mentoring allows established professionals and less experienced professionals to meet and engage with one another, offering both parties the chance to succeed, progress and learn new skills. For many people, mentoring can seem such an old fashioned approach to professional development. So what is mentoring in a modern age? In contemporary mentoring, mentors do not give the answers, their role is to help the mentee come to their own conclusion. This in turn can often make the mentor reappraise their own thinking around what is right and wrong. Mentoring is a reflective experience, enabling both mentor and mentee to learn about different practices and cultures which they can then apply to their own organisations. No two mentoring relationships are the same, however all mentoring relationships should start with the same solid foundations.
The cornerstones of mentoring
Elicit – asking questions and listening Support – encouraging and validating Impart – Sharing knowledge and experience Challenge – providing a different perspective
Mentor Roles
The traditional view of mentoring is where a mentor shares their experience and imparts knowledge. In contemporary mentoring a mentor does a lot more listening than talking. The mentor’s job is to illicit information and ask questions before they offer an opinion or guide. A mentor is often a sounding-board and can provide a link into other information and people who can help. The mentor doesn’t need to have all the answers. During the course of the mentoring relationship the mentor will become a confidante; someone with whom the mentee will share aspirations and challenges with. A mentor’s role is also to challenge, to offer a different perspective, whilst also providing support. Sometimes all a mentee needs is to talk to someone and this process in itself makes actions and solutions obvious. The mentoring process then becomes a catalyst for change.
The Institute of Water provide a bespoke online platform to help match and manage mentoring partnerships. It has seen many successful matches which have helped many members achieve their career goals. If you feel you could benefit from becoming a mentor or being a mentor, go to www.instituteofwater.org.uk/mentoring to find out more about our mentoring opportunities.
The process can also lead to mentors questioning their own judgement, often encouraging them to reflect on their management style and whether they are doing enough career development for their own people.
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EGREMONT
AS EASY AS RIDING A BIKE? LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM TOUR DE FRANCE WINNERS
For leaders looking to make a big difference in their company, consistently achieve upper quartile results and make a lasting impact on the way their business operates, fresh thinking is needed. It takes courage to trust a new perspective but sometimes it can make all the difference. by Alex Graham and Dean Wheeler Egremont Group
A Fresh Pair of Eyes One great example of embracing new thinking comes from Team Sky who have dominated cycling in recent years. Everyone associates this success with Sir Dave Brailsford, but the Tour de France winners from Sky all mention the Guru, the beacon and the boffin. They are not referring
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to Brailsford but Tim Kerrison - the Team Sky visionary. Kerrison is not from a cycling background but a successful swimming coach.
unconstrained way and how Brailsford backed his unorthodox approach that made all the difference.
So how does an Australian swimming coach become the visionary of British cycling? The simple answer is that because he wasn’t versed in the rituals, habits and norms of cycling, he wasn’t constrained by the traditional thinking plus he had the support of a great leader. He used data to help him understand the sport, the same data available to all the teams. It was how he used this data in an
There are three key factors in the Team Sky success story: ■■ The leader trusted a disrupter (in this case from outside the sport) to bring a new perspective, not constrained by traditions, engrained habits, experience etc…a fresh perspective ■■ The team used data in interesting ways to help test their ideas developed from
FEATURE: LEADERSHIP ■■
unconstrained thinking. It was not new data, but they used it to test new ideas. The leader was prepared to be different and could inspire people to try new ways of working. New decisions were calculated risks backed by data to give them confidence in the approach, but there were no guarantees or proof.
It’s hard to break with traditions and habits but the leaders that attempt to break new ground are the ones that end up delivering step changes and transforming their teams, organisations or indeed a whole sector. What does this have to with the water industry? Well, the similar factor in both cases is the need for leaders to take courageous decisions based on using data in new ways to predict and drive success. Data is only useful, however, if it is collected and analysed in the right way, and this is where a new type of leadership approach is needed. The Team Sky example demonstrates beautifully how using data earlier in the process and testing counter intuitive ideas to find the lead indicators of success is a powerful technique to determine future performance. This requires forward thinking. Applying a different set of principles and a different kind of leadership mind-set.
Define the problem Leaders in the water industry need to think carefully about which parts of which problems they are trying to solve and get laser focused. Whether this relates to reducing manual interventions in maintenance or changing consumer behaviour to limit consumption, if the innovation within the team has a clear goal it is much easier to mobilise colleagues and
stakeholders (or even investors) behind any new ideas.
Be Brave Establishing a new way of thinking and working is not going to be easy in any business. It is particularly hard in an organisation which has always done things a certain way. The increased amount of data available in utilities, for example, is truly mind blowing and it is clear that rather than making day to day decision making easier big(ger) data can lead to decision making paralysis. Which way to turn? Which numbers to trust? Successful leaders stand apart from the crowd by demonstrating a certain humility when it comes to plotting a new course. They understand that they don’t have all the answers on their own and are brave enough to create a culture which allows new ideas to flourish. Once new ideas are forthcoming, they then have the ability to spot an opportunity, understand what is needed, and the tenacity to stick to the plan. It takes an extraordinary amount of courage to plot a completely new course for a team, stick to that strategy and see it through.
Seek out the disrupter in the team For the water industry looking to make gains in a legacy operations it is unlikely that all the best ideas will come from the same places. When looking for the non-obvious solution to an old problem leaders need to seek out the disrupters who will spot something, or imagine something different that no one else can see. Could these ‘new eyes’ actually already be in the business – how about a whole department/team taking a look at their co-workers issues?
Winning the Tour de France using a completely new training strategy was not a leap of faith, they had data which supported their plan, but it did require brave leadership to do something completely alien to the sport. The leader was taking a calculated risk. For a utility, providing an essential service a business wide ‘leap of faith’ is not practical. What is practical is a pilot of new ideas or a carefully designed set of controlled experiments to illuminate a new way forward. One water company recently focused on a group of houses where the water was particularly expensive to supply due to geographical location. The households in the test group were educated on how they could reduce their consumption and then rewarded either with a lump sum reduction off their bill or a bigger cash prize awarded to the house that cut its consumption by the largest amount. These prizes where funded by the actual reduction in cost to the company of the householders using less water. An interesting small trial but imagine the savings if this incentive driven initiative was rolled out to all households in our major cities.
Patience and Resilience It takes a strong leader to take the professional risks needed to seek out gains that will take a team to the next level. Great improvements rarely happen quickly and new ideas will fail. Only patience, focus and resilience will ensure the new ideas have the time to impact the bottom line. Team Sky only succeeded because the leader trusted his team. The methods were new but they were backed up by data analysed by fresh eyes. Where will the new perspective come from in your business? Isn’t it time we were all a little braver?
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HOW CAN THE WATER INDUSTRY ATTRACT TALENT FOR THE DIGITAL AGE?
Despite its integral reliance on science, technology and engineering, the Water Industry isn’t necessarily the first sector that young people think of as they emerge from their education. So how can employers attract the next generation, and prepare their workforces for digital transformation?
The skills shortage
by Karen Alexander Delivery Director, Sopra Steria Recruitment
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The water industry, and wider utilities sector both face potentially devastating skills shortages. In fact, a 2017 report from the Energy & Utilities Skills’ Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy predicted a shortfall of 221,000 workers in utilities over the next ten years, driven by an ageing workforce, tight labour market, lack of technical skills and engagement amongst young people. Furthermore, vacancies in water and other utilities are much harder to fill than other industries, with 35% job openings proving difficult to find candidates for, compared to a national average of 23%.
Digital disruption In addition to this, the water industry is set to be heavily disrupted by technological advances. The value of embracing digital transformation has been estimated to be worth up to £22bn a year to the infrastructure sector, making bridging the skills gap a significant step. Workforces will require a range of new competencies to adapt to leading edge technology. Widespread automation has already occurred in countries such as The Netherlands, where remote operation of treatment works is now commonplace, and the usage of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and digitisation are all progressing rapidly here in the UK as well as overseas. Northumbrian Water is one company which is leading innovation in this area.
FEATURE: LEADERSHIP CIO of the business, Nigel Watson cites the potential of AI as a clear example that will change the kinds of skills needed. He went on to explain “We set aside a small team to explore what we should do with AI, and we’ve already had some really good successes with machine learning. I suspect that some of the roles we refer to as ‘Data Scientist’ today will sub-divide to create some further specialisms, such as data engineer, data visualisation expert. I also see us working across new channels, as we have recently done to create customer experiences on Alexa. The expansion of channels demands a new focus on usability, which is emerging as a key skill for us’’. Clearly, the potential for changes to workforces in response to these developments are huge. In the UK, the water, sewage and waste industry has a 63% potential risk of automation, one of the highest of all sectors. It’s not only tasks which were traditionally assigned to blue collar workers which are being picked up by machines, with role such as process scientists and optimisation specialists also potentially automatable. This will create a landscape where companies must be agile and constantly adapting talent attraction strategies to suit their needs, as it is not entirely clear what the future demands will be.
Creating strong EVP To build strong, digitally skilled talent pipelines, it’s crucial that companies create a strong EVP for potential recruits, and take actions to put them in front of the same audience that more ‘trendy’ brands tend to have a monopoly on. There are a number of ways to do this. For instance, Northumbrian Water engages with students in the North-East, recruiting them for apprenticeship programmes whilst at university, running schemes for students in the second year of their degrees at the University of Sunderland. By giving young people a glimpse of some of the high-tech, cutting edge work going in the sector, emerging talent may be persuaded to pursue careers in water over other, more traditional, routes.
Developing your own talent While attracting new talent is a key aspect of preparing workforces for the digital age, there is also a pressing need for companies to upskill existing staff. Growing internal talent, and making sure workers have their own development journey with clearly defined routes for progression will significantly increase the chance of workers staying within the industry. At Northumbrian Water, a concerted effort to grow internal talent and ‘’develop people in their roles’’ has led to a very low turnover rate of 4-5%.
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Finding the right recruitment partner Something that is instrumental for attracting the right talent is a dedicated recruitment partner. As Nigel Watson highlights, for the large scale transformation programmes that water companies are increasingly undertaking, agility is key. “Aside from being critical for the business, the key characteristics of these programmes are that they have lots of interdependencies and high monthly burn rates. If you have a key role open for too long it can cost you a lot of money.’’ Therefore, having a trusted partner that understands the needs of the industry and has expertise in sourcing the right people can not only to help meet short term goals, but also train your internal hiring team to achieve long term objectives and establish an effective pipeline for future talent.
Act quickly Ultimately, time will tell how successfully the water industry adapts its talent attraction strategies to address the need for digital capabilities. However, by deploying targeted talent acquisition strategies to get in front of the right audience, taking a dedicated approach to upskilling staff, and working with the right partner to manage recruitment efficiently, water companies can successively prepare for the digital age.
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Z-TECH
DEVELOPING GREAT ENGINEERS
Finding and developing good technicians is a skill, as the current UK training programmes range from really excellent (but very expensive), through to local colleges which lack the skills of teachers in the key subject areas. Electrical, Control and Instrumentation Technicians are the key shortage: typically a trained Electrical and Electronic Engineering Apprentice, who has a thorough understanding of Instrumentation and PLC programming. Electrical fault finding is only one part of a complex and thorough understanding of process systems, instrumentation and control optimisation. The introduction of more ‘smart’ or ‘Water 4.0’ technology will only make it worse: the installer has to have a higher level of competence to install the instrumentation and get it communicating with whatever top end Control System. Without competencies on the ground, intelligent systems are far from intelligent. Colleges and Institutions can’t be expected to know the current industrial working, it could be said that a lecturer who has limited practical industrial experience will find it difficult to teach meaningful and real-world current applications.
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The cost of industrial equipment for the purpose of training also isn’t viable, an instrumentation and PLC lab could easily cost tens of thousands and have a short lifespan. The answer is complex, but possible with a collaborative approach and best practice steer. Partnerships feature heavily in the answer: amongst other standard partnership to help in curriculum development. As an example, Z-Tech has recently launched a Technical Partnership with one particular local college, Peterborough University Technical College, helping to deliver the specialist areas of the curriculum which tutors are not able to, offering industrial shadowing placements for real-life applications of the curriculum, and employment to students. This is only one example which helps address the problem, but the industry has to really work in partnership with teaching providers in order for this to be addressed.
Luke Stanbridge, Z-Tech’s Commercial Director said: “There’s a great shortage of EC&I Technicians, Z-Tech has seen a growing demand for its engineers under a ‘labour supply’ model, where the customer manages their day-to-day work programme, but van, PPE, laptop and software are provided by the Z-Tech. Filling the gaps in customer Operations Teams, our skilled Techs have been bolstered with Australian, New Zealand and South African highly skilled technicians up until this point, I’m now really hoping that in addition to our Apprentice model, our partnership with the University Technical College is the next step in really focusing on UK development – watch this space!”
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DIGITAL! WHAT NOW?
Principal Consultant Jo Kelsey of Stantec in the UK reflects on the water industry’s ambition to embrace digital technology, the perception of the success of digital solutions and what approaches improve the delivery of outcomes. of digital platforms, cloud-based technologies and capabilities to process Big Data. But what does this actually mean? Large volumes of data are locked up in existing corporate systems that either directly or indirectly indicate asset performance over time and the interactions of assets with customers and the environment. The siloed nature of these data sets, held within different systems, has hindered access to the insights that could help a water company to make better decisions.
by Jo Kelsey
Principal Consultant Stantec Digital transformation of the water industry started many decades ago with a first wave widescale adoption of computers followed by developments in communications and networking. For the water industry the current wave of digital technology transformation relates more to the level of sophistication
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By utilising Big Data processing technologies and improved architecture that allows easier data integration, utilities can begin to use data to shift away from their traditional reactive approach to operate in a more predictive manner and minimise service failures. It enables a water company to make decisions today, for tomorrow, using future predictions based on data from the past. Indeed, digital technology is cited in many UK water company PR19 business plans as a key enabler to meeting AMP7 performance commitments, and there is little doubt that the potential impact of digital in the water industry is significant and impacts on many aspects of business operation.
The AMP7 affordability challenge and performance commitments that are linked to Outcome Delivery Incentives (ODI) means that the stakes are high. For example, escalating levels of fines for sewage pollution incidents, the requirement to investigate high spilling sewer overflows and the ODI penalties and rewards related to pollution and sewer flooding have prompted many water companies to look to digital technology to improve performance. The value to the UK water industry in the next AMP investment cycle of achieving target reductions in escapes of sewage is very significant, with an average 20% target reduction across all categories. Failure to meet performance commitment targets could result in many hundreds of ÂŁmillions in regulatory penalties.
Digital solutions are referenced in most AMP7 business plans as an enabler to meeting and exceeding targets. Pollution and sewer flooding incident reduction is a pressing concern for water companies, but
FEATURE: DIGITAL SOLUTIONS there are many other untapped opportunities for digital technology-based improvements including: ■■ Optimisation of operational and capital expenditures ■■ Improvements to safety ■■ Automation of maintenance activities ■■ Asset capacity optimisation ■■ Planning capital maintenance interventions ■■ Optimising processes to improve waste water treatment and water quality ■■ Improving the customer experience As mentioned at the outset we are riding the next wave of a digital evolution. It is worthwhile reflecting on the success and progress of past / ongoing digital initiatives. At a recent global water industry conference an audience was asked to vote what the primary concern of an Executive Board would be when considering investment in digital solutions. The top 4 results in the survey were: 1) Risk aversion 2) Cyber security concerns 3) Insufficient Return on Investment (ROI) 4) High rate of failure of IT projects If this is the perception of decision makers what can we learn from the history of digital solution implementations in the global water industry that would help the industry to realise the benefits of digital technology? Why is digital technology viewed as high risk, inadequately cost/beneficial with a history of failure? Reflecting generally on the delivery setup of digital initiatives across the world I believe that people, not technologies are the key to successful delivery of digital solutions and a re-evaluation of the way that the water industry approaches projects involving digital technology would yield improved, long term success. A water company has a business plan that is based on achieving a series of outcomes, e.g. to reduce sewer flooding. The solution may require deploying a technology solution, but it is not a technology project. The project must be led, and the delivery team populated by those for whom the outcome is truly the focus. To be a success the solution must meet the needs of the end users, not only in the eyes of an IT business analyst but in the experience of the operative, customer call centre worker, controller who interacts with the technology. Then it will achieve the business outcome.
Outcome focused leadership is critical. The solution (in part) may be technology based but it is important that the project / transformation leader really represents and empathises with the day to day requirements of the end user. Following this principle, the leader of such a project would rarely be a technologist. The technologist, technology provider / consultant would be a highly valued, critical part of a multi-disciplined, multi-stakeholder team.
A collaborative working environment must be created where the end to end business impact of the new technology is represented through the team population, for the long run, to see through the cycles of development and evolution that may be required to achieve the outcome. There must be a realistic consideration of cost / benefit at the point a Board is asked to approve funds. Of course, this applies generally to all requests for investment but to counter the perception that ROI has been insufficient and that IT projects have a high rate of failure those requesting investment must avoid overpromising. Digital technology does unlock insights in big data, but one size does not fit all, and it may not initially provide the level of automation to processes that is desired. To avoid disappointment those promoting technology solutions must carefully consider how to make a realistic benefit estimation. For example, it may be advisable to avoid claiming that a technology will enable significant headcount reductions and instead quantify the cost/benefit assuming a static headcount but with those people empowered to deliver a far improved level of service. Iterative improvement through learning from deployments is much more sustainable than claiming that a silver bullet will quickly achieve maximum resource efficiencies. Stantec have built this learning into their way of working and their methods for deploying digital solutions. For example, Stantec successfully work with water clients in the USA, providing an outcome focused, programmatic approach to implementing intelligent data platforms to deliver Combined Sewer Overflow performance improvements. This has required consolidation of many data sets and development of a user interface for predictive sewer analytics, helping to reduce sewer overflow spills by significant margins. A collaborative, multi-disciplined team was created, involving domain experts from the fields of GIS, hydraulic modelling, system monitoring, telemetry, cloud-based computing, predictive analytics, control room and operations.
The involvement of the right people, representing all aspects of the impacted business processes meant that our clients have seen the successes of the new technology within weeks of launch. In developing our client agnostic digital solutions, we take the same approach. For our own digital solution developments we have focused on creating collaborative, multidiscipline teams with strong, outcome-orientated sponsorship. For example, we have formed a global development team to create Stantec Analytics - cloud-based advanced analytics in Microsoft Azure that evaluate telemetry data reliability, reference external data, diagnose the cause of asset alarms (e.g. from Event Duration Monitors) and predict service failures. The team is not technologist led – technology is part of the solution. We formally affiliate people from different disciplines to work as one team, combining specialist content knowledge to ensure that the quality of the analytics is truly understood and maximised. The end user is part of that team for the duration of the development – not just intermittently consulted. We choose people who not only have the right technical expertise, but also people who are more likely to collaborate – personalities that will make this work. We choose people who are respected within their discipline because this is critical to the roll out and uptake of the solution.
The water industry needs to rise to the challenge of embracing digital technology - successfully. Customers and regulators expect this. Approaches that focus on the outcome, delivered by collaborative teams with outcomes focused leadership will succeed in delivering a solution that incorporates digital technology. Funding a delivery team that truly represents the end-toend business impact of the technology, that will see through the required cycles of development, will substantially increase the benefits realised. The UK water industry can’t afford not to.
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CYBEROWL
BALANCING CYBER RESILIENCE AGAINST OTHER PRIORITIES IN AMP7 AND BEYOND The impact of a cyber-physical attack varies across the water network, depending on the affected process that loses integrity or availability. Water companies cannot afford to protect everything all of the time. A framework is needed to prioritise where to invest in greater visibility of cyber risk. The sector has not faced a high profile cyber attack in recent years, and as one CISO put it to us “after all, water doesn’t blow up”. But those with responsibility for building resilience in our drinking water supply are facing new threats and changing regulation from its 15 different regulatory bodies. High (if slightly vague) expectations on resilience and innovation were set within Price Review 2019 (PR19), with individual Asset Management Plans for 2020-2025 (AMP7) reflecting the increasing importance of cybersecurity at a board level.
by Daniel Ng CEO of CyberOwl
The water sector often has the luxury of relying on the fact it is a less visible target for cyber attacks than other critical national infrastructure (CNI).
CyberOwl has been spending time with those responsible for cybersecurity within the water market and the government bodies responsible for translating legislation into practical guidance. We have gathered CISOs across the water companies to reflect on the feedback from Ofwat relating to the cyber resilience plans, how this translated into practical challenges the CISOs were facing on the ground and some calls to action.
Securing Operational Technology (OT) is planned in for the first time… This is the first AMP where specific budgets were submitted to invest in the protection of SCADA, industrial control systems (ICS) and industrial IoT (IIoT). Given escalating threats targeting OT, this is clearly a positive development for the sector. The main driver appears to be the NIS Directive. Consequently, the majority of organisations appear to have focused investments during the period in building capability within treatment and distribution of drinking water; the critical services where the NIS Directive has reach. Wastewater treatment on the whole has been given lower priority. This is despite a steady increase in turning wastewater sludge into renewable energy and ambition to connect this to the grid, presenting rather different cyberphysical and safety risks to wastewater treatment processes.
Figure: Typical process flow across the water and wastewater value chain. Prioritising countermeasures to cyber-physical attacks should be based on the criticality of the processes flow at risk, not just the exploitable vulnerabilities of the OT asset.
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FEATURE: CYBER RESILIENCE …but cost constraints drive the need to prioritise. Affordability is a key area in PR19. A number of the business plans received feedback from Ofwat demanding significant efficiency gains. This has translated into plans that feature cost savings sitting high on the agenda. There are early signs that investment in OT security may be hampered by the cost constraints of PR19. In a number of cases, the feedback on the lack of affordability in the AMP 7 plans have cascaded down into slashing over 50% of the OT security budget in the resubmitted plans. Boards will need to understand that this simply means they will need to live with a higher level of cyber risk to their OT estate. For CISOs, this forces them to make some hard choices on where to spend a smaller amount of investment. They will need to get a clear understanding of the key water treatment and distribution processes in order to get a good handle on which controls to prioritise in order to maintain critical services. This will require a closer working relationship between the CISO and the Operations / Asset Manager.
Collaboration is needed beyond the CISO network… The water sector benefits from not being competitive and already actively collaborates
on threat intelligence through informal, but currently adequate channels. This proved highly useful during the Wannacry attack. There is great need to strengthen this collaboration beyond just the CISO network. Boards would benefit from a forum to inform and educate one another in their journeys towards being both compliant and resilient. To the extent this is not already happening, Competent Authorities would benefit from active dialogue and comparing their separate approaches to regulating for the NIS Directive. Looking across to our European neighbours, lessons could be learnt from examples of successful collaboration initiatives, for example the Strategic, Tactical, Operational Protection of water Infrastructure against cyberphysical Threats (STOP-IT) initiative, developed across 8 water utilities, 6 private companies and 7 R&D partners to tackle attacks to the drinking water value chain collectively.
thought-through strategy on where to invest spending on security and how to stage this. The level of connectivity and automation varies across the water value chain. And consequently, so does the threat of a cyber-physical attack. Most importantly, the impact of an attack changes depending on the affected processes. CyberOwl has launched a study to develop an in-depth view of the key cyber risks across the drinking water treatment and distribution processes. The objective is to develop a framework for prioritising where to invest in greater visibility across the OT estate. We would certainly welcome inputs on this. Please get in touch if you would like to be involved, or to find out more about what we do, by email: info@cyberowl.io or call us at +44 7930 219 430.
…and a framework for prioritising visibility is also needed. It is clear that investment needs to be made to improve visibility of threats to the treatment and distribution estate. But with limited funding, it is simply not practical to invest across the entire estate in one go. There needs to be a well
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PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SEWER NETWORK: AN INNOVATIVE TARGETED APPROACH TO ASSET MANAGEMENT
[We can use PIONEER outputs to identify the areas with the highest risk of future Internal Flooding (FOC).]
Caroline Howarth, Maintenance Decision Support Manager, and Simon Thorne, Business Analyst of United Utilities explain how the company takes a predictive approach to targeting proactive investigation on the sewer network.
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The United Utilities region stretches from Crewe to Carlisle in the North West of the UK with approximately 77,000km of sewers and rising mains.
fully balance cost, asset performance and customer service. Effective analysis and modelling is critical to building, maintaining and operating efficient and appropriate plans.
sewer network. This is an example of one of the ways we are using data to drive our asset management strategies to help ensure an efficient and resilient service.
With such a large network and the drive for increasing efficiency the balance of wastewater maintenance has tended to be more reactive, resulting in an approach that did not always
Decision Support modelling
Our various data sets and risk forecasts can be overlaid, at the appropriate level of granularity, allowing our operational resources to be directed to specific problematic areas within a catchment.
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At United Utilities PIONEER asset investment planning software is used to analyse and predict deterioration and consequence of failure of our
FEATURE: WASTEWATER NETWORKS Specific sewers within these hot spot areas are highlighted for CCTV investigations before any physical interventions are undertaken and any failure occurs.
[Surveyed area, sewers with issues highlighted in red]
Predictions of the condition of the network can also be undertaken using our calculated bespoke measure of Base Asset Health, and this, alongside the risk forecasts is helping us propose the appropriate action to take.
Targeted surveys In order to field test the effectiveness of the approach, the PIONEER predictive analysis outputs were used to target proactive CCTV in one of our drainage areas. Of the sewers surveyed we found that 70% had a restriction to flow which required an intervention. The benefits of this small survey sample included an improved service, reduced regulatory financial penalty and a more resilient service. We provided a less disruptive experience for our customers and the environment and had a relatively small investigation and mitigation cost.
[Overlaying the asset health and service forecasts from PIONEER are enabling us to prioritise areas which would benefit from customer initiatives rather than physical mitigation schemes.]
This initial validation has given our operational teams confidence in the predictions of our deterioration and consequence models. As a result, our AMP7 business plan will include a widespread wastewater network inspection program that will be targeted using the PIONEER outputs. The aim is change the balance of reactive and proactive maintenance, and improve the customer experience, resulting in cost savings. The approach has now been trialled in a much larger area in Manchester, with many more sewers to proactively investigate. This has led to further validation of the approach, this time ~65% of the sewers which were selected for survey required intervention, avoiding blockages, external flooding and internal flooding to properties. The issues found were due to asset deterioration or blockages caused by silt, Fat Oils and Grease (FOG), wipes
Base Asset Health Understanding the service risk at area level and the blockage risk at pipe level does not tell the whole story. Considering the health of the sewers within the targeted areas can provide further insight into the issues. We have developed a measure that can be used for any asset type and can be amalgamated to any level in our asset data hierarchy. This metric aids the provision of a more resilient service and helps inform our proactive maintenance programme, by highlighting which assets may need more care as they approach the end of their lives, reducing the risk of service impacts. We also predict how Asset Health changes in the future under various investment scenarios, including a ‘Fix on Fail’ or a ‘Fixed Cost’ option.
This gives an awareness of how the asset base will change over time, and how maintenance activities will have to be adapted to manage the risks.
Prioritising customer initiatives We are able to use the Base Asset Health outputs with the forecasts of risks on the sewer network to predict what type of problems may be encountered, allowing the correct resources to be assigned to the job, reducing abortive work and delivering a more complete and customer centric solution. If we can find and fix problems, before a customer becomes aware that there is an issue (and certainly before an incident occurs), then it is a win for everyone. For example, sewers with poor asset health in areas of poor performance – it could be surmised that assets are towards the end of their life and that poor asset condition is the cause of blockages, leading to surcharge at best, flooding and pollution at worst. Sewers in good health in a high risk of blockage area could suggest that it is not
the deterioration of the pipes that is causing the blockages. In this case these may be areas where customer behaviour initiatives could be used to improve service in an area. Whilst it is not always this clear cut, as there are a myriad of factors affecting the performance of the network, the use of this type of information and added foresight in the field can only improve the efficiency and levels of service.
Conclusions On the work done to date, we have about a 65% success rate of finding an issue, compared to a randomly targeted hit rate of around 10%. This work has not been completed as a project with a budget, but utilises resources when they not dealing with reactive work. This gives ‘more for less’ in terms of data collection, and more comprehensive understanding of the actual risks we are running in the sewer networks. In turn, this improves our evidence based decision making for the management of our sewerage assets and the service provided to customers.
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WORKING WITH CUSTOMERS TO PROTECT THE SEWER NETWORK Thames Water has set up a team of 12 Network Protection Investigators in a bid to reduce the number of sewer blockages caused by the discharge of Fat, Oil and Grease (FOG) from the 45,000 restaurants and takeaways in their catchment. They use network performance data to deliver proactive engagement using the approachinform, educate and enforce to tackle sewer misuse. Over 5000 food outlets have been visited in the last year including those in Whitechapel, where the world-famous 130 tonne Fatberg was discovered; none of the food outlets visited had the correct grease management equipment in place. During these targeted visits the team investigates current kitchen practice whilst providing advice and information to customers on their legal obligations and duties. Where improvements are required the team will revisit customers three times over a three month period. By working with customers, the aim is to see grease management installed to control the discharge of FOG; last year 51% of customers engaged with this process. Through this proactive intervention Thames Water have built lasting relationships with their customers that can stop the problem at source and prevent future incidents, reducing the need for disruption to the wider community such as road closures. This approach is a long term solution that drives behavioural change by working with customers and the function runs parallel to Thames Water’s proactive sewer cleaning programme and household customer education. Real time cases of sewer misuse are reported to the Network Protection Team through an internal referral system. Records of findings are easily managed and streamlined using a mobile GIS application and work management system. From this it is easy to identify which customers require further engagement and gather evidence in support of any future enforcement action. Visits indicate that customers are unaware of the problem they are causing in the sewer network. It often requires several visits to build a rapport and influence their behaviour. Many premises also insist they have never experienced a blockage, despite the plunger next to their sink. As well as face-to-face visits, direct business-tobusiness engagement is made with restaurant, takeaway and hotel chains to encourage change across entire estates. Around 20% of all food outlets in the Thames Water catchment belong
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to an established brand name. This approach works by guiding food chains on their own engagement journey, driven by blockage data. This ensures that they allocate their resources effectively as well as maximise the benefit on the sewer network. In cases where customers fail to engage with the education programme a virtual blockage alarm model is used to monitor a list of locations. If an alarm is triggered the Network Protection team will investigate and move customers into the enforcement process where necessary. Sewer misuse comes at a cost to Thames Water, therefore the team investigates and seeks to
recover costs from the responsible party for the damage caused by their sewer misuse. Customers do not often associate sewer misuse with significant costs however the average cost of recharge is £2500 per premise. As well as financial impacts, allowing the discharge of FOG or any damaging matter such as wet wipes constitutes a criminal offence and the Network Protection team enforces Thames Water’s statutory power under Section 111 of The Water Industry Act 1991. For more information about Network Protection at Thames Water contact Alice Nield alice.nield@thameswater.co.uk
FEATURE: R
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SWIFTCOMPLY
CLEARING THE FOG A DATA-LED APPROACH
Water utilities have a major challenge working with local food businesses to prevent fats, oils and grease entering the sewer network, but a combined data and marketing approach could be the answer, says Michael O’Dwyer, founder and chief executive, SwiftComply. Fats oils and grease (FOG) in the sewer network are a £90 million a year headache for water utilities in England and Wales. While giant fatbergs get all the press coverage, there are hundreds and thousands of smaller blockages that the water companies are tasked with clearing day-in day-out. Growing urban populations and denser concentrations of food outlets, along with legacy sewer networks, are all contributing
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to FOG build-up in the network. And while larger food production facilities have to comply with environmental trade effluent regulations, unlike in the US and Ireland, no such rules exist for the 500,000 food service establishments (FSEs) in the UK. In an ideal world, the problem would be solved if every FSE installed a grease-trap. Correctlysized, well-maintained equipment is the first step to prevention. Capturing FOG at source
and at scale would also provide the opportunity to generate significant biofuel resources, providing a stimulus to circular economy initiatives. SwiftComply is working closely with UK utilities in combined digital and face-to-face education and engagement programmes. One of the aims is to collate data to better understand the food businesses using the sewerage networks.
FEATURE: WASTEWATER NETWORKS Yorkshire Water has partnered with SwiftComply, and with support from City of York Council, to deliver a food service engagement pilot in the York city area to tackle an increase in issues relating to FOG and fatbergs. SwiftComply will engage both digitally and physically with around 1,000 food businesses to assess and improve their onsite FOG management practices. The project campaign will involve SwiftComply establishing and publishing a website and digital media campaign to engage with food businesses. Further to this, food businesses will be provided with the opportunity to opt into an onsite FOG Risk Audit, carried out by the SwiftComply team. Food businesses will be provided with a report detailing areas they can improve and reduce their FOG Risk, along with support to manage these changes. Initially, above-ground data on the number of restaurants, their GPS coordinates, cuisine-type and contact details are collected using specially designed cloud-based software. This information can then be expanded by finding out more about onsite FOG management from site visits, telephone interviews and digital questionnaires. The questions being asked include – Is a greasetrap installed? Is it correctly-sized and fit-forpurpose? How is it maintained? Where is the captured grease disposed to?
The data builds up a valuable resource for the utilities to tap into, facilitating much more robust decision-making around effective FOG education programmes with local business owners. The FSEs are also provided with digital and paper educational materials promoting best practice kitchen grease management.
The regulatory drive for cost efficiency in the water industry should lead to a nationwide utilityled grease prevention initiative, which would carry greater clout than localised schemes. With or without regulatory change, combined technology and marketing approaches like the one being trialled in York are ideally suited to addressing this complex and costly challenge.
This includes washing-up practices such as advice on the dry-wiping of greasy cookware, crockery and equipment; along with guidance on safe storage of waste oil. The rule of thumb being to remove as much oily waste as possible before it comes into contact with water. Steve Wragg, flood risk manager at City of York Council, says, “As a flood risk officer, I see firsthand what problems fat oil and grease create on our sewer network system. We’re pleased to support this campaign with Yorkshire Water. Anything we can do to highlight the problems this causes, including fatbergs or other environmental damage, is a positive step.” The historically light regulation of FSEs in the UK means water companies have a greater task in changing food business behaviour than in parts of the world where licensing for their discharges to sewerage exists. A useful step forward would be for water utilities to agree terms for a national standard on best practice in commercial kitchen grease management, so that all businesses are working to the same code.
Michael O’Dwyer
Founder and chief executive, SwiftComply
Global leaders in FOG management We are on a mission to fight the fatbergs, protecting the environment and communities around us.
Come and talk to us at the Institute of Water National Conference in Belfast on 27-28 June.
01733 736001 | hello@swiftcomply.com | swiftcomply.com
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RADIO DATA NETWORKS
USING SMART SENSORS AS TOOLS Smart Sensors as Tools to Control Existing and Retrofit Flow Regulators, Valves and Pumps to Tackle Pollution, Plastics in the Oceans and to meet the Challenges of Urban Population Growth. It’s now indisputable that we all need to become more proactive to save our planet! ■■
With the public and media now awakened to the issues concerning climate change, population growth and pollution such as Plastics in the Oceans (BBC Blue Planet 2018 and UN Paris Report May 2019), the Water and Wastewater Industry will have to become much more proactive to respond to the growing criticism and expectations. However, how can a politically bound and cost constrained industry implement change where data logging has been the norm since the 1970s, without breaking the bank, emitting millions of tons of CO2 in the process through digging up thousands of miles/km of streets causing widespread disruption? Retrofit Smart Sensors and Real-Time Control Part of the answer we believe is to sweat the existing assets, through the application of strategically deployed retrofit wireless Smart Sensor technology with edge computing functions capable of generating real-time, simple binary on/off, start/stop type data to enable the control of existing assets such as pumps and penstocks, plus where they do not exist control of retrofit flow regulators, actuators and containment valves. Ordinary Smart Sensors will not meet the demands of the Water Industry as all devices must be more than just analytically smart. Sensors also need the ability to operate at ultralow power levels operating off battery power for perhaps a decade, to use smart communications to signal in real-time from awkward subterranean locations and finally to facilitate through good design “Smart Installation” practices to permit the sensors to be installed, tested and verified in seconds without the need for highly skilled staff, confined space entry teams and computer programmers using laptops that currently result in extended road closures and aborted installations when it is raining. Finally, they must be durable, able to withstand the harsh locations within for example a sewer and where applicable, comply with the ATEX directive 2014/34/EU. Hence water industry smart sensors should include: ■■ Simple edge computing making them easy to
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Interface, e.g. 1/0 binary decision high/OK or flow/no-flow Ultra-low power consumption with a target life of 10-years Virtual constant real-time reading Smart communications – virtual constant real-time reporting both locally and remotely Smart installation without the need for calibration and field programming laptops, etc. Ability to install under all weather conditions day or night and without the need for confined space entry teams Ability to survive in the tough environment of a sewer and comply with ATEX and other standards Fail-safe in the event of ragging or contamination with FOG, etc.
The Radio Data Networks BDT (Bulk Dielectric Transducer) was arguably truly the first Smart Sensor that was specifically engineered to meet the above criteria. When it was first introduced in 2010, there was fierce opposition to the concept of an ultra-low power capacitance sensor without MCERTS for level detection. But when you are looking for just a high/low level change or flow/no-flow who need MCERTS, in most applications you simply do not.
anybody, in numerous locations too restrictive for traditional ultrasonics. It was an instrument that did not need any software or programming and hence could be installed under all weather conditions as operators did not need laptops. As the BDT consumed < 1/50,000 of the energy of an ultrasonic, it also enjoyed a circa 10-year battery life despite reading virtually constantly. This long battery life and the elimination of SIM cards also permitted the design to be fully encapsulated and to fly through ATEX assessments. The BDT also included on-board edge computing to filter data for noise and wireless communications, so power efficient that it could also report every 2.5 seconds like a RFID beacon. This enabled its status to be reported to the surface without having to lift a manhole cover and/or be intercepted or repeated over a wide area with data passed to existing infrastructure such as outstations and pump controllers via Gateways. Almost 10 years on, thousands of BDTs and sister devices such as RDN’s Flow Detection Transducer [FDT] have been deployed and are in service not only across the Utility Sector but also across Public Health and Commerce. We are pleased to report that many are already being used proactively for real-time control. Smart Sensors + Real-Time Data + Gateways = Control of Existing Assets & Reduced Pollution Examples of BDT or FDT type Smart Sensor applications include: Sending an inhibit signal to pumps on rising mains when up-stream levels in sewer networks are high; sending closing signals to penstock valves when levels are high to mitigate surcharges by clipping peak flows in restricted parts of the network.
Fig 1: The Radio Data Networks Innovative BDT Installed from Surface to Detect and Report High Levels What the BDT delivered for the first time was a device that could be installed by virtually
The latest incarnation of RDN’s Smart Sensor technology is its Magnetic Field Transducer [MFT] that detects the rotation of Booms on filter beds automatically. Simply reporting back a binary OK/rotation failed signal to the site office/SCADA. The sensor contains all the timers necessary, eliminating the need for programming at the PLC to generate an alarm. Smart Sensors + Retrofit Control = Affordable Control + Minimal Disruption However, control cannot be achieved if there is not an in-line actuator/pump or valve in the
FEATURE: WASTEWATER NETWORKS network. For this reason, RDN have embarked on the development of a range of retrofit Smart Actuators that can be inserted into existing networks with little or no modification required.
discharge pipe to alter the spill point of the CSO in order to contain the most polluting “dry spill events”.
Retrofit – Sewer Flow Regulation
Its lightweight design, for example < 10kg for a 6inch dia pipe, permits the unit to be battery / solar power operated. Furthermore, the design is ATEX compliant and includes a patented overflow weir to prevent surcharges.
The latest innovation introduced in 2018 was the Sewer Flow Regulator [SFR]. This highly innovative and patented solution is an in-line flow regulator that can be installed in an existing chamber without the need to cut into or disturb the existing sewer’s invert.
As with the BDT etc, the SFR is a binary device making it a perfect companion for a high-level sensor such as the BDT, simply closing during high flow periods to restrict flow upstream and opening again as levels recede.
Conclusion Without a doubt, strategically applied retrofit Smart Sensors and real-time controls are useful tools in the battle against Climate Change, Pollution and Urban Expansion. Compared to re-laying sewer networks, retrofit real-time flow control can produce significant cost savings with the added benefit of minimal disruption.
Fig 2: CSO Containment Valve installed 2014 under BDT control to capture “dry spills” Again, as with the Smart Sensors, the same design rules have been applied: Low power to facilitate battery/solar operation, simple binary for control, easy to service and failsafe in operation. The first actuator launched was a CSO Containment Valve, as per Fig 2. This device was designed to be installed at the end of a
Fig 3: Sewer Flow Regulator, Lightweight and Compact, Installable in both Plastic and in Traditional Chambers, Battery / Solar Operable
Although not a magic “silver bullet”, these methods and techniques have widespread applicability from tackling existing sewer flooding hotspots, containing CSO overflows, to controlling the flow from new building/ industrial developments. Thereby in the latter case, permitting connection to an ordinary fully laden sewer.
Retrofit Smart Sensors with Real-Time Data: The Tools to Control Pumps, Penstocks, CSO Containment Actuators, Filter Beds and Sewer Flow Regulators in the Fight Against Pollution
RDN
Smart Sensors: Ultra-low Power , Embedded Edge Computing & Radio Telemetry with Long Battery & Service Life BDT - Level Sensor High/Low monitoring of sewers and wet wells, 10-year battery life, real-time data, regular health message, 40 million hours of Service, IP68 sealed for life, ATEX.
FDT - Flow Sensor Flow/No-flow detection in sewers and at CSOs, 10-year battery life, real-time data, regular health message, 60 million hours of Service, IP68, approved and used for EDM.
MFT - Flow Sensor Motion/No-Motion detection or sewage works, 10-year battery life, real-time data, regular health messages, New to Service in 2019, IP68. Perfect for filter bed monitoring.
Real-Time Control Gateways & Retrofit Flow Actuators Gateways to Control and Inhibit Pumps - Simple logic 1/0 interface to existing pump controllers and SCADA to reduce overloads, synchronise / desynchronizes, pump switching.
CSO Containment Simple retrofit devices to capture CSO dry spills, under realtime control of network Smart Sensors. Battery and Solar powered lightweight design easy to retrofit.
[SFR] Sewer Flow Regulator- Retrofit devices to regulate sewer flows in realtime. Lightweight, easy to service and install, mains, battery or solar power options. Controlled by Smart Sensors.
Radio Data Networks Limited, The Innovation Farm, Sawbridgeworth Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, ENGLAND CM22 7QU
sales@radio-data-networks.com ¦ www.radio-data-networks.com ¦ T +44(0)1279 600 440
\IoW 1.0 2019
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SELWOOD
METICULOUS PLANNING IS KEY TO CLEANING UP THE WATERS AT POPULAR BATHING SPOT A year’s worth of planning, seamless collaboration and technical expertise were crucial to the success of a complex operation to improve the bathing water quality at a popular coastal spot in Somerset. Wessex Water is working at several locations along the mouth of the River Parrett as part of a wider £39m project aimed at improving conditions at Burnham Jetty, a sandy beach enjoyed by thousands of holidaymakers each summer. Action was needed in the light of a new EU Bathing Water Directive which introduced stringent new standards and led to the classification of conditions at Burnham as poor. A total of 12 schemes were introduced to clean up the location by increasing storage in the sewerage network, passing more flow to treatment works and install monitoring equipment. As part of the overall scheme a Sewage Treatment Works at Combwich Wharf, along the banks of the River Parrett, which feeds the bathing area, needed to be replaced with a pumping station. This involved a complicated operation to decommission the existing site, including its inlet chamber, storm tanks, submerged filters, pumps and other equipment before building the new station within the footprint of the existing site. The new facility included a new dry well chamber, reinforced concrete base, and a large glass-fronted storm tank. As Wessex Water’s pumping solutions framework partner, Selwood was responsible for developing and installing a temporary overpumping system at Combwich to handle sewage, bypassing the site while the works were carried out. Early involvement was needed to ensure smooth delivery of the project, with senior engineers in Wessex Water’s in-house design team contacting Phil Inglehart, framework manager at Selwood,
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for an initial site meeting a year ahead of the project. A site visit revealed that a system was needed to handle a minimum of 150 cubic meters of storm storage, directing the flow to a sewage works at Cannington with the ability to slow down the flow at times of high volume. The site also needed full monitoring through on-site and remote telemetry. Selwood’s remote cloud-based telematics tool, branded SelWatch, provides users with round-the-clock updates including information on GPS pump location, fuel levels and consumption, engine efficiencies and servicing status. Using the portal, customers can securely log in from anywhere in the world to see live pump data and receive system alerts that flag up changes and highlight potential issues. Use of SelWatch can significantly reduce downtime, save money and help efficiently schedule events such as refuelling and maintenance. SelWatch is offered as an optional extra on the pump solutions fleet throughout Selwood’s comprehensive UK branch network. For Combwich’s installation, various options were considered, including the use of diesel driven pumps and the construction of an underground chamber to house submersible pumps to be powered by duty/standby generators. It was identified during site meetings that with clever planning and selection of pump and control panels, it would be possible to run the duty pumps on dry well stands from the existing site mains supply. This was backed by a standby generator with automatic switchover in case of mains failure. This saved the client’s money by eliminating the need for any civil
engineering works, reducing the quantity of hired equipment and eliminating fuel usage to zero, and also satisfied environmental considerations due to the sensitive nature of the site location. A detailed storage plan was proposed by Selwood and accepted into the overall scope of works. Selwood has a partnership with Rain for Rent International to supply large mobile storage tanks. These tanks, capable of storing up to 70,000 litres, were delivered and positioned on site without the need for cranes. Selwood’s in-house installation teams then used 22kW super head non-clog electric submersible pumps which could match the relatively small flows required while providing the required head to overcome the existing rising main feeding the sewage treatment works at Cannington. All the pumps were controlled by the latest technology inverter and ultrasonic control panels to manage the flows to the client’s requirements. Phil Ingleheart said: “Integrating and working closely with designers, consultants, operations and the project management team, we had a detailed understanding of the site-specific requirements. This enabled Selwood to provide the most robust, trouble-free and commercially beneficial solution to our client”. Wessex Water site manager Matthew Paknejad said: “It was a comprehensive and well-planned installation which minimised the need for user intervention”. For more information about Selwood’s range of products and pumping solutions, visit www.selwood.co.uk
FEATURE: WASTEWATER NETWORKS
OPTIMISING EFFICIENCY IN TANK CLEANING Anaerobic digestion in recent years has grown due to its sustainable nature and clever use of sludge and food materials, materials that are often considered â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wasteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Although the process is highly effective in producing biogas and digestate for fertiliser, grit is a major problem when it comes to its efficiency. Grit is an umbrella term for all kinds of inert high-density materials. These can include sand, stone, bones, eggshells and lime- to name only a few. These materials are highly abrasive at full-flow and cause wear on PD pumps, rotors and decanters. Not only that, but when the grit settles it significantly reduces the capacity in the digester, meaning a significantly lower biogas yield can be produced. Therefore, AD providers clean out their tanks in order to increase digestion and prolong the life of the sludge pumps. Usually, when the tanks are cleaned, the material is sent to landfill incurring large costs in disposal and transport for the contractor. However, D:MAX
technology allows the waste products to be classified and treated, in order to remove rag and grit and minimise the costs associated with cleanouts. Instead of pumping straight to balance tanks, D:MAX can be used before the sludge enters the digester in order to minimise the need for cleanouts or if this isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t possible, the technology can be employed post-digester to minimise the waste to landfill. This has improved the throughput and system uptime for many operators. D:MAX is a trailer-mounted system used to process a variety of materials within the water and wastewater industries. The system classifies rag and plastics as well as grit materials from waste. The mobile nature of the unit is a key
benefit, minimising the transport cost of waste materials. For more information on tank cleaning solutions visit: www.cdenviro.com/products/dmax or get in touch at info@cdenviro.com.
D:MAX is industry-standard for tank cleaning.
cdenviro.com/dmax
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ELECTROCOAGULATION: A (WASTE) WATER SOLUTION
Water scarcity is fast becoming a reality as our ever-increasing demand for water is putting strain on a finite resource. flowback water, removing NOMs from surface waters to provide potable water and removing arsenic from drinking water. Passivation of electrodes, downtime for changing sacrificial anodes and perceived high-power consumption account for the slow adoption of electrocoagulation[2].
Electrocoagulation: Science and Application
by Dr Kwame Nkrumah
Head Process Engineer at Kolina More efficient (waste) water treatment technologies are being developed to increase water reuse through wastewater treatment, of which electrocoagulation is one. Electrocoagulation was first used in the 19th century to treat bilge water[1]. It has since been used chiefly for treating mining wastewater, hydraulic fracturing produced water, oil and gas
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Electrocoagulation is an advanced oxidation process which electrochemically generates and donates metal ion coagulant species into the wastewater stream. A series of electrochemical reactions occur inside the electrocoagulation cell. See Figure 1. a) Donation of metal ions and subsequent coagulation The most significant reaction in the cell involves the oxidation of sacrificial anode(s) to generate metal ions. Equation 1 shows this reaction when aluminium sacrificial anodes are used. Most dissolved contaminants in water are microscopic colloidal particles with typical dimensions of 1 nm to 10 Îźm, which makes them less susceptible to physical separation technologies like filtration[1]. During electrocoagulation, donated
cations disrupt the steric equilibrium between the water molecules and the colloids, thus allowing them to be drawn out of solution. _
Al â&#x17E;? Al3+ + 3e (Equation 1) b) Direct and indirect electrochemical oxidation of contaminants Another useful side reaction during electrocoagulation is electrochemical oxidation of contaminants by direct electron transfer. This is particularly useful when treating wastewaters containing organic contaminants and high in COD, TOC. In wastewaters with high concentrations of high oxidising species like oxygen, fluorine and chlorines, indirect oxidation of the organic contaminants can be achieved via a redox reaction initiated by the electrochemical cell into benign CO2 and H2O[3]. This is particularly useful for removing chemicals that are very soluble in water, as well as compounds that are recalcitrant to direct electron transfer oxidation. c) Adsorption of coagulated species Generation of metallic cations occur at the anode, while at the cathode water molecules
FEATURE: WASTEWATER NETWORKS are electrolytically split into hydroxide ions and hydrogen gas, as shown below in Equation 2. _
Figure 1: Showing possible reactions inside EC cell at both anode and cathode terminals.
_
2H2O(l) + 2e ➝ H2(g) + 2OH (aq) (Equation 2) Al3+ and OH- ions react to form monomeric Al(OH)3 ions and a variety of polymeric 2+ complexes such as Al(H2O)3+ 6 and Al(H2O)(OH) depending on the pH of the water. These hydroxides adsorb the coagulated contaminants into larger flocs that can be easily separated from the water. This separation is further enhanced by the evolved hydrogen gas which push the flocs to the top of the water where it can be separated from the water by any physical separation technique.
Factors that affect electrocoagulation efficiency The efficiency of electrocoagulation depends primarily on the concentration of dosed coagulant in the (waste)water stream, as well as the pH. a) Rate of cation donation The amount of coagulant cations donated depends on the current density across the cell and the number of sacrificial anodes in the cell. A relationship exists between the current density, volumetric flowrate, number of sacrificial anodes and the concentration of donated cations as shown below: w=
y×i×A×t×M n×F×Q
(Equation 3)
Where w = mass concentration of cation in water stream (g/m3); y = number of sacrificial plates in cell; i = current density; A = surface area of electrode; M = relative molecular weight of metal; n = number of electrons; F = Faraday constant (96,500 C/mol); Q = volumetric flowrate of water through electrocoagulation cell. b) pH and anode metal choice The pH of the wastewater determines the type of polymeric hydroxide ions formed as well as the size and amount of hydrogen gas evolved at the electrode. The pH of the system may also determine the anode material choice and therefore impacts significantly on the design and performance of an electrocoagulation system. The most common anode metals of choice are aluminium and mild steel, although magnesium is also being used for specific applications. Lower pH is also known to enhance dissolution of aluminium anodes and thus greater removal efficiencies.
Electrocoagulation: Supplementary technologies While the benefits of electrocoagulation are widely researched and accepted, its effectiveness is enhanced by combining it with other physical separation technologies. Once contaminants have been separated from the water, a physical separation can effectively separate the flocs from the water. For this purpose, dissolved air
floatation or settling tank (or clarifier) is often deployed after electrocoagulation. Effective screening before the electrocoagulation cells can greatly improve the cells’ efficiency by reducing possible interference with donated cations. The final discharge consent may warrant tertiary filtration as a final polish before discharge. For this, filtration technologies such as ultra/nano, membrane or multimedia (sand, anthracite), activated carbon may be employed.
Solutions to the drawbacks of Electrocoagulation Traditional electrocoagulation systems utilise sacrificial anodes of a varying sizes, configurations and shapes. While larger sacrificial anodes offer longer runtime between plate changes, when plate changes are due, they often require downtimes ranging from hours to days, as well as use lifting and supporting frames. This may work for applications where such downtimes can be planned for, but for most applications this remains a serious drawback. Many innovative designs to overcome this have been proposed, and Kolina’s patented cell design which allows all sacrificial anodes to be replaced within two minutes represents an innovative solution[4]. Passivation of electrodes is another major drawback of EC, and some novel ideas including sonification of the electrodes, and bipolar sacrificial
plate configuration with frequent polarity swings have proven successful[5]. Of the two, bipolar plate arrangement with alternating pulse current offers a more simple and effective method[6][7]. The ease of operation, relatively low treatment cost, and the versatility make electrocoagulation an under-appreciated, under-used technology that can play a bigger role in the global fight against water scarcity and irreparable damage to our environment. References [1] E. A. Vik, D. A. Carlson, A. S. Eikum, and E. T. Gjessing, “Electrocoagulation of potable water,” Water Res., vol. 18, no. 11, pp. 1355–1360, Jan. 1984. [2] J. N. Hakizimana et al., “Electrocoagulation process in water treatment: A review of electrocoagulation modeling approaches,” Desalination, vol. 404, pp. 1–21, Feb. 2017. [3] O. Scialdone, S. Randazzo, A. Galia, and G. Silvestri, “Electrochemical oxidation of organics in water: Role of operative parameters in the absence and in the presence of NaCl,” Water Res., vol. 43, no. 8, pp. 2260–2272, 2009. [4] D. T. E. Ritchie and R. N. Hensby, “APPARATUS FOR ELECTROCOAGULATION TREATMENT OF A LIQUID,” Jan. 2017. [5] X. Mao, S. Hong, H. Zhu, H. Lin, L. Wei, and F. Gan, “Alternating pulse current in electrocoagulation for wastewater treatment to prevent the passivation of al electrode,” J. Wuhan Univ. Technol. Sci. Ed., vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 239–241, Apr. 2008. [6] L. K. Wang, Y.-T. Hung, and N. K. Shammas, Eds., Advanced Physicochemical Treatment Technologies, vol. 5. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2007. [7] M. Asselin, P. Drogui, H. Benmoussa, and J.-F. Blais, “Effectiveness of electrocoagulation process in removing organic compounds from slaughterhouse wastewater using monopolar and bipolar electrolytic cells,” Chemosphere, vol. 72, no. 11, pp. 1727–1733, Aug. 2008.
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FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT
A WATER ASSET SOLUTION FOR PEACETIME OR WAR
A look back at how Veolia dealt with a unique challenge in Gibraltar. “Out with the old, in with the new”. “There’s life in the old dog yet”. Two contrasting phrases, but each dealing with a dilemma that is faced when it comes to the lifespan of assets. Is it easier and more cost effective to completely renew an asset, or when you look at the project as a whole, is it best to utilise existing infrastructure and prolong its asset life? Sometimes a project can involve a hybrid of the two different approaches. Some plants may be completely beyond the point where it can be repaired and a renewal solution is required, however, there may be some infrastructure that can continue to be utilised in tandem with the new asset. Occasionally, a creative solution may be required when a completely unique set of circumstances presents itself, such as the problem facing Veolia in Gibraltar. The British Ministry of Defence has maintained a base on Gibraltar which is of strategic importance to the defence of the UK. This important base requires a secure supply of freshwater for the military estate, its civilian population attached to the base, and for the naval fleet that regularly uses Gibraltar as a port. The water supply infrastructure includes production facilities and a distribution network, separated from the rest of Gibraltar partly due to reasons of security, but also to guarantee operational capability.
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The MoD requirements included an uninterrupted supply of drinking water and filtered seawater. The original plant that serviced the base had been built within a set of caverns. Through time, these had become too hazardous to access from a health and safety perspective. Therefore a new bespoke plant solution was required in a new location. The plant needed to provide a high quality and secure water supply, combined with the flexibility to satisfy high water demand at short notice to the fleet in times of high alert or war. Challenges not normally taken into account in the planning of water assets! The Veolia solution was the design and construction a new seawater desalination plant in a gorge adjacent to the existing facility. This solution meant that whilst a new asset was required, the ‘next door’ location meant that it afforded easy access and integration with the current infrastructure. A mix of renew and repair. The existing seawater intakes were upgraded and improved to make it easier to maintain. In order to ensure that disruption to the system was minimised, both the new plant, and the existing infrastructure, were run simultaneously to get the new plant up to full capacity before the old one was eventually decommissioned. This long term project provided the MoD with a sustainable water supply that complies with environmental regulations as well as their own strict security and reliability criteria.
In designing the new asset, Veolia proposed a solution that would see recovered energy from the site increased by 40%, giving the MoD a significant cost saving. The high cost of electricity in Gibraltar made this improved energy efficiency a highly attractive proposition. The solution used provided a seawater reverse osmosis plant with the latest energy recovery system that uses a pressure exchanger, making it more efficient and cheaper to run. The water is re-mineralised and a chemical dosage system is used to increase calcium and alkalinity levels. The plant also utilises a seawater well as well as the coastal intake, a reinforcing feature that provides water to the site. Every hour, 40m3 of filtered seawater is circulated for firefighting and sanitary services. The Veolia solution meant significant cost savings for the MoD, but also provided them with the benefit of putting the operation and maintenance of the facility into the hands of an experienced, reliable operator. In the words of an MoD spokesman commenting on the support received from Veolia, “We were hugely impressed with the immediate engagement and command and control of the Veolia Water repair and restoration effort.”
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R2M LIMITED
FAST TRACKING INNOVATION
With our industry requiring innovative new products methods and materials to meet the challenges we all face, the need to develop these new things quickly is ever more important. Whilst much innovation can come from other areas around the world, where fully developed products may just need minor adjustments to make them suitable for the UK, some requirements are unique to our system. Lancashire based R2M are well known for introducing innovation, which has been a combination of existing technologies, as well new as ‘ground up’ inventions. In this case, later last year a request came to invent a devise to stabilise and make safe a particular model of fire hydrant which had a risk of unscrewing itself un normal operation. The customer needed a quick reaction, and couldn’t wait the 2 years or so that it often takes to develop a normal new product! ‘Being a small team, we’re very quick to react to new requests like this’ said Will Garrod, R2M’s Technical Sales Director, ‘we’re also not bound by the usual bureaucracy that tends to slow down the larger corporations that we compete with’. What was needed in this case was a mechanical devise which wasn’t in contact with the potable
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water, that meant it wouldn’t be exposed to hydraulic pressure either, which simplifies the whole development process. The key features would need to be an easy and quick installation, the correct shape and the correct material to resist the twisting torque of an engineer or fire fighter using the hydrant, but it operating as it should, rather than posing a risk of coming apart suddenly. ‘We had an idea of a shape and design that would perform the function, so we made a simple model out of MDF’ says Will, ‘models are always a great way to get across what you are proposing, and straight away the customer was able to see that the HALDi¹ (Hydrant Adapter Locking Devise), only solved half the problem’, then a few weeks later R2M presented a model of the HALDi², which secured both chambers of the hydrant. At this point, a basic concept looked like a viable design, but that was a long way from a working prototype, so R2M adapted the design to produce a stainless steel version, made from lazer cut
plates, sandwiched together. These were promptly produced and a field trial was conducted. The results were good, just adapt the design for larger scale manufacturing, and change the locking method so it can be operated from the top only. ‘That feedback was enough to invest in a full 3D design study, which gave us nice 3D images’ said Will, ‘but the breakthrough was the 3D printing, suddenly we had full size, full scale models to trial and display. We also were able to improve the fit and feel of it’. Once again modern technology had sped up the development process, and the customer had expressed a desire to stick with a plastic material, from a weight, corrosion and embodied carbon perspective. Destructive tests were then commissioned using various high performance plastics, the results of which, dictated the eventual material for production. At this point R2M were 8 months in and were on the verge of full production units coming off the assembly line.
Hydrant Devise FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT : REPAIR HALDi² VS RENEWAL
Secures ‘Single Bolt’ hydrants from accidental disassembly during operation
Encapsulation collars for almost any size from 3” to 54” - and beyond.
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Thelen Connector Clamp The leak is longer than your repair clamp just use the Connector clamp and extend your repair!
Unit 6, Metcalf Drive, Altham Industrial Estate, Accrington BB5 5TU T: 01282 778030 instituteofwater.org.uk
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HWM
PERMANET+: CHANGING THE ECONOMICS OF LEAK DETECTION
Clean drinking water is the world’s most precious resource and it is becoming increasingly scarce. Factors such as population growth, climate change and aging infrastructure are putting pressure on water suppliers. Leak detection is a proven method of safeguarding water and at HWM we’ve developed PermaNET+ to change the economics of leak detection. With over 3,100 million litres of water being lost per day (Water UK/Ofwat), the cost of non-revenue water to the UK’s water companies is substantial. Ofwat has demanding targets for leak reduction and investment in cost-effective leak detection equipment will support water companies in meeting these targets. PermaNET+ is our award-winning leak detection system. Combining a leak noise sensor with our versatile telemetry technology, PermaNET+ creates a fixed leak monitoring network. Affinity Water, Britain’s largest water-only utility servicing 3.6 million people in South East England has partnered with HWM to target a significant reduction in leakage rates using PermaNET+ fixed network telemetry. Drew Richie, Managing Director of Wholesale Operations at Affinity Water explained that “by using the HWM PermaNET+ solution we can continuously monitor 25 percent of our network, identifying leaks in a matter of hours, rather than the days it takes using conventional techniques and technologies”.
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PermaNET+ represents the next stage in the development of noise logging. Data generated by the noise logger is automatically sent to the user, removing the need to visit sites to carry out data collection. Data transmission is achieved through a combination of 3G, GPRS or SMS cellular communication. The unit also sends an audio file for remote monitoring and correlation to localise the leak position. PermaNET+ is located entirely below ground, making it less intrusive and more practical for large-scale deployments. Working in conjunction with Google Maps, PermaNET Web provides live on-screen tracking, allowing leakage teams to respond quickly to problem areas and bring them under control. Fully waterproof and designed with the latest mobile technology to maximise dial in and minimise cost, PermaNET+ is a cost-effective remote leakage monitoring solution. While many of the UK’s water companies including Affinity Water, Yorkshire Water and Thames Water are reaping the benefits, it is not just in the UK where PermaNET+ is helping to save customers money and water. Danish specialist Leif Kock A/S has used PermaNET+ to save millions of krone for
Denmark’s largest utility company. A project consisting of an initial deployment of 185 permanent data loggers was established in Copenhagen to detect leaks. On just the second day of the project the leak detection team identified a leak. When the team dug down they discovered that the water from the leak was running directly into the sewer. “If we had conducted a study of this particular area using our old method a week before the leak began” explains Kim Roar, team leader at HOFAR “it would have been three years before returning to this area and discovering the leak”. “In other words, the leak would have been continuously running into the sewer for three years. By our rough calculations, this leak alone would have cost us 1.2 million kroner (approx. £116,000)”. This project illustrates one of the many benefits of PermaNET+, as PermaNET+ drastically reduces leak run time. PermaNET+ is an effective leakage monitoring solution developed specifically to reduce non-revenue water, saving water companies time, water and money.
- Global leaders in leak FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT : REPAIR VS RENEWAL detection
PermaNet+ • Fixed network monitoring continually scans for leaks • Full underground installation with remote cellular communication • Auto-correlation functionality automatically locates leak position
NEW from
DXmic • Best in class sound quality • Colour touch screen • Wireless capability (connects headphone/App) • Dedicated App allows sound, GPS & image files to be transferred remotely, along with site reports • Sound frequency display
For more information visit:
www.hwmglobal.com MONITORING ASSETS, DELIVERING DATA, BRINGING CONTROL instituteofwater.org.uk
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MACKENZIE CONSTRUCTION
STRENGTHENING OUR FOUNDATIONS: OUR INDUSTRY COLLABORATION INITIATIVE Mackenzie Construction prides itself on fostering a culture of respectful challenge towards existing practices in order to achieve continuous improvement. As part of this, our teams are encouraged to challenge designs, scopes and methods of working within an ethos of continually asking if there is a safer, or more efficient, way to carry out an operation. This knowledge-sharing ethos provides ample opportunity for innovation to be captured in addition to the more formal procedures detailed within our business management systems. We firmly believe that new innovation can come from anywhere across our team – from supply chain to industry partnerships - or developed through collaborative engagement with our clients in the water sector. Our new Industry Collaboration Initiative, ‘Strengthening our Foundations’ seeks to enhance our capabilities and capacities to meet client needs and deliver best value for all. Through partnering with other industry leaders (such as Enisca or Panton McLeod), we hope to share knowledge of industry innovation and best practice, leveraging these partnerships to continually improve our process and approach. The first of these partnerships is with water quality experts, Panton McLeod. For over 20 years, Panton McLeod has worked to protect, maintain and improve water quality within treatment and distribution systems. With 5 main service streams in clean water projects, (including asset inspection, cleaning & disinfection, pipeline commissioning, outside the fence treatment and emergency response) our collaboration with Panton McLeod looks to add flexibility, shared knowledge and increased efficiency to our work and greater value to our clients. The next of our collaborations, is with Enisca Ltd. Not only does Enisca Ltd have strong MEICA (Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control and Automation) capability and expertise, it also shares Mackenzie Construction’s values and beliefs in maintaining integrity in its relationships, in nurturing talent and in delivering high quality work safely and efficiently to ensure the best result for its clients.
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In the water sector specifically, our view is that business efficiency and overall performance can be improved through the establishment of best practice and the pursuit of opportunities for innovation. Best practice working methods are often established through improvements in operational kit and through utilisation of advances in technology. This is where our strong supply chain links become important in driving efficiency through exceptional communication and the sharing of key information, as well as ensuring that the optimal equipment is available to our team. By ensuring that all of our site teams working in the water sector are sharing information and operating to the same set of standards and procedures, we can improve the consistency of our performance in the areas of both safety and quality. Managing Director, Andy Dalrymple, said of the initiative, “At Mackenzie Construction, we are working hard to innovate and improve best practice for our clients and the industry. Our Industry Collaboration Initiative is one of the ways we are looking to strengthen our foundations and provide added value to our clients, staff and business. The first two of our collaborative partners, Panton McLeod
and Enisca Ltd add further opportunity to our collective client base and supply chain. Together, we will foster new and innovative working practices to affect positive change across the water industry.” Our collaboration looks to bring a fresh approach to innovation, shared knowledge and increased efficiency to our work and greater value to those we work with, and for, across the water industry and beyond.
FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT : REPAIR VS RENEWAL
WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS TO DRIVE INNOVATION IN THE WATER SECTOR www.mackenzieconstruction.com instituteofwater.org.uk
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SLD PUMPS & POWER
SLD TO THE RESCUE AS FRACTURED WATER MAIN FLOODS ROADS AND BUSINESSES IN EAST LONDON An emergency call-out in the middle of the night following a burst water-main in East London resulted in a rapid mass deployment of SLD pumps from branches across the capital. SLD Pumps & Power is a trading division of Carrier Rental Systems UK Ltd, part of Carrier, a leading global provider of innovative heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies. Failure of the 42 inch water main supplying homes and businesses in Hackney led to flooding of an underground car park and surrounding roads, stranding vehicles and bringing traffic to a halt. Around 18 million litres of water engulfed the basement of nearby flats, damaging the existing electrical water pumps due to water ingress. David Rodgers, SLD’s national account manager who led the response, said: “After receiving the emergency call, we quickly attended the site to assess the situation. Taking into account the extent of flooding and the rate of rise, we were able to determine the temporary pumping capacity required to deal with the problem and provide guidance to the emergency services on how long it would take to clear.” Water supplies to the area were cut off while the problem was tackled and the source of the leak traced. This resulted in loss of supply to residents and businesses in the area, with temporary water supplies being provided by tanker, underlining the urgent need for rapid resolution of the flood and underlying cause.
The burst water main resulted in 18 million litres of water engulfing roads and properties in Hackney, East London operation. Clean-up operations followed and the area was fully restored within three days. Rodgers said: “It goes without saying that loss of water supplies is not just an inconvenience, but a potential hygiene and health issue. Our key concern was to deal with the flooding as quickly as possible, so that repair work could be carried out on the source of the leak and water supplies restored to homes and businesses as quickly as possible.” SLD operates a network of branches across the UK, with its fleet of high efficiency pumps and temporary power systems available for rapid deployment 24/7 in response to emergencies
SLD deployed a total of 15 high capacity pumps from its branches at Erith in East London, and Heathrow in West London. Equipment consisted of a combination of 6 inch and 8 inch super silent SLD pumps, and 4 inch and 6 inch hydraulic pumps. The SLD hydraulic pumps enabled quick repositioning as the water level receded, ensuring the flood was dealt with quickly. Water levels in the basements of the residential block were reduced sufficiently after 48 hours to access and inspect the existing water pumps, and enable remedial action to be taken to restore
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The flood was resolved and water supplies restored within three days
or planned maintenance. Its specialists have many years’ experience in dealing with a wide range of domestic, civil and industrial applications across the country.
SLD deployed a combination of standard and hydraulic pumps from two depots in the capital
FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT : REPAIR VS RENEWAL
PLANNED MAINTENANCE AND REFURBISHMENT Complete managed solutions for process upgrades, asset refurbishments, planned and reactive maintenance and asset optimisation.
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Full or partial refurbishment
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www.eliquohydrok.co.uk instituteofwater.org.uk
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WPL
WESSEX WATER ACHIEVES 75% SAVING WITH ENHANCED PROCESS
Population growth in the town of Sherborne in Dorset meant that the rural water recycling facility owned and operated by Wessex Water required an upgrade to manage overload. Initially the utility was planning to construct two to three additional 30m-diameter trickling filters, but such a development posed an issue around footprint on this land-constrained site. Instead, the utility was looking for an alternative solution and was scouting for high-rate processes and ways of utilising existing abandoned structures onsite. Andrew Gulliford, process design manager at Wessex Water, identified WPL’s enhanced biological treatment process via an article in an industry publication and invited the company to the Sherborne site. A key advantage of WPL’s Hybrid-SAF precisionengineered treatment system is that it can be
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retrofitted into any vessel, regardless of shape or size, to deliver more efficient wastewater processing. During the initial collaborative planning stages of the project, the repurposing potential of an abandoned 12m-diameter onsite sludge tank was identified. Together the partners calculated that a potential cost-saving of 75% in capital expenditure could be achieved by retrofitting this existing infrastructure with WPL’s technology as an alternative to the planned project. WPL’s HybridSAF technology comprises a submerged movingbed, fixed-film reactor and can treat wastewater in a more sustainable and cost-effective way than traditional submerged aerated filters (SAFs).
Doubling capacity Retrofitting the circular vessel with modular WPL Hybrid-SAF cells could utilise the entirety of the vessel, whilst providing secondary biological treatment for 50% of the works’ flow-to-full-treatment. By doubling the process capacity, a permanent alternative to the planned trickling filters was identified and, looking at a 20-year horizon, one that was significantly cheaper. Off-site manufacture of the modular process technology cells meant that the onsite project delivery time would be a couple of days, rather than a possible 12-months for the civils work required for new trickling filters.
FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT : REPAIR VS RENEWAL WPL’s technical director Andrew Baird says, “WPL’s Hybrid-SAF is a significant step forward for submerged biological treatment. Our research and development team has conceived the hydrodynamic profile underpinning the technology in a new way, which has been made possible by the use of a high specific surface area media. “The result is that significant process efficiency advantages have been achieved, including reductions in cost, physical footprint and electricity consumption, all whilst increasing the overall process capacity of the site and improving environmental compliance. Being involved in the project at the start and working collaboratively with Wessex Water meant the best solution for the site could be identified very early on.” The first flows entered the system on 1 October 2018 and the first data was recorded on 30 October. Results showed ammonia (NH3) levels at <0.4mg/l, well within the 10mg/l consent demanded by the Environment Agency.
Close collaboration Getting-in-early on the project and meeting the end-user face-to-face and onsite meant WPL was able to fully understand the objectives of the client. The full scope of the project, including
everything from the type of media installed in the biozone to the logistics of restricted access to this rural site, could be considered in designing the optimum solution.
of the plant itself, which is reduced by a similar measure. Variable speed blowers are delivering 50-100% of design requirements, allowing greater headroom for power optimisation.
Wessex Water also shared the 2040 design horizon with WPL, which ensured a solution that was futureproofed. The utility now has more flexibility in how throughput can be increased at Sherborne for population growth from 12,600 to 15,700 in the catchment.
Lower levels of operator maintenance are required than with traditional treatment systems and individual cells can be replaced in a few hours without impacting on service or taking treatment vessels offline.
The modular WPL Hybrid-SAF cells were manufactured within six to eight weeks, installed in two days and the process optimised within three weeks. Offsite manufacture also meant onsite health and safety risk was reduced and quality control easier to maintain. Height and width restrictions for vehicles and plant both onsite and in accessing the site were considered at the design stage. Off-site manufacture and shorter project time also meant fewer vehicle journeys, causing less disruption for the local community and reduced carbon emissions.
Sustainability benefits The 30% smaller site footprint at Sherborne is also reflected in the energy consumption
SIMPLIFY PIPE REPAIRING
Other sustainability benefits include the repurposing of the tank, which meant there was no need to rip out the existing process treatment vessel and dispose to landfill. A minimal amount of concrete was required in lining the repurposed 12m-diameter tank. In addition, the WPL HybridSAF’s neutrally buoyant media is manufactured from recycled materials. Andrew Gulliford, process design manager at Wessex Water said, “Working closely with WPL at the earliest stages of planning for Sherborne water recycling facility meant that together we could completely reimagine the possibilities at this constrained site. Wessex Water customers will benefit from the 75% cost saving on this project and the energy efficiencies achieved will help deliver our sustainability targets.”
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EXPECT… AVK
MAYFLOWER WATER TREATMENT WORKS
AVK is valve partner on South West Water flagship project. September 2020 will mark the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers’ intrepid journey from Plymouth to America aboard the Mayflower. The same pioneering spirit is reflected in South West Water’s new Mayflower water treatment works (WTW) which is due to become operational in autumn 2019. Located at Roborough, just north of Plymouth, Mayflower WTW uses a combination of suspended ion exchange, inline coagulation and membrane microfiltration to treat the water. It is the first time this combined technology has been used in the United Kingdom. Once it is fully operational the facility will have the capacity to produce up to 90 megalitres (90MLD) of high-quality drinking water every day. The Mayflower WTW project took over six years from concept to completion, including two years of construction works on site. Over that period the AVK Projects team worked alongside South West Water and consulting engineers to ensure the correct valves were specified on the project. Valve specification was critical in ensuring the
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flow of water through the process was accurately regulated. Through its global supply chain, AVK were able to provide a single source of supply across all valve products; AVK products used on the Mayflower WTW project include gate valves, butterfly valves, plug valves and non-return valves. The AVK Projects team also partnered with actuator specialists AUMA and Rotork to supply the specialist actuated valves. The plug valves on the Mayflower WTW project were located at height. To simplify operational access, the valves were fitted with umbilical cords. The umbilical cords enabled the valves to be operated from ground level thereby eliminating the health and safety complications of working at height. Mayflower WTW required seven kilometres of pipeline to connect to the existing South West
Water mains network, including 1.6 km of pipeline installed using trenchless technologies to minimise impact on ancient woodland. The AVK response was led by Stuart Montgomery, Water Projects Sales Manager: ‘Mayflower was a really exciting and challenging project. It drew on our extensive specialist engineering expertise of our projects team, built up over many years of working on utility projects both in the UK and worldwide. If the treatment technologies used at Mayflower are proved to be cost-effective then I can see them being replicated in other new WTW facilities. AVK Projects will be ideally placed to assist and advise on valve specifications and configuration if this is the case.’ For more information visit www.avkuk.co.uk
FEATURE: WATER QUALITY
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GPS PE PIPE SYSTEMS
DON’T TAKE RISKS WITH APPROVALS With an increase in the development of brownfield sites to combat the housing shortage, the demand for water supply pipe has also risen, but GPS PE Pipes is warning that it is crucial to check products have the relevant industry approvals and are safe for use in brownfield sites. When it comes to Polyethylene (PE) pipes, the relevant British Standard is BS 8588: 2017 ‘Polyethylene pressure pipes with an aluminium barrier layer and associated fittings for potable water supply in contaminated ground’. Only by specifying pipe and fittings that meet this standard can contractors, developers and utilities be confident they are specifying a reliable and safe barrier pipe solution. It is important to look at the fittings, in addition to the pipe, as some pipe materials may be approved to BS 8588, but the fittings are not covered under the approval. Commenting on this issue, our segment manager, James Roper, said: “We are seeing an increasing number of products emerge that are labelled as ‘pipe for contaminated land’ but they don’t have BS 8588 approval for the fittings as well. This is worrying as fittings that have not been approved to transfer drinking water in contaminated land are at risk of potentially contaminating water supplies. This would not only be dangerous for consumers, but would cause a major costly repair and replacement project for contractors and utilities, with fines also possible.
“We cannot stress enough the importance of contractors, developers and utilities confirming that both the pipe and fittings to be used in contaminated land have the necessary approvals in place before making selection choices.” Ensuring that any contaminants remaining in brownfield sites and former industrial land cannot permeate into the water supply, Protecta-Line pipe and fittings are fully approved to BS 8588. An integrated system, ProtectaLine offers a wide range of specially-designed fittings including electrofusion fittings, mechanical fittings, mechanical compression fittings, pupped fittings and ferrule off-takes.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE SAFE TRANSPORTATION OF DRINKING WATER CHOOSE PROTECTA-LINE Over the last 20 years Protecta-Line has helped supply clean water through contaminated land for every leading water utility
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BARRIER AND FITTINGS THE TRIEDPIPE & TRUSTED BARRIER SYSTEM SYSTEM
Providing engineered solutions for a
FEATURE: ASSET MANAGEMENT : REPAIR VS RENEWAL wide range of water treatment problems Providing trusted performance We manufacture and distribute a range of products, providing additional value through innovative design, vast experience and focused support. We believe that customer service is paramount to our success and that of our clients and partners.
Our product range Our product range offers value for a variety of applications within areas covering drinking water, wastewater, leisure resorts, food processing, breweries, mining, power generation, facilities management and mainstream industrial processes.
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www.waterprocesssolutions.com instituteofwater.org.uk
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PANTON MCLEOD
OPTIMISED WATER STORAGE ASSETS… ARE WE ONLY UTILISING TEN PERCENT? One of the most widely known myths that people believed was that us humans only use around ten percent of our brains; with the rest being an underutilised area of grey matter. Of course, after proper research carried out by experts, it turns out that nature would never allow such a colossal waste of resources. However, the same cannot be said for everything that humans have designed and as we continuously revaluate systems and processes, we find ways of becoming ever more effective and efficient. What’s this got to do with the water industry you may well be asking? Well, leveraging more value and capability from existing assets is a goal for any water utility; enhancing services for the same cost will please the customer and therefore the regulator, as well as the utility. In many cases, it is also more sustainable, making it a win, win, win. So, is the water industry missing a huge opportunity by ignoring service reservoirs (SRVs) and water storage assets? Are they our 90 percent of wasted grey matter?
Where is the opportunity and what is the current situation? Treatment assets are often managed separately from networks, with separate priorities and objectives. For decades, utilities have focussed on bringing cutting-edge technologies to treatment plants to improve system water quality. In contrast, investment in networks has focussed on pressure management, calm networks and leakage reduction. While this make sense, it doesn’t have to be binary. Certain assets can be managed to support both sets of objectives. For example; having achieved excellent water quality at the treatment works, it makes sense to manage and maintain that through distribution, ensuring it arrives at the customer’s tap in the same excellent condition. However, apart from some
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reactive secondary dosing, water utilities generally do little to manage water quality through distribution. This is a risk but also a missed opportunity which can be addressed by leveraging more value from the hundreds of SRVs and water storage assets across the UK.
Low-cost optimisation of storage assets can maintain water quality In the UK, SRVs and storage tanks are designed to meet the storage and hydraulic requirements of networks. This is reinforced by best practise textbooks like ‘Water Supply’, which claims that SRVs have four functions: 1. To balance the fluctuating demand from the distribution system, permitting the source to give a steady or differently phased output. 2. To give a suitable pressure for the distribution system and reduce pressure fluctuations therein. 3. To provide a supply during a failure or shutdown of treatment plant, pumps or trunk main leading to the reservoir. 4. To provide a reserve of water to meet fire and other emergency demands. This engenders the underutilisation of many assets. Low-cost optimisation of tanks could enable them to fulfil the above roles and promote water quality; in effect becoming low-cost, decentralised, treatment assets operating closer to the customer and reducing the burden and capital expenditure requirements on distant treatment works. Making water quality interventions in storage tanks and SRVs is already done worldwide and can be readily adopted by UK water utilities today. For example, efficient mixing of tanks is commonplace
in the US and Australia. Mixing tanks results in a range of benefits that could mean: ■■ Fewer bacti failures ■■ Reduced taste and odour complaints ■■ Less frequent tank cleans ■■ Less interruptions to supply ■■ Better management of nitrification in chloraminated systems ■■ And even reduced chemical usage
How does mixing provide so many water quality benefits? Large bodies of still water present several water quality risks including water ageing and dead-spots which can cause stagnation and bacterial growth. Standing water can also support the growth of biofilm on tank surfaces and sedimentation on floors. SRVs and tanks can be affected by chemical stratification with different concentrations of disinfectant at different tank levels. It all depends on tank cycling regimes, tank design, inlet and outlet position. Mixing overcomes these issues by producing a homogenous body of water which improves water quality in several ways: ■■ Improved disinfectant blend time, making disinfection more efficient ■■ Eliminating chemical stratification ■■ Removing dead-spots and creating a uniform water age and quality in the tank. Results in: - Calmer and more predictable networks - Lower numbers of bacti failures - Fewer taste and odour complaints that are a result of fluctuations in disinfectant level ■■ Reduced amounts of disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as Trihalomethanes (THMs) ■■ Reduced build-up of sediments and biofilm increasing time required between cleans
FEATURE: WATER QUALITY Technology from the US is now available in the UK and is proven to deliver the above while remaining acceptable to OPEX budgets thanks to patented energy efficient designs based on biomimicry. Furthermore, mixing is a no-chemical solution that is easy to install and requires minimal maintenance.
Beyond mixing; treatment for specific water quality issues While tanks can benefit from mixing it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t address certain every issue. However, it is a foundational technology that can be built on to reduce THM levels and even proactively manage disinfectant residuals in distribution in near real-time. Automatic disinfectant residual control Disinfectants are used in potable water networks to manage water quality from treatment works to customers. Distribution system water quality is a delicate balance of regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction; operators must deliver adequate disinfectant residual while reducing the potential for DBP formation. Sampling of mixed tanks provides a representative sample and real disinfectant levels; chemical disinfectant need only be introduced if this level is too low. Tank disinfectant residual levels can be automatically managed in real-time by integrating existing discrete functions: Mixing to achieve complete disinfection and chemical
homogenisation, active monitoring to respond to changing tank conditions in real-time and instruct pumps to dose until the required set-point is achieved.
Destroying the myth and becoming as effective and efficient as nature It is clear that SRVs are underutilised assets that can be optimised to be more effective and efficient while improving water quality. Tanks present an opportunity to mitigate water quality issues in networks and top up water quality efforts from treatment before reaching customer taps.
Mixing is the first step towards a calm, homogeneous, body of water which will reduce taste and odour complaints, bacti failures and interruptions to supply as well as providing a way to manage nitrification in chloraminated systems. Furthermore, mixing can be enhanced with ventilation (and aeration) to reduce DBPs such as THMs or with an automatic sampler and dosing rig to automatically manage tank disinfectant levels in real-time.
INTERESTED IN WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN STORAGE ASSETS? Talk to us about how we are improving water quality in the distribution network with smart and automated innovative systems
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IDEXX
ACCURATE TESTING OF DRINKING WATER FOR TOTAL COLIFORMS AND E. COLI
To ensure drinking water quality and safety for the millions of people using it on a daily basis, water utility companies must continually monitor water for bacterial contamination allowing any issues to be quickly identified and resolved. Failure to monitor water quality can lead to serious public health issues and can be extremely costly to a water utility, both financially and in terms of reputation. It is not practical to test for all potential pathogens in every water sample collected, therefore the risk of a water sample being contaminated with pathogens can be determined by testing for “indicator” organisms such as coliform bacteria. Such organisms provide a reasonable indication of whether other pathogenic bacteria are likely to be present. The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) defines total coliforms as “members of the Enterobacteriaceae that produce the enzyme β-Dgalactosidase”. All total coliforms that ferment lactose satisfy this definition. However, there are a number of coliforms – between 10 to 15% – that do not ferment lactose. This can be an issue with older testing methods which rely upon lactose fermentation for coliform identification. Such methods do not detect enzymatic activity directly and consequently contamination can go undetected.
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The need to accurately identify coliforms While total coliforms are not always indicators of faecal contamination, their presence in potable water may be indicative of failures within the distribution network. These failures may include inadequate disinfection of the supply system or the growth of biofilm and low-level contamination. Detecting total coliforms quickly and accurately reduces the prospect of sporadic contamination events caused by the spread of biofilm through the water system. Positive identification of total coliforms, and in particular E. coli, can be indicative of contamination by more serious pathogens including Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella and viruses. Failure to detect coliform ingress into a compromised distribution network can result in contamination of the entire system.
Remedial activities following contamination can be extremely serious, especially if actions such as hyper-chlorination of distribution systems, cleaning up biofilm and even replacing pipes are forced upon network operators. Routine monitoring and removing uncertainty and doubt from test results ensures the proper ongoing maintenance of the network, regulatory compliance and the safety of the consumer. For utility companies, turning off the supply of water to homes to flush or replace pipes and issuing boil notices, can result in significant economic penalties.
The cost of inaccuracy It is vital for utility companies to have access to the most accurate data. Using a testing method that is unsuitable and does not reliably detect all contamination events leads to false negative results. This can potentially allow contaminated water into the distribution network which can
FEATURE: WATER QUALITY endanger public health and increase the risk of biofilm formation within the water distribution system. For a utility, inaccurate results can create a negative perception, which can lower public confidence and open up the potential for damaging legal action. Conversely, using a method that generates false positive results, means a utility may burden itself unnecessarily with the cost of resampling and retesting. Correctly responding to what may turn out to be numerous false alarms wastes valuable time and resources.
The Colilert-18® test: providing confidence in coliform testing Colilert-18 is a global solution based upon the direct detection of β-D-galactosidase activity rather than detection via lactose fermentation. Colilert-18, manufactured by IDEXX Laboratories, is used worldwide, protecting over 2.5 billion people globally from consuming contaminated water. Colilert-18 delivers precise, rapid results for water network operators. The quantitative drinking water test is performed using the IDEXX Quanti-Tray®, a 51-well device designed to assist in the enumeration of bacteria in water samples. It is a semi-automatic method that relies on the Most Probable Number (MPN) technique. Sample and reagent are automatically distributed between the wells in a procedure that takes less than a minute of operator time, and the device is then incubated at 36°C for 18 hours.
The accuracy and speed of the method allows remediation work to be carried out quickly before coliforms spread and create unnecessary demands on resource.
of “The Microbiology of Drinking Waters Part 4: Methods for the Isolation and enumeration of coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli (including E. coli O157 H7).”[5]
Global regulatory assurance
In addition to the IDEXX Water quality control (QC) laboratory being ISO 17025 accredited, the QC certificate for Colilert-18 is also ISO 11133 compliant, giving users considerable advantages over those that are reliant on other, noncompliant products when performing QC on new batches of product.
Colilert-18 was launched in 1994, and has regulatory approval in more than 40 countries. In 2012, the method was published as the ISO 9308-2 standard for the enumeration of E. coli and coliform bacteria in all types of water[2]. In 2014, the method became European Normative reference method EN ISO 9308-2 for the enumeration of E. coli and coliform bacteria and was transposed as the national standard in all member states.
The test is sensitive enough to detect a single organism in a 100 ml sample of water, providing results which are easy to interpret and less subjective than alternative methods. Following incubation, a yellow coloured well indicates that it is positive for total coliforms; if the yellow well is also fluorescent under ultraviolet light, then E. coli is present in the sample.
Colilert-18 was added to the European Drinking Water Directive in 2015,[3] where it is now included as one of only two reference methods for coliform and E. coli detection. The other method is based on membrane filtration, with subsequent culture on a chromogenic agar medium, and calculation of the number of target organisms in the sample. Importantly, unlike the alternative reference method, Colilert-18 is approved for use with all water types which widens the scope of its application.
Colilert-18 also offers low false positive and false negative rates.[1] Low false positive results ensure that the cost of unnecessary call-outs from false alarms is minimised; and low false negative results offer the potential to make significant savings on remedial activity clearing up missed bacterial contamination events.
Colilert is also U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved and is included in the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.[4] Furthermore, Colilert-18 is specified as a recommended method in the Standing Committee of Analyst’s “blue book” publication
Advantages of Colilert-18 over membrane filtration methods The Colilert-18 reagent comes pre-weighed and pre-packed and there are no time-consuming media preparation steps, reducing the actual hands-on time to prepare a sample to just one minute. The test has a 15-month shelf life at ambient temperature, allowing companies to order batches less frequently and store it more easily. By conducting the test in bacterias’ natural medium of water, rather than having to filter a sample through a membrane, damage to potential organisms can be greatly reduced, making the results more indicative of the environment from which the sample was taken. As well as having reduced false positive and false negative instances, the results with Colilert-18 are accurate, non-subjective and require no further confirmation steps. The growth of non-target organisms is suppressed (up to two million in a 100 ml sample), making the test very specific whilst being highly sensitive. References 1. http://www.waterrf.org/publicreportlibrary/4024.pdf 2. http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/ catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=52246 3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.260.01.0006.01.ENG 4. 23rd Edition section number 9223b – see page 5 table 1. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2001-08-30/ pdf/01-21813.pdf 5. http://www.standingcommitteeofanalysts.co.uk/library/ MoDW%20Part%204%20(2016)%20-%20Coliforms%20&%20 E.%20coli%20(FINAL%20June%202016).pdf ®Trademark or registered trademark of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
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SMART PROJECT TO IMPROVE WATER SUPPLIES [Nigel Watson, Group Information Services Director for Northumbrian Water at the Innovation Festival.]
Pioneering new technology which will help speed up leak detection and improve customer’s water supplies, is being installed into water pipes across Sunderland. Northumbrian Water is working with communications giant BT, to deliver a Smart Water project to help improve its network performance across the North East. This innovative project will see around 150 sensors deployed in pipes in the water network across the Sunderland area for six months, as part of a 12-month pilot study. The smart sensors will capture and process data on a range of factors about how the network is functioning, providing real-time operational insights into water flow, pressure and quality. This means that Northumbrian Water can use the technology for the benefit of its customers and the environment – identifying issues such as burst pipes, or leaks quicker and easier than ever before. It will also help the company to have a better
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understanding about how the network can impact on water quality changes and allow it to manage this proactively.
“We’re keen to understand whether it can be rolled out across our entire North East network to deliver benefits for all of our customers.”
Nigel Watson, Group Information Services Director for Northumbrian Water, said: “We’re delighted to be working with BT on this pilot project in Sunderland, which is just another example of how we apply innovation to our everyday work. “It represents a real step forwards towards the Smart Water network of the future, transforming the level of insight we have into our network’s operations and driving improvements for customers. The idea first came out of our Innovation Festival and the innovative technology that BT uses made them a great choice of partner for developing and delivering our Smart Water pilot project.
Chris Sims, Managing Director - Strategy, Marketing and Digital at BT, said: “We are really excited to provide the connectivity and insight needed to deliver a truly integrated Smart Water network for Northumbrian Water. “It’s a great example of how innovative technology can be used to deliver a better experience to customers and we’re thrilled to work with one of the most innovative water companies in the UK to fully realise the transformational benefits of this technology.”
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FEATURE: WATERQUALITY QUALITY
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UNIVERSITY OF BATH
SIMPLE WATER TEST COULD PREVENT CRIPPLING BONE DISEASE
A simple colour-changing test to detect fluoride in drinking water, devised by researchers at the University of Bath, could in the future prevent the crippling bone disease, skeletal fluorosis, in developing countries such as India and Tanzania. Whilst low amounts of fluoride are beneficial for healthy teeth, high levels of fluoride can weaken bones, leading to skeletal fluorosis. This disease causes crippling deformities of the spine and joints, especially in children whose skeletons are still forming.
in developed countries. However in areas of the world where there is no piped water system or treatment works, people rely on drawing untreated water from wells, which can often be contaminated with higher than recommended levels of fluoride.
When water passes over certain minerals, it can dissolve fluoride, which results in elevated levels of fluoride in drinking water sources in parts of East Africa, India, China and North America.
The amounts of fluoride in the groundwater can vary due to weather events, with levels fluctuating hugely when there is a lot of rain.
Levels of fluoride in drinking water are routinely monitored and controlled at treatment works
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A research team at the University of Bathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies, and the Water Innovation and Research Centre
(WIRC), led by Simon Lewis, has developed a simple colour-changing test that detects high levels of fluoride quickly and selectively. Whilst the test is at the proof of concept stage, the team aims to develop it into a disposable test strip that is low cost and easy to use by anyone. Dr Lewis said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whilst a small amount of fluoride is good for your teeth and prevents tooth decay, high levels are toxic and can cause crippling deformities that are irreversible.
FEATURE: WATER QUALITY “Most water quality monitoring systems need a lab and power supply and a trained operator to work them. What we’ve developed is a molecule that simply changes colour in a few minutes which can tell you whether the level of fluoride is too high.
Director of the Nasio Trust, Nancy Hunt, said: “For decades, people living in Oldonyosambu area of Arusha Tanzania East Africa, have been drinking water with naturally occurring levels of fluoride that can reach over sixty times the US recommended level.
“This technology is in the very early stages, but we’d like to develop this technology into test strips, similar to litmus paper, that allow people without any scientific training to perform a test that is low cost, rapid and robust.
“This has had a severe impact on the lives of people in this poor community, causing crippling skeletal fluorosis, chronic pain and poor cognitive development in children.
“We anticipate that in the future it could make a real difference to people’s lives.” Co-investigator Dr Jannis Wenk, of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Water Innovation and Research Centre (WIRC) at Bath said: “I am very enthusiastic about the newly developed indicator molecules and am convinced that they can be incorporated into an easy to use technology that is able to provide instant information on the safety of drinking water with regards to fluoride.” The Bath researchers are partnering with the Nasio Trust, a charity that works to protect and support vulnerable children in East Africa, to develop their system for ease of use in the field.
“Working in partnership with the University of Bath, this new technology will provide the Nasio Trust with a simple, affordable method to test fluoride levels which will enable us to identify, remove or reduce the cause of the fluoride problem and provide safe drinking water to further improve the quality of life and long term health outcomes for the community of Oldonyosambu.” The team is looking for additional partners to take the technology forward and help develop the test. They are also working towards adapting the technology to other types of notorious water contaminants of global concern, including mercury, lead and cadmium.
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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EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS: CAN WE INSURE AGAINST WEATHER RELATED RISKS?
The World Economic Forum ‘The Global Risks Report 2019’ stated that ‘Environmental-related risks’ account for three of the top five risks by ‘likelihood’ and four by ‘impact’. These are ‘Climate Change’, Extreme Weather Events’, ‘Water Crisis’ (drought) and ‘Natural Disaster’. As water companies continue to develop short, medium and longer term strategies to improve resilience towards climate change, the question is whether we can predict with any level of certainty the severity and complex nature of the next big weather related event. by George Ong
Head of Corporate Governance and Chief Risk Officer Northern Ireland Water Water Companies are used to activating their ‘Major Incident Response Plan’ to meet whatever challenges the weather may bring, but increasing resources and escalating costs can no longer be managed within a company’s financial constraints. Is there a financial risk transfer solution through insurance?
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The answer is yes! The global insurance market is continually improving on its ‘Parametric’ insurance offering to meet business needs in relation to extreme weather events.
Types of Weather Risk Exposure Each year the World Economic Forum publishes ‘The Global Risk Report’, which continues to highlight that Climate Change resulting in Extreme Weather Events will be the top emerging risks. In 2018 we came through the ‘Beast from the East’ and ‘Storm Emma’ in February 2018,
followed by a ‘Mini Storm from the East’ on the weekend of 17th and 18th March 2018. These brought severe disruptions due to freezing conditions in UK and Ireland. Long freezing conditions with a sudden increase in temperature can result in an immediate thaw causing massive leakage from burst pipes, which in turn can create a water shortage. While plants and buildings are generally covered by insurance, underground pipes are not normally included, which may lead to higher costs associated with emergency response and replacement.
FEATURE: DROUGHT RESILIENCE Summer 2018 was one of the warmest summers on record for the UK with June being the warmest in the entire record since 1910. Temperatures in excess of 25 degrees C were frequent and maximum temperatures of 30 degrees C+ were recorded on three days. Ground conditions were extremely dry with below average rainfall from May onwards. The prevailing hot and dry conditions resulted not only in an increase in demand for water from customers but additionally to put out the likes of gorse fires etc. The major risk in any demand-surge incident is that demand in the network could outpace supply, leading to interruption in service delivery. Water treatment plants were working to maximum capacity and the high temperature further created a risk of fire.
How do we predict the cost associated with the next extreme weather event? The increase cost in responding to the drought event and demand-surge could run into millions, ranging from short-term alternative water supply to longer-term improvement in water treatment works, storage and networks to increase connectivity of water supply. Whilst longer-term improvement in resilience is managed through a capital investment programme there is still a high financial risk exposure in meeting short-term costs associated with extreme weather events. The majority of short-term costs are covered through the annual budget process, but these costs relate to external factors such as extreme weather events which could create huge unplanned losses. The term ‘Perfect Storm’ is becoming more common place as weather related events are developing more complexity and are creating significant impact on the water companies and the environment they operate in.
How effective is insurance as a risk transfer for extreme weather events? Traditional insurance offers a certain level of risk transfer - such as replacement of buildings, plants and equipment and a certain level of business impact costs. There is also cover for public liability in relation to third party claims and some policies even include loss of revenue due to solar farms and windfarms being damaged as a result of weather related events. Emergency services in Northern Ireland were called in to carry out dozens of flood water rescues after heavy rain and flash flooding at the beginning of August 2018. The UK Met Office had confirmed that 63% of the average August rainfall fell in the affected areas within an 8-9 hour period. Bridges were washed away and water treatment works were flooded affecting water supply. Significant costs were incurred as resources were deployed to meet customers’ needs, and this was exasperated by the fact that whole country required emergency response vehicles and equipment simultaneously. The majority of these additional costs were not covered by traditional insurance and thus created a financial impact on ‘Business as Usual’ services.
customers and operations to manage the impact of ‘The Beast from the East’!
Claims can be quite a complicated and longdrawn out process and you must always read the ‘fine print’ to find any restriction in clauses due to ‘Acts of God’. There is also the work of loss adjusters to assess what constitutes a ‘like for like’ replacement compared to ‘improvement’. As well as the cost of legal fees, after a long wait, the final outcome of any claim is normally below what you may be expecting. What water companies need is an insurance policy that sets out what constitutes an extreme weather event and when these conditions or ‘triggers’ take place. The policy would pay out within the week of it happening so as to support the company in addressing the crisis. Perhaps this sounds too good to be true, but such a policy does exist and it is called ‘Parametric’ insurance.
Parametric Insurance can be an effective way to manage short-term extreme weather related costs NI Water is the first water company to put in place a parametric insurance policy for ‘Freeze and Immediate Thaw’, which became effective from 1st April 2017. In early March 2018 a fall in temperature for a prolonged period triggered the policy and we received pay out within a week of it occurring. The funds were most timely, as they enabled NI Water to help meet the needs of our
The parametric insurance is not a substitute for an existing insurance programme but rather compliments it in that it provides cover for risks not covered by traditional commercial property insurance or public liability. It helps to reduce the costs associated with the extreme weather event. It is not feasible to explain the workings and ‘triggers’ of a parametric insurance programme in such a short article. However, it is useful to highlight the difference a parametric insurance programme can make in improving the Company’s resilience through the flexibility it provides in addressing customers’ needs. Gone are the restrictions requiring the funds to be used for a certain asset or liability, there is no need for loss adjusters, no legal costs and no long delays in getting the repayment. Rather, the company now has certainty of access to funds at a time when needed.
Looking to the future We have developed ‘flood triggers’ for parametric insurance cover and are examining the possibility of going to tender for our next Insurance Programme. We are also looking into developing triggers for ‘Drought and Demand Surge’, which is a bit more complex, especially given the weather in Northern Ireland. A prolonged dry summer can quickly be superseded by a few days of heavy rain which can remove the potential of drought crisis. As insurance is mainly to manage risk beyond normal operations, an effective parametric insurance programme needs to align with a company’s business continuity plan and risk tolerance. With this in mind, we will continue to improve on our data analytics and emerging weather related risk analysis to ensure that our parametric insurance will continue to be effective and provides value for money. It is gratifying to note that our efforts to improve our resilience was recognised when we became winners of the ‘Innovative Emerging Risk Programme of the Year’ (European Risk Management Award 2018) and the ‘Risk Management Award’ (British Insurance Award 2018).
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CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
WE NEED TO NOT BE ‘SURPRISED’ BY THE NEXT DROUGHT
An empty on-farm water reservoir in summer 2018 – droughts are a key business risk for irrigated growers [© Andrew Francis]
After a spate of relatively benign summers, last year acutely reminded us that the UK, although typically considered a ‘wet’ country, is not immune from the challenges of drought. by Ian Holman and Jerry Knox
Cranfield Water Science Institute, Cranfield University The hot and dry summer conditions that persisted for many weeks across large areas in 2018 inevitably led to comparisons with 1976, the benchmark drought for much of southern Britain. However, the generally wet preceding winter and spring meant that, whilst there was both a meteorological drought and an agricultural (or soil moisture) drought across much of the UK, river flows, reservoirs and groundwater levels did not generally decline to levels that led to water restrictions. Nevertheless, 2018 was very challenging for UK agriculture including both arable (rainfed) and irrigated cropping and livestock sectors. Agriculture is one of the most drought-sensitive sectors of the UK economy, so hay/silage yields, crop yields and crop quality were down in many parts of the country. Outdoor irrigated agriculture and horticulture was not immune to the consequences of the 2018 drought either, despite only locally being subject to mandatory drought restrictions (so-called Section 57 restrictions). Recent research at Cranfield University as part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Drought and Water Scarcity programme has been working with the sector to investigate its drought resilience and the potential for additional resilience measures that balance agricultural production, economic growth and environmental protection. Many irrigated growers have previously heavily invested to increase their drought resilience. The most common strategy has been in on-farm reservoir storage and ‘high flow’ or winter abstraction licences, to make their businesses
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less reliant on increasingly vulnerable summer flows. However, two wider sets of actions from the Environment Agency (EA) and the processors and retailers also helped to reduce the impacts of the 2018 drought on farm businesses. Firstly, many irrigated growers benefited from increased flexibility from the EA in 2018-19, with decisions on summer water trades, temporary abstractions and emergency abstraction applications and extensions to the winter filling period for farm reservoirs being made by EA staff in businessrelevant time-scales. Secondly, many retailers and processers introduced initiatives to support their growers and suppliers during the drought, including providing some flexibility on contract specifications for quality assurance (size, shape and appearance of produce); changing the timing of in-store promotions to better match supply; and even increasing the prices paid to growers. These responses helped to ensure that UK agricultural produce continued to be available on supermarket shelves during the drought and reinforced the benefits of stable supplier relationships for the long-term drought resilience of fresh produce supply chains. A key factor in both sets of actions was communication – enabling businesses to respond quicker to the emerging drought situation. But what can be done to further improve the drought resilience of high-value irrigated agricultural and horticultural production? We highlight three opportunities. Firstly, information technology could enable better use of available surface water flows through integrating data from the extensive network of telemetered river gauging stations with the flow conditions on abstraction licences in order to provide near real-time alerts to abstractors to take advantage of short-duration flow peaks. Secondly, there is an urgent need for an improved evidence-base of the consequences of seasonal (especially groundwater) abstraction during drought
events for in-river ecology, taking account of post-drought recovery. In the absence of robust and transparent evidence of abstraction impacts, precautionary drought restrictions risk compromising business sustainability and food security. Certainly, the magnitude of the economic losses incurred by the irrigated agricultural sector from mandatory abstraction restrictions merits continued investment in research and monitoring to develop a more robust evidence base, and in river restoration measures to increase ecological drought resilience. Finally, there are many wider opportunities to support increased drought resilience for agriculture, including resource sharing (of abstraction licences, farm reservoirs); promoting multi-sectoral collaboration with, for example, public water supply (PWS); and the development of secondary water markets. Of course agriculture is not unique in terms of its exposure to drought risk, so it will be important that other sectors (including PWS, power generation and the environment) all work collectively to identify shared opportunities for increasing resource reliability and to reduce the economic and environmental impacts of future droughts on society. There were many positive messages to take from the 2018 summer drought, but often they were reactive responses to immediate pressures. The way forward must recognise that all interested parties, from the UK regulatory agencies to retailers to growers, need to move from a position of being surprised by the next drought to greater preparedness and having the necessary tools, adaptation strategies and rules in place to help deliver improved drought resilience. The dry winter, and reduced groundwater recharge, of 2018-19 may mean that this is even more important...
Increase your impact Why study at Cranfield? Our full time and CPD courses in Water and Wastewater Engineering and Environmental Water Management give you the opportunity to make a real difference to the resilience of water services and the water environment. Whether you want to develop your career as an independent expert, find an influential role with a company, work in the private or public sector, be a leader or a specialist, a disruptor, a thinker, or a doer, we help you expand your technical understanding and your personal skills to help you realise a future that reflects your strengths. Learn from the best Our courses are taught by a mix of internationally-leading academics and experienced industry leaders. Learning sessions emphasise problem solving with worked examples and case studies providing opportunities to apply masters level knowledge and understandings.
Outstanding facilities We have an on-campus sewage treatment works, well equipped analytical laboratories, and are home to the national water and wastewater treatment test facility. The connections between our research and learning activities mean that you develop a profound appreciation of the dynamics between knowledge and practice. All MSc water courses are offered on a full- and part-time basis and we have a variety of short course CPD options.
Contact us today for more information Cranfield University MK43 0AL, UK T: +44 (0)1234 758082 E: studywater@cranfield.ac.uk www.cranfield.ac.uk/water instituteofwater.org.uk
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CLEAN WATER, DECENT TOILETS AND GOOD HYGIENE SHOULD BE NORMAL FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE. But, today, millions of people have their access denied, simply because of who they are, how much money they have, or where they live. Today, one in nine people are still drinking dirty water and one in three people are still without a decent toilet of their own. The poorest people continue to be denied these basic human rights. This shouldn’t be normal. People living in extreme poverty, women and girls, children and young people, older people, people with disabilities, and the hardest to reach communities too often are overlooked while others thrive. These people are denied an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure. This locks in inequality and stops change happening.
Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene change everything. We work hard to make sure everyone benefits from access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, and no-one is disadvantaged. We help install taps and toilets that are accessible to the whole community. We bring people together, including those who have been excluded, to challenge taboos, address unequal power structures, and provide opportunities. And we work with governments and businesses to help them deliver services for all.
Rekha on the way to the natural spring to fetch water. Birtadeurali, Kavre, Nepal “While going to the water source it is downhill and the jerry cans and water bottles are empty, so it is not that difficult. But when we come back, the path is steep and climbing the hill with heavy a jerry can and water bottles is very hard. The path at some places is very dangerous. It is like a cliff. You may fall down if you slip. So you have to be very careful. It takes more than an hour to fetch water. If the place is busy then it will take even more time.” Credit: WaterAid/ Mani Karmacharya
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Only by challenging inequalities wherever we find them, can we achieve a world where no one has their access denied. We are determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone everywhere, within a generation. Together, we can make it happen. When it comes to the human rights of water and sanitation, no one should have their Access denied. Let’s act now. wateraid.org/uk
Helena carries her baby Agostinho, 3, on her back, as she gathers water from the river in Cuamba District, Niassa Province, Mozambique. “I worry when I get sick, who will look after my children? How can we afford to pay for the medicine for me to get better? I sell maize to make sure we have enough money for medicines. The walk to the river isn’t safe. Last year there were men hiding and attacking women. I often have to collect water in the dark as I work late farming and I don’t feel safe.” Credit: WaterAid/ Eliza Powell
FEATURE: DROUGHT RESILIENCE
WATER DIRECT
DROUGHT RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS FOR WATER COMPANIES Alternative and emergency water supplier, Water Direct talks about how the water utilities sector can implement strategies to ensure resilience against potential drought-like conditions. The blistering heat and lack of rainfall last summer continues to raise anxieties about what the summer months of 2019 might bring and of course, the water industry is acutely aware of the potential for water scarcity across the UK. This was heightened when Sir James Bevan, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency stated the ‘existential threat’ posed by decreased rainfall, population growth and water wastage. According to the organisation, many areas of the UK will face significant water shortage in the coming years. Whilst no official usage restrictions were put in place last year, the weather had serious effect on the network, raising the need for resilience measures against increased climates and the effects they have.
The effects of hot weather on water supplies During hotter periods of the year, along with increased demands on the network there is also increased risk of burst water pipes. When this occurs, the effects are often exacerbated by the increased demand and can take longer to repair. Once reservoir levels fall below a certain point, in addition to needing to be recharged, temporary alternative supplies will need to be found to serve the affected areas. With the increased pressure from Ofwat, demonstration of effective alternative water supply plans is crucial to water utility companies. Properly preparing for the potential drought is essential to maintain service to customers and reducing supply interruption. Failure to put suitable plans in place can attract criticism and could incur penalties. Water Direct has been supporting water utility industry for more than 23 years to reduce that impact.
What tools can be used to ensure resilient alternative water solutions are in place? Water Tankers Dedicated drinking water tankers can be used to transfer water from one reservoir to another to address receding levels. These tankers can also meaningfully reduce interruption times through carefully managed network injections. This helps improve customer experience and works towards the industry goal of a 36% decrease in supply interruption time over the next five years. Water Direct has developed unique technologies and techniques including implementation of state-of-the-art technology to auto-adjust flow rates, allowing for safe and effective network injection. Bottled Water Water Direct’s Nationwide Bottled Water Bank is a unique, quality-assured and continuously rotated stock of millions of litres of bottled drinking water for emergency use and was recognised for its innovation in the 2019 Water Industry Awards with a nomination in the category of Resilience Initiative of the Year. It was created to meet the needs of numerous contracted clients; to reduce their costs, remove the issue of stock expiry and improve delivery times in all areas of the UK, whilst helping them meet their Security & Emergency Measures Directive (SEMD) requirements.
temporary increase in bottled water stocks as a contingency during periods where increased demand is expected. This would prepare for any issues encountered during the summer, and create visible attention to customer service, for example through proactive doorstep deliveries to vulnerable customers. Rob Allan, Senior Contract Manager at Water Direct commented, “Partnering with a company like Water Direct, provides not only the additional supplies needed, but comes with expert advice, collaboration and pre-emptive planning to ensure utility companies have relevant contingencies in place for any given scenario within a pre-agreed time period, often within a matter of hours.
Implementing temporary increase in bottled water supplies
“In recent years the extreme weather changes have proved the need for increased resilience in supplies and having alternative options available reduces the overall impact for customers.”
Through membership of the Nationwide Bottled Water Bank, water wholesalers can implement a
For more information visit www.water-direct.co.uk
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WATER RESOURCES IN THE SOUTH EAST SETS OUT AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR GREATER REGIONAL DROUGHT RESILIENCE The year is 1996. Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, are getting divorced; John Major is our Prime Minister; eBay and Ask Jeeves are launched onto the unsuspecting world – as are the Spice Girls who scored their first number one hit with “Wannabee”. Another important event, which didn’t quite make the headlines, has seen something of a ripple effect in how to make sure there is enough water for customers, society and the environment. 1996 was the year the Water Resources in the South East (WRSE) group was formed to identify where, when and how water could be shared and moved around the waterstressed south east. Today, the WRSE – comprised of Affinity Water, South East Water, Southern Water, SES Water, Portsmouth Water and Thames Water – is still going strong and has developed its very own regional water grid with almost 60 transfers moving over 100 million litres of water every day. However, its latest strategy “From Source to Tap: The south east strategy for water” (http://www. wrse.org.uk/public-documents/) is only the first step to increase resilience to future droughts as it identifies that the south east region is facing a potential public water supply deficit of between 1,000 million and 2,600 million litres of water per day by 2080. Its stark findings chime with the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) National Infrastructure Assessment, which predicts that England’s homes and businesses could face having their water supplies cut off in times of severe and extreme droughts if enhancements to the current infrastructure, alongside additional leakage reductions and water efficiency measures, are not implemented. WRSE is responding to that challenge by forging ahead with its plans to produce a regional, multisector resilience plan by 2022 that focusses on best value (not least cost) solutions. The plan will continue to ignore company boundaries, a key feature of WRSE’s work to date, but will look further afield for solutions too –
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an approach which is sure to be welcomed by regulators, notably Ofwat, which has also set out its own expectations on how strategic water infrastructure should be progressed. But how is that different from what happens now? For starters, it will move from being a set of regional strategies, which considered a range of different future scenarios that companies used to inform their individual Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs), to a regional plan that will be delivered by the six companies through their individual WRMPs.
It will also look beyond customer water supplies to consider the water needs of different sectors including agriculture and power and address the dependencies between major water users; and identify how the natural and social capital of the region can be increased through the solutions identified and deliver further environmental enhancements. In essence, the regional resilience plan will articulate what needs to be done and when across three broad areas: ■■ The `hard’ infrastructure needs of the region
FEATURE: DROUGHT RESILIENCE ■■
■■
– leading to a regional infrastructure strategy The `green’ infrastructure needs of the region – leading to a regional catchment strategy The demand management needs of the region – leading to a regional water efficiency and leakage strategy.
So, what does this new way of working mean for the wider sector? Simon Cocks, independent Chair of WRSE (and former CEO at Affinity Water) is clear what needs to happen. “Greater collaboration will be essential to improving resilience to droughts and other extreme weather events beyond public water supplies. It will involve working closely with Government and regulators to identify how the current water resource planning `rules’ need to change so the constraints that often paralyse the sector’s ability to deliver new infrastructure are removed. “Equally important is the sector’s work to reduce the amount of water that is lost or wasted so there is more to go around – whether it’s finding
and fixing more leaks on the pipe network or encouraging customers to use less through metering programmes and ambitious water efficiency initiatives. “It’s an exciting time for WRSE which, 23 years after it was formed, is leading the water sector’s approach to resilience, and the debate on how best to address thorny issues such as reducing leakage and per capita consumption. As a result, we have the potential to transform how we work to deliver the country’s water needs.” The water industry more widely has also recognised the political and regulatory step change that is occurring in water resource planning, which is why WRSE has now been joined by four other regional groups that, together, include all the water companies operating in England (see map). Collectively, the groups are inputting to a new national framework that will provide greater clarity and guidance for water companies and other abstractors about what is expected, of all
parties, by government and regulators. Paul Hickey, Deputy Director of Water Resources at the Environment Agency, said: “The regional groups will develop the plans that set out how the water industry, in collaboration with other sectors, will deliver secure water supplies while enhancing the environment. WRSE plays an important role in this endeavour. This is not only because the South East of England faces some of the biggest challenges (and opportunities), but also because of the experience and skills the group is able to bring to the table.” And if the future security of water supplies were in any doubt, Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, used his keynote speech at Waterwise’s recent annual conference to warn that England will be at the “jaws of death” – the point there will not be enough water to meet demand – in as little as 20 years’ time, unless action is taken. Now that is a headline the water sector, and WRSE, is determined to avoid.
WRSE’S AMBITIONS LEAD TO NEW STRUCTURE The future ambitions of WRSE has resulted in changes to how it is structured and governed. Two new senior directors are joining independent Chair Simon Cocks to lead its work to deliver more resilient water supplies for the future. Meyrick Gough has been seconded from Southern Water to take up the role of Technical Director and is leading the group’s work on developing a regional resilience plan and drought plan for the South East of England by 2022. He has been joined by Trevor Bishop, who has worked in both water company and regulatory roles, as Organisational Development Director. Trevor is providing strategic direction for the group and engaging with Government, regulators and wider stakeholders about the excellent technical work and new approaches that underpin WRSE’s strategic decision-making and ambitions. Trevor said: “The new approach is expected to help WRSE achieve its strategic objectives, which include ensuring there is greater multi-sector input into a regional resilience plan, stronger links with other regional groups and the national framework, and greater use of markets and competition.” The WRSE also comprises a Strategic Leadership Team, comprising the water company CEOs and regulators; a new Engagement and Communications Board to raise the group’s profile and drive influencing activities as the regional resilience plan develops; a technical Programme Management Board which will deliver and co-ordinate the regional resilience plan; and a new stakeholder group to gather the views and input of third parties.
Simon Cocks
Independent Chair
Meyrick Gough Senior Director
Trevor Bishop Senior Director
WRSE is further supported by consultants Atkins and communication specialists Create 51.
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THE FUTURE OF WATER IS NOW: ANGLIAN WATERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PLANS TO KEEP TAPS RUNNING FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
When it comes to managing water resources, the East of England faces some of the biggest challenges in the UK. The extreme pressures of a changing climate and one of the fastest growing populations in the country mean that Anglian Water has its work cut out ensuring that taps can keep running for generations to come. The East of England is the driest region in the country receiving a third less water than the rest of the country. Anglian is well prepared for periods with little rainfall, but in order to deliver the continuous service that customers expect, the business must ensure that it is preparing now in order to cope with future challenges.
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As part of its Water Resources Management Plan, Anglian is already thinking decades into the future.
A network fit for the future Firstly, investment into ensuring their water network is resilient is key to the plan. Anglian
Water is proposing a ÂŁ500million investment, starting this year into a network of new pipelines designed to be able to balance the areas of surplus water with areas of deficit. The new network of pipelines will enable the water company to move water in stages from the wetter parts of the region in Lincolnshire to
FEATURE: DROUGHT RESILIENCE
the drier parts of Norfolk and the East coast. Boots will be on the ground to start work later this year. As well as planning for the future, Anglian Water undertakes routine maintenance work across its network every year to ensure they can make the most of the water available. After such a dry summer last year, and rainfall below average for this time of year it is essential that they take the extra steps necessary to ensure water provisions remain resilient for the rest of the year and the warmer, summer, months ahead. Last summer, the East Anglia region only received 54% of the average rainfall for that time of year and despite some rain this year it has continued to be drier than average. April, only saw 30% of the average rainfall expected in the East of England. Reservoir levels are currently at a healthy 93% average, but groundwater levels are lower then normal for the time of year and plans have been on going to maintain and secure water resources right across the region. Anglian has invested an additional £6.5milion over the winter months this year to make sure it’s equipment is ready for whatever this summer brings. This work has included cleaning existing boreholes and pumping equipment to ensure they can work at full capacity and makes the most of the water resource available plus drilling new boreholes including replacing one of the
oldest boreholes in the region to ensure water can be access well into the future.
Driving down leakage Ensuring their network is up to scratch is only part of the battle. The water company is putting more resources than ever into driving down leakage in their water network, with extra teams deployed to find and fix leaks. With already the lowest level of leakage in the water industry at half the national average compared to any other water company, Anglian Water will be fitting thousands of state-ofthe art leak detectors, using advanced marine technology across their network over the next 18 months in a bid to drive down our already industry-leading leakage levels by a further 22% before 2025. This would make Anglian Water a world leader in low leakage levels This adapted form of naval technology allows leakage technicians to hunt down and fix leaks faster than ever before. Known as advanced noise loggers, this ground-breaking technology, works like a hydrophone and listens for changes in sound underwater. Placed permanently within the pipe itself the loggers listen through the flow of water to find hard to pinpoint leaks. Traditionally hydrophones are used by the navy for submarine navigation, underwater mapping, and communication.
One of the biggest challenges faced across the water industry is the ability to detect leaks effectively on plastic pipes as they don’t transmit noise when they leak. Critically, unlike more widely used methods, this new technology can be used on plastic pipes, which make up 60% of Anglian Water’s mains.
Water wise customers On average, Anglian Water customers use 133 litres of water each per day compared to the national average of about 140-145 litres, meaning they’re already more water savvy than the rest of the UK. During the next five years, Anglian is proposing plans to help its customers be even more accountable for the water they use, by investing £180million to install smart meters in customer’s homes and continuing their water efficiency campaigns and initiatives order to save 30million litres of water a day by 2045. One thing is certain, people will always need water. Continuing to manage the demand in the future will only be possible by working with customers to be even more water wise, stopping more leaks than ever before, and thinking about how the water industry can work more collaboratively in the future while ensuring their networks are resilient to future challenges. That’s Anglian Water’s aim to keep taps running for generations.
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MIDLANDSAREANEWS
MEET OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS The Midlands Area Committee are delighted to have some new members join the team and we’d like to take this opportunity to give you a profile of some of our members, new and old, to give you a little insight of what we also do in our day jobs. Mary Porter, Midlands Committee Secretary Mary works in the Wholesale Market Unit for Severn Trent Water as a Retail Account Support focusing on leakage allowance/ adjustments, general enquiries, metering supply checks as well as operational queries. Last year, Mary was asked by Severn Trent Water’s CEO Liv Garfield to lead a research project by called Bike on a Boat. The research focussed on the cultural aspects of water usage and the perception in water consumption/innovative ideas in Singapore. The project provided great insights which Mary feels will make a difference to the company’s present and future vision. This is definitely a project that she is proud of and is the highlight so far in her career at Severn Trent along with her current role at Wholesale Market Unit. Tim Parkinson, Committee Member Tim leads on promotion and marketing for the Committee and recently carried out the IWater Board-sponsored Midlands Regional Relationship Project. He currently offers board-level consultancy services based on the wealth of experience he has gained as an MD, Executive and Non-Executive Director, with much of this experience being gained in the water sector. Tom Swain, Committee Member Tom is the Network Optimisation Lead for Severn Trent Water, looking after Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, serving over 2 million customers. Tom has a background in Operations and has lead both frontline and back office teams as part of his time with Severn Trent Water. In 2018, Tom was awarded the Midlands Institute of Water Rising Star award, awarded to the best up and coming talent in the industry. Krisztian Ivan, Committee Member Krisztian joined Severn Trent last September as a Graduate in the Business Leadership Programme. His first placement was within the Visitor Experience Team, looking after the visitor sites and offering a great day out for Severn Trent Water customers. As a new member of the Midlands Area Committee, Krisztian is really excited to be a part of this team.
Declan Barlow, Committee Member After joining Severn Trent Water on the business leadership programme Declan is now in his long-term position as the Biosolids product manager; leading a team who recycle over 600,000 tonnes of Biosolids back to agricultural land. Growing up on a farm in Staffordshire, this role is perfect for Declan as he gets to engage with the agricultural sector on a daily basis while helping deliver sustainable environmental plans. His passion for the Institute of Water stems from the ability to communicate with stakeholders wider from my current functionality, expanding my network across the wider industry. Georgia Brown, 2019 Rising Star Institute of Water Midlands Area 2019 Rising Star and committee member. Georgia is Process Commissioning Technician for Wastewater at Severn Trent Water. Georgia joined joined the water company almost three years ago on a two year apprenticeship in treatment process working on the clean water side. Natalie Akroyd, Treasurer Natalie has worked for Severn Trent for nearly 16 years, most recently in Severn Trent Services where she is Head of our contract with the Coal Authority to operate and maintain mine water treatment schemes across the UK. However, Natalie is currently enjoying maternity leave! Natalie has been a member of the Institute of Water throughout her career, holding various roles on the Midlands Area Committee and was National Chair of the Institute in 2016/17. Heidi Knapton, Committee Member Heidi is a Metering Manager for South Staffs Water and currently works on metering improvements across the whole customer journey, which involves trialling new exciting technologies in partnership with Cambridge University.
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MIDLANDSAREANEWS
MIDLANDS AREA PRESIDENT’S PARTY Our last event in the Midlands was the 2019 Presidents Party which was a huge success! It was an 80’s themed party held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham on 29th March 2019. Our Midlands Area President, Bob Stear joined forces with Severn Trent Water staff members, Bruno Gardner and Emily Cattermole to form a band, entertaining 140 guests with live music. All 140 guests had dressed ‘up to the nines’ in 80’s-related apparel, taking inspiration from the likes of Frankie Goes to Hollywood to Top Gun! The committee also held a dance off which awarded the winners for the best costume and best dance routines! At the party, our President, Bob Stear was awarded Fellow Membership to recognise all the work Bob has carried out so far for the Institute of Water. Overall, it was a huge success and the committee have their ideas set for 2020’s Presidents Party!
A TASTE OF SPRING! Cookery Demonstration by Celebrity Chef, Ian Orr. On Saturday 2nd March, ten Northern Ireland Area members and their guests attended a fantastic social event in the North West of the province. Master Chef Ian Orr, of Michelin recommended restaurant Browns Bonds Hill, conducted a fantastic Spring themed cookery demonstration. Ian shared his tips and secrets for creating delicious meals, which included such treats as Potato and Wild Garlic Soup, which included some tips for gathering the wild garlic!, torched mackerel, fennel and blood orange salad (caused quite a few comments!), braised lamb shoulder, and a scrumptious panacotta! Guests were also provided with the recipes and ingredients lists for all the dishes, which could then be recreated at home. Afterwards everyone was invited to stay at the restaurant and enjoy a three-course meal, which included the dishes Ian had just demonstrated. All of the guests had a thoroughly enjoyable time, catching up with colleagues and friends
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over a relaxed setting overlooking the River Foyle. Everyone agreed it was definitely a great idea to return to the venue and decided it was a date for the NI Area events calendar each year!
What better way to learn than from the best – and the group were delighted when we were treated to a rare photo opportunity with the great man himself.
NORTHERN IRELANDAREANEWS
LUNCH AND LEARN EVENT – METHODS FOR TRACE ANALYSIS By Karen Topping, NI Area Committee Member The NI Area was pleased to invite Mark Collins, Chemistry Technical Manager at Bio Search (NI) Ltd. to deliver a ‘Lunch and Learn’ presentation entitled ‘Methods for Trace Analysis’ to an eager audience of IoW members and non-members, most of whom are currently working in water quality or laboratory services. Mark talked us through the journey of method development, which begins with identification of a need for a particular analysis method, for example due to a change in regulations or customer requirements. This instigates a research and planning phase, which is critical for the later success of the development and validation of the analysis method in question. In this age of continual advancements in the technology involved in water analysis, there is inevitably an abundance of choice in both instruments and references for the chemist to consider, which may involve considerable investment of both financial and personnel resource. Mark’s advice was that each laboratory should identify its own priorities, available skills/technology and sample types at the outset of any development programme. Mark then described a typical project in the
Bio Search lab, the development of a novel method for the analysis for Bromate in drinking water using Ion Chromatography. Bromate is a disinfection by-product formed during ozonation and as a suspected carcinogen, has a prescribed concentration in treated water of 10µg/L. Mark explained that following a literature review of similar methods, he was able to adapt a method based on a chemical reaction involving the production of a triiodide ion, which could then be detected by the IC instrument in the Bio Search laboratory – thereby making best use of the technology available. Of course this is only the beginning of the story and as is often the case in any development of an innovative product or process, there then follows a period of preparing a validation protocol and drafting the experimental method. The overall message was very much one of ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’! The theory has been proven to be successful, as in the case of Mark’s bromate method, the ensuing validation process resulted in generation of performance data that was sufficiently robust when subject to statistical tests, showing that it met DWI requirements. The documented method, validation and
proficiency data was successfully submitted to the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and the method accredited to ISO 17025 and the Drinking Water Testing Specification. Again however, that wasn’t the end of the story, as once a method becomes operational it should be subject to regular audit and review. Mark also described how incidences of non-conforming work – which arise in all laboratories for a wide variety of reasons, such as QC or system checks failures – provide excellent opportunity to the analytical team for ongoing improvement, each being a “blank page” upon which the analyst can record findings and learnings. Mark also highlighted the ability to gather useful data from routine activities such as servicing and maintenance, external proficiency schemes and so on, which can inform investigations and provide valuable background information for training and test assurance. Following Mark’s very informative presentation and a question and answer session, feedback from those in attendance reflected that this was a very useful event for sharing both experience and expertise, as new technology and methods continue to be developed and adopted by the water.
THE WINNING EDGE IoD Women in Leadership Conference By Carmel Bradley, NI Area Treasurer On Friday 8th March, 13 Northern Ireland Area IW ladies joined over 400 other (mostly female) delegates at the annual Institute of Directors Women In Leadership Conference at the impressive Titanic Building in Belfast. The conference was hosted once again by the entertaining Susan Hayes Culleton, who led the delegates through an inspiring day of excellent speakers encouraging us all to aim for the “Winning Edge”.
candidates were worthy of the funds. However, Ezi – Sock emerged the winner promoting an innovative product to assist with the everyday task of putting on socks for people with limited mobility.
The morning session was around the theme of “Leadership Lessons for Hard Times” followed by “Good to Great “Panel Session. Delegates were then asked to vote for the winner in the £4,000 “Pitch Perfect”. This proved to be a difficult decision for everyone as all 5
The topic for the afternoon session was “The Winning Attitude”, which included words of wisdom inspirational woman in the global arena. The highlight of this session and indeed the day for many of the attendees was Christina Noble’s presentation on “She believed she could so she
did” which was humbling to hear. The audience was enthralled at Christina’s stories about her Foundation in Vietnam and her efforts to highlight the plight of disadvantaged and street children. The day ended with a performance by Belfast Gospel Choir singing “Higher & Higher!” followed by a drinks reception. The delegates from NI Area Institute of Water thoroughly enjoyed the day. We all came away with her motto ringing in our ears – “The only way is up!”
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NORTHERNAREANEWS
COMMITTEE INTRODUCTIONS The Northern Area are very pleased to welcome the following new members from Yorkshire Water to the committee. We asked them to tell us a little about themselves, and what attracted them to the industry, Institute and committee role. WASCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, I joined Yorkshire Water as a Trainee Field Technician in the Water Distribution Business Unit in 2001. I have worked in a variety of roles in clean water and my progression has taken me from engineering teams to managing large operational areas throughout the region. In 2018 I was taken off line to support an IT transformation for twelve months and in February this year I was appointed as Regional Operations Manager for Waste Water Customer Field Services.
Amy Jeffrey I joined Yorkshire Water as a Water Quality Scientist in November 2016 after completing a PhD in Environmental Science. My academic career was varied, combining archaeology, geochemistry, geology and climatology. New to the water industry, I joined the Institute of Water to understand how the industry ticks. I have joined the committee to further learn what the IoW has to offer and to meet people from other companies and areas of the industry.
I have been a member of IoW for nearly ten years and have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences. When the opportunity came up to join the committee I jumped at it. I love discussing our industry with others as well as sharing best practice with colleagues. I feel we all have a responsibility to improve the service we provide to our customers, make the work place safe and enjoyable, whilst reducing the impact we cause on the environment.
Anne Newton I am a Costing and Data Modelling Lead Analyst at Yorkshire Water, based in Leeds. I facilitate capital investment schemes into delivery and work on all project types from reservoirs, clean water treatment works, distribution network to sewerage, wastewater treatment works and sludge treatment facilities.
Paula Kelly
Nigel Robinson I joined the water industry by accident whilst trying to save some money for my travelling plans as a teenager. I worked for a contractor partner on a leakage campaign in the midnineties for Yorkshire Water which gave me a great insight into the water industry. After working on a variety of contracts for multiple
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The reason I have joined the Institute is to network and to learn more about other water companies. I have attended the last two meetings and have been very impressed, particularly the focus on trying to attract young people to the water industry.
I started working at Yorkshire Water in September 1983 on a billing team dealing with unmeasured billing. My most recent role was as a team leader on the Customer Management team dealing with a team of 15 people looking after customers with clean operational issues. Now I am on a secondment working on the introduction of SAP4, which is due to go live on 1/7/19. I am part of the Business Readiness team and I am also helping the training team looking at Captivate simulations and working with our Communications team on Personas. I am based at the Buttershaw site.
I have been with the Company just over three years and have taken advantage of everything the IoW has to offer. As a CPD Runner Up in 2017, I have been a CPD Assessor for the last two years; attended Science and Engineering Conferences and been appointed an external mentor at Northumbrian Water. I also attended the South East Area Weekend School last year. I am delighted to be part of the Committee; I look forward to meeting new people and raising awareness of the organisation. I am also the STEM Ambassador Volunteer Co-ordinator for the Company and oversee education and careers events in schools and wider community, so hope to bring some of this experience to the group.
SOUTHWESTAREANEWS
FACING THE DRAGONS On the 8th March, the South West Area held their annual Dragon’s Den event at WRc’s offices. The event was well attended by the regional water companies, suppliers, pioneering innovators and of course, the Dragon’s themselves. Ruth Allen (RSKW Ltd), Barrie Light (South West Water) and Carmen Snowden (WRc) put this year’s innovators through their paces. The winning innovation from Julian Britton at Wessex Water is a fine example of how water companies are thinking differently in order to meet the long-term challenges of the industry. In this case, Julian looked to replicate technologies used in human heart surgery but for sewerage infrastructure rehabilitation. Julian’s innovation uses a robotic machine to
PRESIDENT’S WATER FORUM - FUTURE CHANGE The SW Area is delighted to announce our 2019 President’s Water Forum titled ‘Future Change’ to be held on the 12th July at SS Great Britain, Bristol. This afternoon event has a line of industry leaders including Mel Karam, CEO of Bristol Water and Dr Sarah McMath, CEO of MOSL, who will give their views on changes the industry will need to respond to, as well as changes that will be enforced. Professor Ruth Allen, the SW Area President, also warmly invites you to attend the 2019 South East Area President’s Dinner, being held on-board the fabulous SS Great Britain, on the evening of the 12th July. This black tie event will commence with a drinks reception on deck, followed by a three course dinner in the First Class Dining Saloon of the ship. Go to the IWater website for details. If you are interested in sponsoring the events please get in touch with one of the committee.
re-shape 150mm diameter sewer pipes which have suffered up to 25% deformation. “This new robot, named the ‘Re-rounder’, repairs the pipe to its original shape and then leaves behind a metal stent to secure the structural integrity of the pipe, over which we can then line.” Julian Britton.
and Digital Evidence Capture presented by James Connolly of eviFile.
The South West Committee would like to wish Julian all the best at the national conference and we’d like to thank our events sponsors (HWM, Hydrotech, Z-Tech, WLLS and Kingcombe Stonbury) and the other finalists: Water Radar System presented by Kevin and Lloyd of Vega Controls; AiS Network presented by George Lewis of Arlington Packaging (Commended);
SW AREA FELLOWS Congratulations to Phill Mills, Policy Consulting Network Ltd and Chris Loughlin, CEO of Pennon Group who were nominated as Fellows of the Institute of Water. Phill has been described by his committee colleagues as “a true asset to the Institute of Water and his involvement extends well beyond the South West Area Committee”. Chris is recognised for his outstanding contribution to the water sector and specifically the South West Area.
Chris Loughlin (Right) receives his certificate.
JERSEY WEEKEND SCHOOL April saw the South West Weekend School take place on the Channel Island of Jersey, entitled “Sharing Best Practice & Collaboration Across Our Regions” - hosted by Helier Smith, CEO of Jersey Water. The programme looked at delivering service and managing our assets over the next five years. Weekend School Delegate, Duncan Sorbie from RSKW Ltd, said: “I found the Institute of Water – South West Branch Summer School to be extremely interesting and informative. The speakers all delivered engaging, relevant and extremely interesting talks which covered an array of topics, highlighting a number of the key challenges facing the water sector in the immediate and near distant future.
The trip to the desalination plant on the Sunday was brilliant and one of the highlights of the event. It made me appreciate the extent that Jersey Water have had to go to ensure that they are able to provide enough clean water to their customers. There was a great atmosphere throughout the entire weekend. Everyone was very approachable and the whole event had a lovely community feel.”
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SOUTHEASTAREANEWS
SOUTHERN WATER’S RIVER ITCHEN CHALLENGE WIN SE AREA INNOVATION AWARD The South East Area Innovation Awards was held on 14th March at the Z-Tech Offices in Canning Town, East London. The winners were Southern Water Services with their innovative solution to water saving. Southern Water will go on to represent the South East Area at the National Innovation Awards held at the Institute of Water President’s Dinner in Belfast on the 26th June. Southern Water has put in place an incentivisation scheme to encourage residents to reduce their water usage. Areas in Hampshire with abstraction restrictions and high consumption are given incentives of funding community projects to reduce their water usage. Nina Nason said; “Southern England is an area of worsening water stress due to climate change and population growth. Southern Water aims to help customers reduce water consumption. Through our Target 100 initiative, the River Itchen Challenge was set. The pilot 12-month scheme resulted in 8% reduction in consumption and funded swimming lessons for local children.
This pilot directly targeted 757 homes and businesses within the Hampshire region, all of which might not otherwise have been engaged with the business.” The finalists were; ■■ Innovation Hub in collaboration with the University of Portsmouth by Southern Water ■■ Bio-cageTM sludge dewatering by AFECO ■■ Making the South East a safer place to dig by LSBUD ■■ Rainwater Planters by Thames Water ■■ Aerial Survey for Pipe Leakage by APEM Finally, many thanks to Z-Tech Control Systems who hosted and sponsored the event. On the day, Luke Stanbridge accepted the Distinguished Member award on behalf of Z-Tech who have given many years of continued support to the South East Area. The committee would like to extend their thanks to Luke and team.
REWILDING - VISIT TO KNEPP ESTATE Organised by the South East Area Committee, a group of 24 members from across the country travelled to the Knepp Estate, a 3,500 acre estate just south of Horsham, West Sussex to understand how a change in agricultural approach has completely redefined how we might look at conservation in the future. Since 2001, the land – once intensively farmed - has been devoted to a pioneering rewilding project. Using grazing animals as the drivers of habitat creation, and with the restoration of dynamic, natural water courses, the project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife. Extremely rare species like turtle
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doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons and purple emperor butterflies are now breeding here; and populations of more common species are rocketing. The rewilding project at the Knepp Estate, which was featured at the Institute of Water’s Environment Conference 2018, has been gaining much media presence due to its
tireless efforts increase biodiversity and reverse the environmental degradation trend. Many thanks goes to Penny, Tegan and Fran for creating such an interesting and stimulating day. Thanks also goes to the members that travelled down that were able to network and learn some great things to tell their friends and colleagues.
SCOTTISHAREANEWS
ROSS-SHIRE ENGINEERING SITE VISIT On Thursday 14th March, we had a tour of Ross-shire Engineering in Muir of Ord, near Inverness, to gain an insight into what the company does and also to have a look at current projects. We were given an introduction from Jamie, followed by a presentation. This focused on what the company does, mostly water treatment plants but also oil and gas, renewables & industrial followed by case studies of previous projects including Whalsay TTU (transportable treatment unit), this one was a NF membrane plant. The TTU’s are all built on site first and then transported to their final destination, making the process a lot more efficient.
We were then shown the workshop where the modular units are constructed and then into the assembly workshop where the units are put together. It provided an excellent insight into what goes into constructing the modular units and how they come together. It felt like a behind-the-scene preview of a treatment plant, an excellent time was had by all. Thanks to Jamie MacGregor for showing us around!
After our induction we started the tour in the design room where we observed a range of WTW’s being designed, including one for Savalbeg.
INNOVATION AWARDS Congratulations to the Scottish Area Innovation Awards 2019 winner; Kenny Dallas. Kenny (General Manager at A&L Mechanical Installations) was announced as the winner during the President’s Dinner and Awards held in the Radisson Blu, Glasgow on Saturday 27th April. He will now go on to represent the Scottish Area in the National Innovation Awards where the overall winner will be announced. This will take place during the President’s Dinner and Awards to be held in Belfast in June. The judges were impressed once again with the high quality of the 13 applications that were submitted. Here is a snapshot of the winning innovation: Remote Hydraulic Valve Actuation by A&L Mechanical Installations Reasoning behind Innovation Solution: In the Interests of Safety: A high number of Scottish Water Reservoir Assets have been identified as having the potential to cause harm to Operational and Maintenance staff. The risk is presented when staff are required to operate valves, penstocks or other mechanical apparatus in dangerous atmospheres and/or confined spaces. Execution of Project: Delivering Solutions Pan Scotland: Assets that have the potential to
cause harm or present a risk to personnel are identified by SW Reservoir Engineers. A&L are engaged to survey affected assets, develop a solution and deliver an agreed scope. Benefits: Value Engineering H&S Risk Reduction/Removal, Low Capital Cost, Little or No Maintenance Costs, Low Whole Life Cost, Significant Reduction in Operational Costs. The Scottish Area would also like to congratulate the two joint runners-up: Carbon Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) for rehab of above ground pipeline by David Fraser (ABV) Amey Black and Veatch (aBV), Farrans Environmental Techniques (FET)/AEGION and client Scottish Water have developed a solution to rehabilitate above ground sewers and pipe bridges reaching the end of their design life. The developed innovation was Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), a system never used before in the UK Water Industry. It offers a robust, sustainable solution to rehabilitation by externally wrapping pipes with Carbon Fibre to create a new pipe. This method not only reduces impacting on flows and increased cost and time, it also allows access to remote areas and avoids serious impact on environmentally sensitive areas. Leak detectable chemical dosing hose by Les James (FT Pipeline Systems Ltd)
PF-Detect is a unique product in that it is the only leak-detectable, flexible, chemical dosing hose currently available. The product was launched in 2017 after having been developed in conjunction with a UK water company. It is a hose in hose system; the dosing hose is contained within a polyurethane jacket which, in the unlikely event of a chemical leak, will contain the leaked liquid and immediately trigger an alarm using the two copper wires wound between the two layers. This unique idea does away with the need for catchpots and so has the dual advantages of reducing costs and protecting the environment. Thank you to the Scottish Government who sponsored the Scottish Area Innovation Awards.
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WELSHAREANEWS
WELSH AREA INNOVATION AWARDS 2019
Following on from the successful Innovation Conference, this year’s Institute of Water Welsh Area Innovation Awards was held at the Mercure Holland House in Cardiff on the same day (3rd April). The Welsh Area Committee were joined by a record number of 350 guests to celebrate innovation success within Welsh Water’s Area all themed around the 50th anniversary of the moon landing- To Innovate and Beyond! Area President, Linda Williams, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water’s People & Change Director welcomed Welsh TV weather presenter and personality Derek Brockway and news presenter Sian Lloyd to host the evening’s award ceremony- alongside our Storm Trooper surprise guests! The winners of the four main categories were: Clever Data category Donna Evans, Catchment Team, DCWW SMART Catchments – A novel approach to understanding Cryptosporidium Collaborative Working category Danielle Ingleson, Customer Strategy Team, DCWW - Rhondda Fach Water Resilient Community project Ideas category Craig Morris, PWS Distribution, DCWW (supported by Water Innovation and University of Wales Trinity Saint David) - Aqua Ferrule Isolation Spade
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Market Adaptation category Stuart Kennedy, PWS Production, DCWW, CoCo Daff Filter cleaner. The President’s Award is awarded to a submission that may not have won a category but has captured the imagination of the judges. This year’s winner was the Wastewater Networks Team (South West and Hereford), DCWW, for Sewer Boot. The 2019 Continuous Professional Development Award was won by Sarah Harries, Process Scientist, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. The Overall winner for the Welsh Area however, went to Donna Evans, Catchment Team at DCWW for the SMART Catchments. Dŵr Cymru’s drinking water Catchment team has been advancing their understanding of how Cryptosporidium oocysts move from the land to our rivers and reservoirs and how they behave when they reach drinking water sources. By using innovative equipment, activities and technologies, they can better predict the mechanics of when and how Cryptosporidium oocysts travel from the land to their abstraction point. This ground-breaking study is informing their evidence-based approach to reducing any potential risk to public health for years to come.
Guests also raised an amazing £2024.78 for WaterAid on the night- a big thank you for everyone’s contributions. The Overall Innovation Awards winner has been put forward for the National Innovation Awards. The winner and runners-up will be announced at the National President’s Dinner and Awards held on 26th June at Belfast City Hall.
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