WET News

4 WET NEWS AUGUST 2018 | wwtonline.co.uk NEWS+ United Utilities gives old service reservoir new lease of life • Company hopes plan will cut costs by around 75 per cent compared to building new reservoir U nited Utilities engineers are working under- ground to create a new underground service reservoir within an existing service reservoir. The plan is expected to help reduce construction costs by around 75 per cent compared with building a brand-new reservoir. The water company is cur- rently working on a site in St Helens that has three existing underground service reservoirs. Two are no longer operational and the company is utilising the space to construct a completely new service reservoir, which will serve over 60,000 homes in the area. Daniel Smith, project man- ager from United Utilities, said: "This really is a rare treat for us – usually our service reservoirs are full of water ready to supply our customers, but this project has meant we can get inside. It's such a unique and beautiful space to work in. "What is also important about this project is, by working smarter and more innovatively, we are using an existing asset to keep construction costs down whilst still providing our cus- tomers with the highest quality volume of 32 mega litres. Engineers will also be sealing the roof of the new service reser- voir with a hi-tech membrane. "This is all about improving the resilience of water sup- plies," Smith added. "The multi-layer intelligent mem- brane allows us to stop of water. "Building a new reservoir from scratch would not only cost considerably more, disrup- tion to the local community would also be greatly increased." When complete the new ser- vice reservoir will have a storage rainwater or run-off from getting into the tank and in the unlikely event the roof was ever to leak, a grid of electrical wires will be able to pinpoint the precise location and send a signal to our 24-hour control room." The project will be completed by the end of 2018. CONTRACT WINS Gibbons Engineering Group has been invited to join the Anglian Water mechanical and electrical framework for the awarding of planned and emergency work at local AW sites. Water and wastewater treatment specialist Arvia Technology has secured its first treatment deal in China. Arvia will see its Nyex wastewater treatment system installed on to a site in Tianjin to initially treat 10mᵌ/hour wastewater in the pulp and paper industry, with a view to expand across 13 other large-scale sites. Anglian Water has ap- pointed HBS New Energies to deliver a 30MWp solar programme across its water treatment sites, with the first site under the contract now installed. For Yorkshire's wildlife, after disused patches of land at three sewage treatment works in Barnsley were converted into 'green heart' nature reserves that provides habitats for the rare birds and other wildlife. A grant of £50,000 was provided by Yorkshire Water to convert its land at the three plants into nature areas closed to the public. For South West Water and Northumbrian Water, which were rated the worst performers for pollution incidents and permit compliance respectively in a new Environment Agency report. Both companies received only two stars out of four and the EA said there is an "urgent need" to improve. Good monthT- Bad month Northumbrian Water rated top company to work with by suppliers N orthumbrian Water has been voted the UK's top water company to work with by suppliers in the British Water 2018 annual performance survey. It is the seventh time in eight years that the North East water firm has topped British Water's annual list for supplier satisfaction. Each year, the survey meas- ures suppliers' views on how the main water and sewerage companies perform and com- pare with each other. It looks at ten different perfor- mance areas, including contract procurement, contractual approach, impact on the supply chain and communication. Northumbrian Water came out on top, with an average overall score of 7.7 out of 10. It also scored the highest in nine out of ten of the categories. South West Water and Anglian Water shared second place with an average of 7.1 apiece, followed by Thames (6.9), Wessex (6.7), United Utili- ties (6.4), Northern Ireland Water (6.4), Yorkshire (6.3), Sev- ern Trent (6.2), Welsh Water (5.8), Scottish Water (5.8) and Southern Water (5.6). When compared to the 2017 results, Northern Ireland Water showed the most improvement, being up five places a›er being bottom of the pile 12 months ago. Southern Water and York- shire Water showed the greatest slip in supplier satisfaction, each dropping three places. Stephen Whaley, Northum- brian Water Group's contracts procurement manager, said: "This is another great result with suppliers choosing us as the number one water company to work for again. "It demonstrates the hard work that we have put into building strong, working rela- tionships with our suppliers in order to deliver an excellent ser- vice to our customers." British Water, the trade asso- ciation for the UK water indus- try supply chain, represents the industry collectively to govern- ment, regulators, other institu- tions, customers and the media. The suppliers who take part in the survey range from frame- work capital contractors and consultants, to chemicals sup- pliers, distribution materials suppliers, maintenance, waste and operational contractors. Welsh Water to use SUEZ's Aquadvanced Energy system S UEZ has been awarded a contract by Welsh Water for the implementation of its Aquadvanced Energy system. Aquadvanced Energy, for- merly known as Derceto's Aqua- dapt, is a real-time optimisation system for pumping, production and storage optimisation that operates systems more effi- ciently and increases service resilience. The initial phase will cover the Cardiff and Newport water system in South Wales. In addition to the financial benefits, Welsh Water is looking to have better overall visibility of decision-making in the distri- bution of water in an ever-com- plex environment. The Aquad- vanced system will also help to increase operational flexibility and system resilience in order to meet current and future chal- lenges, as well as positively con- tribute to a lower environmental footprint. Matthew Stephenson, direc- tor of water utilities at SUEZ's Water Technologies and Solu- tions, said: "Aquadvanced Energy brings computational power to decision making in the distribution of water. "Taking a system approach can lead to significant environ- mental and commercial efficien- cies and reduce pumping energy bills by around 10-15 per cent. We are very pleased to see that more UK water companies are looking to optimise their net- works with such sophisticated digital solutions." Aquadvanced Energy applies a holistic approach over the whole system and determines the optimal solution for deliver- ing and transferring drinking water for each and every asset in the distribution network. The so›ware is designed to enhance automation and con- trol by using data collected from the production-distribution sys- tem and can be used to auto- mate control operations. In addition to savings in load shi›ing, benefits can also include significant system effi- ciencies such as reduction in water production, improved water quality and increased sys- tem resilience. "It demonstrates the hard work that we have put into building strong working relationships with our suppliers in order to deliver an excellent service to customers." Stephen Whaley, NWG Here is the new design. Any enquires should be sent to: sean.austen@ksb.com 01278 458 686

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