WET News

News: Thames Water stepping up battle against leakage. P4 Onsite: Veolia to deliver Vartry WTP as part of €200 million Irish Water upgrade. P14 Onsite: How the Glasgow Tunnel Partnership delivered the £100 million Shieldhall Tunnel. P16 WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS Regulators demanding more ambition on resilience SEPTEMBER 2018 Volume 24 • Issue 9 Yorkshire Water tenders £1BN in civils work B&V names new director of asset management D efra, the Environment Age n cy, t h e D r i n k i ng Water Inspectorate and Ofwat have written to water com- panies to urge them to show increased ambition for AMP7 to meet the resilience challenge. The joint letter on 9 August outlined the importance of meet- ing customers' water needs while protecting the environment at a time of climate change, popula- tion growth, societal expectations and increasing environmental aspirations. It emphasised the need for regional thinking that transcends company boundaries and indi- cated that they wish to see com- mitments to major new water resources infrastructure. "To meet this challenge, we need ambitious and co-ordinated leadership across industry, gov- ernment and regulatory bodies," the regulators said. "While we think water companies need to own this challenge, we will work jointly to support and facilitate your e… orts." They said there is a need for: Increased ambition in the forth- coming AMP7 business plans Regional water resource plan- ning that transcends company boundaries and identiˆ es opti- mum solutions for the region, and the nation as a whole Greater use of markets and competition to ensure solutions are delivered eŠ ciently Clear, joined-up direction from government and regulators A re s p o n s ive re gu l a to r y approach to deal with issues as they arise The letter said that in addition to ambitious new leakage targets, "water companies should begin work now on projects and trans- fers to enhance resilience", add- ing: "We want companies and regional groups to use the PR19 regulatory period to demonstrate tangible progress in increasing collaboration and developing creative strategic water supply solutions." They accepted that "one size will not ˆ t all" when it comes to regional water resource planning but said: "We expect water com- panies to commit time and money to regional planning and assessing the feasibility of regional and inter- regional solutions in the forthcom- ing regulatory period. This includes considering strategic transfers and str ategic water stor age infrastructure." They also said that the Gov- ernment's forthcoming national policy statement will help to "streamline the delivery of, and set out the need for, nationally s ig n i f i c a n t wa te r re s o u rce s Y orkshire Water has gone out to tender for two major AMP7 civils contracts worth over £1 billion in total. The frameworks cover the 2020- 2025 period, with the possibility of a three-year extension. The utility is seeking partners for a multi-supplier 'complex civils' framework worth £750 mil- lion that covers all civil and struc- tural engineering activity not delivered by its existing Tier 1 partners in the Yorkshire Alliance integrated delivery team. It is also tendering for a sepa- rate 'minor civil and building works' contract worth an esti- mated £290 million. Applicants must demonstrate how they can support 'The Capi- tals' concept, which is a business philosophy adopted by Yorkshire Water looking at all projects from six key perspectives: ˆ nancial, manufacturing, natural, social, human and intellectual capital. Carly Gilley, procurement at Yorkshire Water, said: "The aim of the frameworks is to deliver a commercial approach that incen- tivises safe, sustainable solutions to deliver maximum level of ser- vice improvement through a culture that ensures collaboration and beneˆ ts for all." The deadline for submitting requests for participate is 10 Sep- tember and contracts for Yorkshire Water's main Tier 1 alliance deliv- ery integrated delivery team for AMP7 are set to be awarded in April 2019. B lack & Veatch has named Mark Kaney as director of asset management as it continues to grow its Europe asset management business. Kaney will dr aw upon 20 years' experience in the utility sector, working for utility com- panies and their consulting partners. "The speed of technological development, and the falling cost of effective data and analytics solutions, mean the value of embedding good asset manage- ment thinking is becoming more prevalent," Kaney said. "The programmes which real- ise the greatest beneˆ ts are those embedded enterprise wide: from boardroom to control room." Kaney's last role, as both asset management director and head of digital development, means he is well placed to help clients maximise the potential of data and digital tools to support their asset management goals. "Black & Veatch is a technol- ogy-led company," Kaney added. "It has outstanding knowledge of the ways in which digital tech- nologies can enhance asset man- agement and how they can be integrated to create the solution best suited to clients' needs." Black & Veatch's understand- ing of third-party technologies is supplemented by the com- pany's own data analytics tool, Atonix Digital Asset 360, which is already in use with several UK utilities. infrastructure such as reservoirs, water transfers and desalination projects". In their conclusion, they wrote: "We fully expect that you will meet our challenge to be more ambitious, more collabora- tive and embrace markets. In support of this, we commit to providing clear direction and appropriate regulation." The letter was sent shortly "This is a fantastic opportunity to engage sta‹ in a new and exciting way" Steve Havvas on Anglian Water's VR programme, P23 "We're able to o‹ er a very di‹ erent solution than we did as two separate companies" Bryan Harvey, Jacobs, P12 Steve Havvas on Anglian Water's VR programme, ¢ Water companies told to 'own this challenge' and take more collaborative approach "We want companies and regional groups to use the PR19 regulatory period to demonstrate tangible progress in increasing collaboration and developing creative strategic water supply solutions" Joint letter to water companies G lobal design ˆ rm Stantec is expanding its UK pres- ence with the planned acquisition of Reading-based Peter Brett Associates LLP (PBA). The transaction is expected to close in September. Gord Johnston, Stantec presi- dent and CEO, said: "Both PBA and Stantec bring teams that possess a depth of expertise, experience, and passion for com- munity. Together, our combined strengths will be essential to meet Stantec buys Peter Brett Associates and hires Welsh Water's Williams after it was revealed that total leakage across England and Wales had risen to 3,183 million litres a day for April 2017 to March 2018, from 3,123 million the previ- ous year. In the wake of the results, Environment Secretary Michael G ove called water company bosses to a meeting at Defra, which was attended by South Sta… s (also representing its sub- sidiary Cambridge Water), Bristol, Severn Trent, Thames, Yorkshire, Essex & Suffolk (via its parent company Northumbrian), Ports- mouth and United Utilities. Gove said: "I met the heads of a range of water companies today [31 July], speciˆ cally those where leakage has been an issue. " W h i l e e x t r e m e we a t h e r events do pose a challenge to the industry, they are a consequence of climate change with which we all have to deal. We all agreed water companies must do more to adapt and prepare for changing weather patterns. "I have asked the companies I spoke to today to raise the bar on tackling leaks and agree ambi- tious new targets when they submit their business plans to Ofwat in September. "The Government, Ofwat and customers expect water companies to improve their performance." scientists and economists deliver- ing projects in a variety of sectors, PBA has supported the oŠ ce and commercial, urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, energy, public sector, residential, retail and town centres, tourism and l e i s u r e , w a s t e a n d w a t e r sectors. Since 2010, the ˆ rm has been actively working on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project. M e a nw h i l e , S t a n t e c h a s appointed Tim Williams (pictured) the growing opportunities in key UK markets. "Regionally, the project land- scape is promising with the UK government's policy to build 300,000 new homes per year, a ˆ ve-year program to invest £4.4 billion in new and refurbished schools, a robust university upgrading initiative, and a major national investment program in UK infrastructure." An independent ˆ rm of more than 700 engineers, planners, as strategic growth & business development director for water. Williams will focus on the strategic growth of Stantec's water business across the UK. "Tim brings an in-depth per- spective on the water industry, coupled with an understanding of the changes happening in the sector and the impact on the communities they serve," Cath Schefer, UK managing director for Stantec, said. W i l l i a m s h a s 2 5 y e a r s ' experience in the water sector including operations, regulation, strategic planning and contract operations. Prior to joining Stantec, Wil- liams had served as head of asset strategy and planning and head of capital alliance for Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, where he managed investment plans for PR09, PR14 and PR19 and implemented asset management trans- formation plans.

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