WET News

WN October 2018

Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine

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Onsite: Galliford Try leads Yorkshire Water's MBBR WwTW upgrade. P12 Onsite: Symology delivers insight managed service web portal to Anglian Water. P14 Insight: GPS PE Pipe Systems on installing barrier pipe within contaminated land. P16 WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS O at assesses PR19 business plans with companies to spend £50BN on service improvements OCTOBER 2018 Volume 24 • Issue 10 Water companies, NGOs team up to help environment Murphy wins £57M sludge project contract O fwat is scrutinising busi- ness plans for AMP7, with water companies pledging to spend a collective £50 billion on service improvements as well as cutting leakage by an average of 16 per cent over the course of the 2020-25 period. As p a r t o f t h e 2 0 19 p r i ce review – which sets the price, service and incentive package that the water companies must deliver in AMP7 – each company across England and Wales has set out what it intends to deliver and what it proposes to charge customers in the years ahead. Ofwat will categorise them according to the level of quality, ambition and innovation they have demonstrated when it pub- lishes its initial assessment on 31 January 2019, with ‡ nal decisions to be made in December 2019. At a time when the privatised water industry is coming under serious pressure, Consumer Coun- cil for Water chief executive Tony Smith told The Guardian: "This price review could define the future of the water industry in England and Wales. "It represents a key opportunity for water companies to restore consumer trust by proving to their customers that they're taking posi- tive and decisive action." The companies have outlined plans to spend a total £50 billion on service improvements, repre- senting a 13 per cent increase on AMP6, while average domestic water bills could fall by more than 4 per cent in real terms. They have also responded positively to Ofwat's 15 per cent leakage challenge, with only South East Water – at 14 per cent – falling short, and Yorkshire Water and South Staffs Water targeting reductions of 25 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. Thames Water said bills would remain ˜ at before in˜ ation and that it will invest a record £11.3 billion over the course of AMP7, with plans to reduce pollution incidents by 18 per cent and leak- age by 15 per cent. United Utilities announced a 10.5 per cent reduction in real terms in average bills, a reduction of over £1 billion in expenditure compared with AMP5 and "a major water resilience scheme with estimated construction costs of over £750 million in AMP7 and AMP8 to be directly procured for T wenty environmental NGOs, co-ordinated by Blueprint for Water, have joined nine water companies to create a set of shared principles setting out how they will work together to help leave the environment in a better state. Anglian Water, Essex & Su¡ olk Water, Northumbrian Water, Sev- e r n Tre n t , S o u t h e r n Wa te r, Thames Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water a r e a l l i nvo lve d a s w e l l a s Waterwise. The companies and charities are already working together on many projects across England, including tackling pollution by 'unflushables', natural water ‡ ltering and working with farmers on more environmentally friendly agricultural techniques. Among the shared principles announced are: greater collabora- tion on policy and projects; pro- moting greater awareness of the links between water management and the natural environment; working together to achieve and build upon Water Framework Directive obligations; sharing key data sets; and joint efforts to enhance and improve the resilience of water-based ecosystems. Hannah Freeman of Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, chair of Blue- print for Water, said: "We must make sure investment and action delivers e¡ ective improvements for wildlife, habitats and custom- ers alike, and this initiative is a ve r y we l co m e s te p to w a rd s achieving change." M urphy & Sons Ltd has been awarded a £57 million contract by Yorkshire Water for a new energy and recy- cling facility in Hudders‡ eld. Murphy will use its engineering expertise to deliver the design and build of Yorkshire Water's new facility, including new anaerobic digesters; a new sludge reception plant; sludge thickening plant and storage; CHP and dual fuel boilers; sludge dewatering and lime treatment; cake storage; and a new liquor treatment plant. The new facility is a key stra- tegic investment for Yorkshire Water, as part of their ongoing blueprint to supply safe drinking water and handle wastewater for their ‡ ve million customers. Work has already started on the design and is set to ‡ nish in May 2021. Murphy CEO John Murphy said: "We're delighted to be work- ing with Yorkshire Water on this important project. We are con‡ - dent that using our ever-growing engineering expertise and work- ing closely with them, we will deliver a solution which provides outstanding value for their cus- tomers. We pride ourselves on being able deliver solutions that improve peoples' lives, and look forward to doing just that on this project." Yorkshire Water communica- tions advisor Mark Allsop added: "This scheme supports our com- mitment to invest in renewable energy and bene‡ t the environ- ment as we look at ways of reduc- ing carbon emissions." customers in Manchester and the Pennines". Northumbrian aims to cut customers' bills by 10 per cent by 2020 and by up to 14 per cent by 2024/25, reiterating its inten- tion to eradicate water poverty by making services more afford- able than ever before. It will also look to invest £3 billion pounds on improving water and waste- water services across the region. Severn Trent plans to cut bills by 5 per cent while spending £6.6 billion, saying it will use its "innovation and commercial pipelines to deliver a 13 per cent "There's always lots of people that might not have searched before they start digging" Richard Broome, LinesearchbeforeUdig, on reducing utility strikes, P18 "I see asset management becoming more pervasive throughout organisations if they're going to succeed" Mark Kaney, Black & Veatch, P8 LinesearchbeforeUdig, on reducing utility ¨ Plans involve 13 per cent increase on AMP6 spending across English and Welsh water companies "This price review could de‡ ne the future of the water industry in England and Wales" Consumer Council for Water chief executive Tony Smith L abour leader Jeremy Corbyn has criticised the "failures" of the water industry as the party expanded on its plans for renationalisation. Corbyn said: "Thanks to the failures of privatised water com- panies, our water infrastructure is crumbling and people are forced to pay through the nose for ser- vices. Under Labour's plans to bring our water system into public o w n e r s h i p , p r o f i t s w i l l b e Corbyn says water infrastructure is 'crumbling' as Labour sets out nationalisation plans e© ciency in spending". Anglian Water proposed a £6.5 billion investment programme, including £240 million to reduce leakage by a further 22 per cent, a Water Resources Management Plan totalling £630 million, £783 million to support the environment through the Water Industry National Environment Programme, and £650 million to enable sus- tainable growth and allow for more than 200,000 new homes to be built in the region by 2025, through improvements to water and water recycling networks. South West Water's 'New Deal' promises lower bills, improved service, better environmental pro- tection and a stake and greater say in the company for customers. Water UK chief executive Michael Roberts said: "The water industry's record over the past 30 years – cutting leakage, keep- ing bills a¡ ordable, improving water quality, and cleaning up rivers – has been good, but the business plans o¡ er to take it to another level. The industry has set out an ambitious vision for the future of water that puts cus- tomers right at the heart of eve- rything that companies do." pounds for public services to be raised from Labour's Inclusive Ownership Fund and a wide- ranging consultation on putting workers and service users in charge of running the water, energy, rail and mail industries. McDonnell said Labour were "planned, ready and prepared" to hand economic power back to workers, citizens and communities to a degree never seen before, a d d i n g : " L e t ' s b e c l e a r : reinvested so that households across the UK have better services and lower bills." At the Labour Conference, Shadow Chancellor John McDon- nell o¡ ered further detail on how the party plans to bring utilities back into public hands. It comes as part of a package of measures to broaden ownership and control in the economy, including giving workers a third of seats on boards, billions of nationalisation will not be a return to the past. We don't want to take power away from faceless directors only to centralise it all in a White- hall office, to swap one remote manager for another. "[Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Indus- trial Strategy] Rebecca Long-Bailey and I are launching a large-scale consultation on democracy in our public services. We are also setting out our plans for a new publicly owned water system that puts this essential service back in the hands of local councils, workers and customers.There will be unprec- edented openness and transpar- ency in how the industry will be managed. "We are ending the pro‡ teering in dividends, vast executive sala- ries, and excessive interest pay- ments. Surpluses will be rein- vested in water infrastructure and sta¡ , or used to reduce bills."

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