Utility Week

28 | 12TH - 18TH OCTOBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Customers W ith a noticeable chill in the air aer the scorching summer, water com- panies must ensure they don't leave customers "out in the cold" as some did in the extreme weather earlier this year. At the end of last month – on 28 Septem- ber – companies across England and Wales were required to submit plans to Ofwat detailing how they intend to address the shortcomings identified by their handling of the "Beast from the East". Widespread disruption was caused to the network throughout the UK when tem- peratures plummeted in late February/early March. In the subsequent rapid thaw, numer- ous pipes burst and more than 200,000 peo- ple were without water for up to four days. While some companies demonstrated they were well prepared for the severe weather – which had been forecast – others performed badly. On 10 March, in the immediate aermath, Ofwat launched a review. It published its report – Out in the Cold: Water Companies' Response to the Beast from the East – on 19 June. It cited issues including poor advance planning, inadequate communication with customers and a lack of basic support, such as bottled water. The regulator ordered Thames Water, Sev- ern Trent, Southern Water and South East Water to submit detailed externally audited action plans setting out how they will address the issues identified. Ofwat will now scrutinise the plans and has warned it will "step in" if it feels any company has not gone far enough. Rachel Fletcher, chief executive of Ofwat, says: "The harsh weather in the spring le many customers out in the cold with no run- ning water, in some cases for days. While a number of water companies and their hard- working staff stepped up and did well by customers, others fell well short, particularly when it came to providing bottled water, help for the most vulnerable, or clear, timely communication. "We expect the companies that let their customers down to have learned the lessons of what went wrong during the freeze/thaw, and to show that they are now prepared to protect their customers, whatever the weather brings. This would be a great result for customers. If companies do not convince us of this, we won't hesitate to step in." Meanwhile trade body Water UK says the water industry is "better prepared" for extreme weather because companies have been acting since the Beast from the East. Such action falls under three broad cat- Actions taken since the Beast struck Water UK says water companies have been taking action since the Beast from the East. Those actions fall into three categories: Planning and preparation: carry- ing out preparedness exercises, with lessons learnt from recent events, enhancing leakage detection and updating model- ling scenarios. Stakeholder and customer engagement: reviewing the effectiveness of wider com- munication strategies and understanding what worked well in the deployment of alternative water supplies, and improving communications to customers ahead of the winter. Incident response: working pro- actively and collaboratively with multi-agency partners, such as local resilience forums, and with the supply chain, to maximise the deployment of resources and facilitate a stronger response across larger numbers of affected customers. Analysis In the wake of the Beast Four water companies have told the regulator how they will cope with future extreme weather incidents after the chaos wrought by the Beast from the East earlier this year. Katey Pigden reports. Customers will want to know that these plans are tested and ready, and we'll be expecting a tough response from Ofwat should any of the company plans fail, or further problems occur. TONY SMITH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CCWATER

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