WET News

News: Thames Water's micro-machine to cut roadworks' disruption. P4 Onsite: Barhale overcoming challenges on Birmingham Resilience Project. P10 Insight: ABB on the use of drives for borehole pumping. P14 WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS O at should demand more on shocking leakage levels - MPs NOVEMBER 2018 Volume 24 • Issue 11 Clancy Group names Cannon as its new CEO Stantec agrees deal to sell MWH Constructors O fwat's 15 per cent leakage target is "not ambitious enough" while more must be done to incentivise water trans- fers, MPs said in a report on the regulation of the water industry. The Environment, Food and Rural A‚ airs (EFRA) Select Com- mittee said it was pleased the regulator "has shown enthusiasm to levy strong penalties on water companies" that fail to match the 15 per cent leakage reduction target by the end of AMP7. How- ever, it added: "A shocking amount of water is lost through leakage daily. As well as being wasteful, it gives a poor impression to the public about the value of water. Reducing leakage should be a top priority for the water industry. "Ofwat's target for water com- panies to reduce leakage by 15 per cent by 2025 is not ambitious enough and Ofwat should set a long-term target for water com- panies to reduce leakage. This would help focus e‚ orts beyond the Œ ve-year period of PR19. We consider that continuing the tra- jectory set by the target of 15 per cent by 2025, the water industry should collectively be aiming to reduce leakage by 50 per cent by 2040, rather than 2050." Earlier this year, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said England should have a joined- up 'national water network' to protect against drought, while Defra has suggested 8 per cent of total supply will need to be trans- ferred in the next 10 to 20 years. The report expressed disap- pointment that only 4 per cent of water is currently traded and said: "This suggests that Ofwat's incen- tives are not strong enough. "The Government and Ofwat should make a strategic assess- ment of the need for water transfer infrastructure and conŒ rm a long- term target for water transfers. We are concerned that existing incen- tives in PR19 are not strong enough to incentivise water companies to invest in water transfers." The committee also recom- mended that compulsory water metering should be permitted for all companies. Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond has tasked the NIC with carrying out a study into the tel- ecoms, energy and water regula- tors, with a junior Treasury min- ister saying it is possible they could be combined into a single watchdog. The Treasury said in a state- m e n t t h a t H a m m o n d h a d announced the independent study to ensure the telecoms, energy and water regulators are "Œ t to respond to the challenges of the future to remain cutting-edge", adding that the study "will ensure they have the ability to encourage C lancy Group has announced that its board of directors is appointing Matt Cannon as chief executive o› cer. From 1 February 2019, Cannon will take responsibility for leading Clancy Docwra, Clancy Develop- ments and Clancy Plant. He will replace Seamus Keogh, who will leave the business at the end of March 2019 až er nearly 20 years on the board but continue to act in an advisory role. Cannon represents the third generation of the Clancy family to take the helm at the group founded by his grandfather, Michael Clancy, in 1958. He Œ rst joined the group's civil engineer- ing business, Clancy Docwra, in 2004, working across key clients including Thames Water, Anglian Water and South East Water before becoming chief operating o› cer in 2016. Prior to joining the business, Cannon enjoyed a successful career as a professional rugby union player for London Irish and represented England Sevens. "My focus will be leading the board to build on our strengths, deepening existing partnerships and developing new ones across our core markets, supporting our customers, and securing our own future growth," Cannon said. "The Clancy Group is a family and I am very proud to follow in my grandfather's and my uncles' footsteps. They have built a fan- tastic business and it is a privilege to be given the opportunity to undertake this role." S tantec has signed an agree- ment for the sale of its con- struction division MWH Constructors. MWH Constructors is a global project delivery company with a focus on water, wastewater and energy, comprised of MWH Con- structors and Slayden in the US and MWH Treatment in the UK. MWH Constructors will join the Oaktree-GFI Energy portfolio of project delivery companies when the sale goes through. Blair Lavoie, president of MWH Constructors and chief of global operations, said: "This is a posi- tive step in the evolution of our company, and we look forward to having a partner like Oaktree with strong Œ nancial resources and a desire to invest in our future as we continue to be the leading global project delivery company in the water sector. "In the US, we will stay with our great brands of Slayden and MWH Constructors, and in the UK, we will return to MWH Treatment." MWH Constructors provides a full range of high-value design, start-to-finish preconstruction, construction, construction manage- ment, and start-up and commis- sioning services, primarily for the water and wastewater markets. With the pending divestment of MWH Constructors and the 2017 divestment of Innovyze, Stantec – which has announced eight strategic acquisitions so far in 2018 – will continue to focus on its core consulting services busi- ness globally. investment, promote competition and innova- tion and meet the needs of consumers in the 21st century". At a fringe meeting organised by Centrica at the Conservative party conference in October, Exchequer Secretary Robert Jen- rick said the NIC had been asked to " work with us on how to improve regulation and what are the range of options across indus- tries to make them more con- sumer-focused and inject more competition". Jenrick said utilities regulators needed to be "much more front- footed" in dealing with pressures on consumers and that one of the "radical options" that could be considered would be to create a single regulator across "all indus- tries to ensure that all sectors work "A key factor in the success of smart network solutions is the way in which the technology becomes part of the fabric of a company" Neil Croxton, Stantec, P12 "The days of just coming up with a solution and selling it are long gone" Daressa Frodsham, Atkins, P8 company" ¨ EFRA Select Committee report says regulator should call for 50 per cent leakage reduction by 2040 "Given the strong appetite for change, we feel the time is right to start a conversation about a new vision for the water sector." Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher S outh West Water has made changes to its H5O alliance, while Stantec has been handed the contract for its new 'strategic consultant' role. The company has been review- ing its engineering delivery alli- ance, which was formed in 2009, over the last 12 months. The current arrangements involve two contractors – Balfour Beatty and Interserve – and two consultants – Arcadis and Pell South West Water's H5O delivery alliance evolves to meet challenges of 2020-25 period together and are more nimble and © exible". Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher has said the regulator is happy to engage with both reviews and that she believes change in the water industry is "essential and indeed inevitable". Fletcher told WET News' sister title Utility Week that Ofwat would be speaking to water company CEOs, investors, Government and communities, adding: "Given the strong appetite for change, we feel the time is right to start a conversa- tion about a new vision for the water sector." She recognised that the indus- try is facing "intense and unceasing scrutiny from all sides of the politi- cal spectrum, national newspapers and the academic community" at present but said customers' increasing interest should be "wel- comed" as they hold companies to account on issues like billing and the environment. "Companies shouldn't need to rely on Ofwat to tell them what good looks like," she said. "This should come instinctively from a deep understanding of the cus- tomers and communities they serve. This, I believe, would be the best possible outcome for customers. It goes without saying, of course, that we will never hesi- tate to step in where we see stand- ards starting to slip." partner is on hold for now. The alliance is joined by Kier, Nomenca, Northavon Group and Tecker, who are responsible for the design and construction of all MEICA aspects of SWW's capital programme and support opera- tions on a reactive basis. For the 2020-25 period and beyond, SWW has evolved its delivery model and created a new strategic consultant role. Stantec UK has been awarded this contract Frischmann – working collabo- ratively with SWW. The new arrangements for the 2020 -25 period, which were recently tendered, move to a design and build arrangement for all major capital schemes and see North Midland Construction Plc initially working alongside Balfour Beatty and Interserve as they complete a small number of legacy projects by March 2020. The appointment of a second delivery and will work closely with SWW's engineering, asset planning and operations teams while assisting delivery partners as appropriate. ChandlerKBS, cost manager for SWW, is supporting these arrangements and maintaining and updating cost models. With the imminent completion of May© ower WTW, which serves Plymouth and utilises the CeraMac ceramic membrane Œ ltration pro- cess, the alliance will commence works and more recently a £21 mil- lion package of work to protect or improve designated shellŒ sh waters. "We'd like to thank our current p a r t n e r s – B a l f o u r B e a t t y, Interserve, Arcadis and Pell Frischmann – for their invaluable contribution over the years. "In preparation for the chal- lenges that lie ahead, the alliance is evolving to meet the needs of our business and the communities we serve." planning the construction of the 2020-25 capital programme. SWW managing director Dr Stephen Bird said: "The H5O alli- ance has successfully delivered our capital programme since 2009. In addition to May© ower, this has included major projects such as the £20 million 'even cleaner seas' programme to improve key bath- ing waters across the region, a number of high-proŒ le upgrades at sewage and water treatment

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