Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1062770
The Works: Resilience • WATER COMPANY VIEW the step change in resilience required. Traditionally we have taken an asset- based view of this problem – build bigger, faster and better to out-muscle the problem. But a systems-based approach to the same problem – a key pillar of our customer plan – looks at this issue from all angles, exploiting real-time data, intelligence-led decision-making and an all-source view of the root cause to identify ways to improve our system. "So, to reduce the risk of sewers overflowing, we will take a multi-angle approach that flattens out the peaks of demand through managing surface water at source with sustainable drainage, then exploits the real-time or predicted data from a digitised network to optimise flow management, and finally enhances treatment capacity through process enhancement or (old-school) bigger sites. Just take a look at the Thames Tideway Tunnel project for an example of this systems approach. "On water, our changing climate, growing population and the need to leave more water in the environment to protect wildlife are projected to create a shortfall of 652Ml/d by 2100. Our draŠ Water Resources Management Plan sets out how we will bridge this gap, including a more ambitious programme to manage demand Resilience comes with the territory – with a 15 per cent cut in leakage by 2025, the development of a new source of groundwater, and an innovative scheme to replenish an aquifer under south London. "Beyond 2025, we will develop new sources of water, including a transfer scheme that will bring supplies from the Midlands through the Oxford Canal, and an innovative water recycling plant at Deephams sewage works in north London. But this is not just a Thames Water challenge, so we have worked with companies in the Water Resources in the South East group to identify opportunities for shared solutions. The best value option is a new reservoir filled from the River Thames near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, shared with Affinity Water and in use by 2037. "This year showed us all the extremes we are facing, with the Beast from the East leading into the summer heatwave. But our customers see us as experts in this field and quite rightly they expect us to be equipped to handle these kinds of things; that doesn't seem to me to be an unreasonable demand. They don't see a wet weekend in May as an extreme shock, so it is our job to raise our operational performance to meet these expectations of a modern resilient water company." 16 | JANUARY 2019 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk BY MATT RIMMER HEAD OF WASTE NETWORKS THAMES WATER " Greater resilience is a key part of being a successful water company – sounds obvious, doesn't it? But however oŠen this word is thrown about, what does it actually mean for our customers and our employees? I view it simply as the ability to prevent and withstand a shock, and recover quickly. It's the bedrock of great customer service – we call it the 'silent running' part of our business. "There are a number of challenges placing pressure on our systems and testing our resilience, which will only intensify with changing seasonal weather trends and climate volatility. Ageing Victorian assets, population growth – we forecast 2.1 million more people in our area by 2045 – and the welcome increase in environmental standards all add to this challenge. But building resilience to deliver for customers is essential. With the views of around one million people shaping our business plan for 2020-25, it's clear that our customers and stakeholders want us to be better at withstanding these shocks. "Our customer plan is the first stage of a long-term programme to deliver • WATER COMPANY VIEW