Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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10 | JANUARY 2019 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Water sector challenged to build culture of innovation The Talk: events A cultural change is needed in the water industry if innovation is to become 'business as usual' and give the maximum benefits to the customer, delegates heard at the WWT Water Industry Technology Innovation conference. Innovation is one of Ofwat's four prior- ity areas for water companies to address in their PR19 plans, and is a pillar that supports the other three priorities of cus- tomer service, affordability and resilience. But while there is plenty of innovative activity – technological and otherwise – going on the sector, water companies have work to do if they are to develop a truly innovative culture that can harness this effectively, speakers agreed. Sarah McMath, managing director of strategic planning and investment at Thames Water, said that research and devel- opment had been behind some of the util- ity's key improvements since privatisation, with technological solutions developed including GAC layers in sand filters, sewer blockage alarms, advanced energy recovery, She gave two examples of recently an- nounced Thames investments that showed greater ambition: a new test rig for testing trunk main technologies which can help with pipe condition assessment, and plans to develop indirect potable re-use of wastewater at Deephams Sewage Treatment Works. Speaking on the subject of creating an innovation culture, Jeremy Heath, innova- tion manager at SES Water, referred to an Ofwat paper that described such a culture as one in which "every process is geared towards innovation". He said internal employees are a vital source of new ideas: his water company has a scheme for staff to submit ideas and see the results of them being followed up. It also has a regular survey of all its staff to meas- ure how they felt about the company's openness to innovation, with the findings driving innovation strategy. "There is an analogy between creating an innovation culture and creating a health and safety culture," said Heath. "To make it a reality, you need senior man- WWT's Water Industry Technology Innovation Conference saw delegates discuss how the sector can embed a culture that is receptive to new solutions James Brockett and Robin Hackett report from Birmingham alternative coagulants and smart meters. But while R&D would continue to play a key role, she said that, to deliver AMP7 priori- ties, innovation would need to be "embed- ded in everything we do", with staff and delivery partners equipped and empowered to embrace new ideas and solutions. "A culture of innovation is not simply about creating the processes and systems that enable innovation to happen," said McMath. "It requires us to change our behaviours both organisationally and as individuals. As an industry we have shied away from risk. We have a duty to spend our customers' money prudently and so we have traditionally made safe bets, o–en investing in low risk, incremental improve- ments that deliver a guaranteed outcome. In doing so, we have sometimes missed the opportunity to truly push the boundaries." She added that the water industry has a "great track record" of developing and demonstrating new solutions, but found it much more challenging to move these solutions to "business as usual".