Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1094482
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2019 | 19 I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H CASE STUDY – UNITED UTILITIES' PETTERIL CATCHMENT PROJECT United U li es' (UU's) approach to catchment management has already started to deliver against the "more for less" challenge from all of its regulators, including the EA, Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). As an environmentally sustainable and cost-eff ec ve approach, catchment management will be more signifi cant in 2020-25 than ever before. It brings together the challenges and opportuni es for water quality, water resources and fl ooding ini a ves in a more integrated and systems-led approach. UU is working with academic ins tu ons, customers and stakeholders to design and deliver innova ve and sustainable treatment solu ons alongside catchment interven ons to deliver an integrated catchment strategy in 26 catchments across the North West of England. As part of the River Pe eril Catchment project in Cumbria, the company has worked in partnership with key stakeholders to act as the catchment system operator and explored opportuni es to use alterna ve market mechanisms to deliver catchment improvements. The successes and learnings from the Pe eril project have been used to inform UU's strategy and plan through to 2025 and beyond. This includes rolling out the Pe eril project to the full river basin catchment of the River Eden; co-hos ng a market trading pla orm to pull in mul ple investors and drive increased natural capital value; and securing resilience for investor supply chains and increased environmental resilience for UU, its partners and the communi es across the Eden. The plan will achieve risk reduc on and increased resilience in drinking water quality, fl ooding and surface water removal, nutrient recovery and river water quality. Regional deployment across the North West will include working across the River Wyre catchment in Lancashire to build a fully quan fi ed model and natural capital investment planning tool with full cost benefi t analysis capability; suppor ng fl ood risk reduc ons by partnering with the EA, bringing in businesses such as Co-op and Flood Re to drive lower insurance premiums, alongside increasing UU's network asset resilience; and reducing fl ooding and associated issues such as blockages while mi ga ng risks of pollu on. Adap ng this system thinking approach to cover Greater Manchester will mean working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Natural Course to tackle urban challenges, such as popula on growth (for drainage and wastewater management planning), delivering environmental improvements, and helping address public health challenges by improving air quality and access to green spaces. In Cheshire, this approach is off ering an alterna ve to delivering UU's environmental obliga ons from the Water Industry Na onal Environment Plan which includes achieving stretching levels of phosphorus removal on many of the company's small rural works. UU's academic and partner collabora ons have enabled the development of low-tech solu ons, reducing its reliance on chemicals and power, such as the company's site in Wrenbury where it is using constructed wetlands as a passive treatment op on. long-term strategy." REGULATORY PRESSURE While Chadwick admits AMP7 will require water companies to meet some ambi ous commitments, UU is approaching the challenge head on. In January, UU was one of just three companies praised by Ofwat for se ng a "new standard" in their individual business plans for PR19. Alongside Severn Trent and South West Water, UU was placed in "fast track" and given the green light to begin delivering its plans for customers. Despite this posi ve feedback from Ofwat, is the company confi dent that the current regulatory model facilitates the level of innova on required from water u li es to meet the long-term challenges facing the sector? "The regulatory model isn't sta c; it has evolved at each and every price review," says Chadwick. "If you look at the changes made at both the 2014 review (PR14) and in 2019 (PR19), these have made a big diff erence in encouraging companies to be more innova ve, shi ing the focus from output-based regula on to outcome-based regula on. "The regulatory regime allows a lot of fl exibility to adapt to diff erent situa ons and changing circumstances and there are plenty of opportuni es le for companies to challenge themselves to use it." While UU is already well-placed to deliver against the challenges set out in PR19, it remains to be seen whether other u li es across the country with varying assets and fi nancial pressures will be able to perform within regulatory constraints while also con nuing to drive valuable innova on. This is an abridged version of the research. For a full copy of this report and to register for U lity Week Live, which takes place on May 21-22 in Birmingham, visit: www.u lityweeklive.co.uk