WET News

I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H CASE STUDY – UNITED UTILITIES' PETTERIL CATCHMENT SYSTEM United U li es' 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. 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. wwtonline.co.uk | APRIL 2019 WET NEWS 13 Advantage, just 6.4 per cent of u li es professionals strongly agree that the regulatory regime under which their business operates is currently fi t for purpose. The majority of respondents (29.7 per cent) neither agree nor disagree, while 10.9 per cent strongly disagree. When asked if they have confi dence in their business' regulator, 31.7 per cent somewhat agree, while 10.4 per cent strongly disagree. There is also some disparity across diff erent sectors in terms of how much confi dence businesses have in their regulator. For energy networks (62.5 per cent) and water companies (62.1 per cent), the overwhelming majority have a posi ve percep on of their regulator. However, just 36.1 per cent of the supply chain and 21.9 per cent of energy genera on and retail businesses voiced confi dence in their regulator. The survey ques oned whether current regulatory regimes off er suffi cient freedoms and incen ves to foster innova on. Interes ngly, 41.1 per cent either strongly or somewhat agree, while just 12.4 per cent strongly disagree that today's regula on facilitates innova on. WATER PRESSURE Water companies play a pivotal role in improving environmental outcomes across their sector. For the Environment Agency, which works closely with Ofwat in a bid to get the best outcomes for water customers, expecta ons for water companies are high as the sector works towards PR19. "Water companies will need to make big improvements if they are to achieve the commitments set out in their business plans," Anne Dacey, the EA's deputy director, says. "The Environment Agency expects to see a signifi cant reduc on in pollu on incidents, investment to increase resilience to drought and fl ooding, and a commitment to enhance the environment." The organisa on's role as a regulator sees it provide advice to water companies on their environmental responsibili es and the ac on needed to meet those obliga ons. As part of this drive to challenge the water sector to invest in a more sustainable water network and the long-term future of the environment, the EA and Natural England have outlined some ambi ous targets as part of the Water Industry Na onal Environment Programme (Winep). The programme will contribute to delivering the environmental outcomes set out in the Government's 25 Year Environment Plan. Last year, the Government announced that it expects water companies to invest up to £5 billion as part of Winep to improve environmental outcomes from 2020 to 2025. According to the EA, the programme will "help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the water environment, from the spread of invasive species and low fl ows to the eff ects of chemical and nutrient pollu on". As well as throwing down the gauntlet to water fi rms by se ng out the Winep obliga ons, the EA is encouraging water companies to work together to deliver innova ve catchment-based solu ons and to share examples of best prac ce in environmental management and saving water. The EA is also leading the development of a Na onal Framework for Water Resources that brings together water companies, regulators and other water users. "We are also suppor ng and facilita ng regional water resource groups," Dacey adds. "These regional water resource collabora ons will be crucial to inform the next round of water resource management plans. "We see control and reduc on of leakage as a fundamental component of water resource management planning and work closely with Ofwat on this issue." COLLABORATION IS KEY Simon Chadwick, central opera ons director at United U li es, agrees that the collabora ve approach advocated by water regulators is integral to building resilience across the sector and transi oning to a more sustainable water system. "The most important thing is to look outside the tradi onal company boundary and build on the interrela onships between the assets of the water companies and the assets of other related sectors and the associated funding regimes," Chadwick says. "At the local level, greater u lisa on of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) can help improve resilience further in the sector, and working with local authori es and local fl ooding authori es, along with developers, is key to realising the benefi ts. "Thinking more na onally, there is also poten al for intra-sector asset and fi nancial rela onships to be op mised in order to encourage cross- border network connec ons and na onal water trading. Ofwat is providing an allowance for the development of North-South strategic supply solu ons as part of the current price review process." With PR19 fi rmly at the forefront of water companies' business planning, Chadwick explains that innova on has played a vital role in helping his business tackle the challenges associated with the plans for 2020-25. "AMP7 is going to be stretching for the sector, but we were always clear that the 2019 price review would be about delivering more for less. It's innova on through market tes ng and the use of our supply chain which has enabled us to reduce costs, and it's innova on in our opera ons that allow us to deliver be er service standards at lower cost," he says. "Our [AMP7] business plan refl ected over £440 million of savings [compared to AMP5] from innova on in how we operate the business – in

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