Utility Week

Utility of the Future: climate change UTILITY WEEK | 27TH SEPTEMBER - 3RD OCTOBER 2019 | 9 The Utility of the Future is being adopted as the headline theme of next year's Utility Week Live, the UK's leading utility conference and exhibiton. The Utility of the Future Utility Week is running a year-long campaign to tackle the difficult question of the future of the sector. The campaign pillars include: August/September: Climate change October: Regulation November/December: Business models and workforce January/February: Customers March/April: Technology Check utilityweek.co.uk for more campaign content. water companies to their European counter parts. In this report, Dutch leakage figures were described as "suspiciously low". This statement prompted Beuken's paper, which sought to prove that the data on the Netherlands was in fact correct. Beuken explains the research and points out there is a collection of factors that com bine to cause the extremely low rates of leak age seen in the Netherlands. These include: • The majority of the Dutch network was laid a‚er 1950, with the most common material used being PVC pipes, followed by asbestoscement and cast iron. • Most of the mains are along footpaths, with loose block paving on the surface, meaning leaks become readily visible. • There is a variety of soil types, such as sand and clay, which contain few stones. Furthermore, pipes are laid along levelled sand beds, which are then backfilled with soil. • The Netherlands is relatively flat, mean ing the distribution system can operate at lower pressures than in the UK, where higher pressures are needed to supply higheraltitude regions. • Most areas have 100 per cent metering of customers, whereas the UK has yet to adopt wholesale household metering in the water sector. On the face of it, most of these causes appear to be things that cannot be simply replicated in the UK. Naturally, our soil and topography cannot be altered and the whole mains system cannot be rejuvenated overnight. Public spirited Beuken points to the fact that Dutch utilities are publicly owned as a potential reason why they are so keen to plug any and all leaks. He says companies "take asset management very seriously" and "if a leak is reported, it is repaired". The notion of a more effective public sys tem plays into the hands of Jeremy Corbyn's election promises, but the UK's historical public water system did not mirror this. The first reliable leakage figures come from 1994/95, five years a‚er privatisation, and have dropped 38 per cent as private ownership has continued. The Dutch approach to leaks differs; in the UK, companies follow an approach called the sustainable economic level of leak age. Under this, Ofwat only requires water companies to stop leaks if the saving made by fixing the leak is greater than the cost to perform the maintenance. Conversely, "it's never the idea that it's just a small leak, no problem at all", for the Dutch, says Beuken. "It's not a matter of balancing costs." WATER LOST TO LEAKS ACROSS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Ireland Malta Italy Spain Slovakia Cyprus UK Portugal Belgium France Finland Sweden Czech Republic Poland Denmark Germany Netherlands Percentage of water supplied that is lost to leakage 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Source: Selected countries from EurEau – Europe's water in figures 2017 WATER LOST TO LEAKAGE IN ENGLAND AND WALES 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Total leakage/millions of litres per day Source: Ofwat 1994/95 1998/99 2002/03 2006/07 2010/11 2017/18

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