Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | MARCH 2020 | 19 either grease control devices, biological dosing, or annual tertiary treatment. At the end of this period, 16 tonnes of FOG had been retrieved from these restaurants. With almost 90 per cent of McDonalds in the UK operated as franchises, Holden admitted that it can be difficult to con- vince franchisees to be proactive when it comes to this sort of thing. He said: "Every time I have to talk to a franchisee, the first thing they ask is, 'Do I have to do this? Is this in the law?'". Despite some reluctance the company convinced its UK businesses to adopt a FOG control programme and therefore change their cost expenditure from reac- tive to proactive. A turnaround has now been achieved with 90 per cent of the company's FOG- related spending today being proactive, instead of being spent on dealing with blockages. Stephen Williams, network protection enforcement officer at Southern Water, delivered a presentation entitled 'What the future regulatory landscape for FOG means for the water industry'. Williams set out the industry's chal- lenges for the future which included: l FOG becoming part of the circular economy. l Laying down the challenge to DEFRA and Ofwat to create regulation. l Eradicating non-effective grease man- agement from the market. l Having an ethical, effective and regu- lated grease management industry. It's clear that FOG can cause big prob- lems for water and sewerage companies and that more must be done to prevent them from being poured down pipes. It is only through the joint efforts of the water and sewerage companies, FSEs, regulators and others that this can be achieved. Other streams Treatment: Speakers in this stream explored the best methods for the removal of pollutants and recovery of vital substances, along with a drive for innovative treatment processes that keep costs low and benefit the natural environment. Speakers included: l Ed Mitchell, wastewater operations director, South West Water l Dr Michael Gallagher, principal hydraulic engineer, United Utilities l Gabriela Dotro, senior research fellow in environmental engineering, Cranfield Water Science Institute l Andrew Calvert, energy generation investment and improvement manager, Yorkshire Water l Dr Lucinda Gilfoyle, head of environmental quality, Anglian Water Bioresources: The bioresources stream brought together technical leaders to assess the regulatory and environmental issues around sludge, explore innovation in recycling and reuse, and address opportunities for generating more renewable energy from bioresources. Speakers included: l Bruce Jefferson, Professor of water engineering, Cranfield University l Barry Sheppard, land and contamination manager, Environment Agency l Alison Fergusson, associate director, Ofwat l Dr Korneel Rabaey, Professor, department of biotechnology - Ghent University, Belgium l Paul Fountain, senior consultant, biosolids - Thames Water Sponsored by REALISING THE VALUE OF SMART NETWORKS AND TECHNOLOGY SMART WATER 2020 CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 11 MARCH 2020 | BIRMINGHAM FIND out what smart technology priorities are for water companies in AMP7 CONNECT with your peers during interactive workshops on leakage, data, digital twins and cyber security LEARN what the regulator's expectations are for digitalisation in 2020 ONLY HERE CAN YOU: BOOK NOW wwt.events/smartwater2020 FOLLOW US @WWTLive #smartwater2020 SUPPORTED BY SPONSORED BY WWT-SmartWater20-HPHad.indd 2 12/02/2020 13:02

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