Utility Week

38 | JULY 2022 | UTILITY WEEK D espite phosphorus loading from water industry sewage treatment works to English rivers falling since 1995, and marked reductions in agricultural fertiliser use since the 1980s, "legacy" reserves in soil built up over half a century demonstrate an ongoing phosphorus removal challenge, according to John Brewington, regional development manager at the Rivers Trust. He made his comments when he gave a presentation on the Challenge Programme theme of Wastewater Treatment. Other industry experts explored how water com- panies are already trialling and deploying innovative new phosphorus management and removal techniques – including nature- based, biological and chemical approaches. Severn Trent process engineer Matthew Palmer, for example, explained that his firm has made a conscious effort to treat waste- water in line with the International Union I nnovation around leakage reduction has driven greater awareness of the need to locate bursts, however improvements are needed to repair technologies to drive down rates, a panel of experts said, speaking on the Challenge Programme theme of Smart Water Networks. As part of the Accelerating Innovation in Leakage Reduction session, Jeremy Heath, innovation manager at SES Water, said that to achieve the target of halving leakage by 2050 it was necessary to address four ele- ments: prevention; awareness; location; and mending. He said that while excellent progress had been made around awareness and locating leaks, there was work to do on prevention and mending of pipes. He said: "We are still using the same mend that the Romans did. I come to shows like this hoping to find more mend technologies." Jamie Perry, innovation trials lead at Severn Trent, added that another barrier to the sector achieving its 2050 target with sus- tained momentum was balancing resources for "competing" pressures. He said: "Leak- age is one piece of the puzzle, but there are other competing factors for any company that can overtake priorities." He added that while great progress had been made finding and fixing larger leaks, it was now harder-to-locate smaller bursts that required attention. Leakage was heavily emphasised in PR19, with Ofwat setting progressive reduc- tion targets for all companies, which has spurred innovation focus in this area. Mean- Utility Week Live 2022 Collaborative use of nature-based 'toolkit' key to tackling phosphorus in wastewater Wastewater Treatment Smart Water Networks Leakage repair needs innovation focus Place your brand right in the heart of the multi-billion pound water, gas and electricity sectors. Exhibit at Utility Week Live 2023 http://bitly.ws/s9mv ers Trust figures found that no rivers are in good overall health, only 16% of rivers enjoy good ecological status, and since 1970, fresh- water species globally have seen an 83% decline – faster than any other habitat. Outlining the impact of United Utilities' Catchment Systems Thinking project in part- nership with the Rivers Trust – which looks beyond catchment areas towards broad solutions pursued in tandem with other stakeholders – on the River Petteril in Cum- bria, Brewington explained that holistic and nature-based nutrient management partner- ships had delivered an additional 10% phos- phorus reduction beyond targets and £1.7 million additional natural capital benefits versus conventional solutions. Stuart Stone, editor, Utility Week Innovate for Conservation's definition of nature-based solutions – "actions to protect, manage, restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges effectively and adaptively while providing other human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits". These include sustainable drainage system natural flood management, water abstraction management and ecological res- toration and phosphorus reduction in sites of special scientific interest and reservoirs, alongside work to establish the use of reed beds – wetland areas which not only pro- mote biodiversity but are effective in treating contaminated water due to the ability of reed plant roots to filter ammonia and phosphates – as a "standard option". According to Severn Trent, when contami- nated or wastewater passes through a reed bed, plants catch the solid materials while organisms living within the beds naturally break down waste. Brewington also highlighted the value of collaboration in realising the potential of such nature-based solutions a£er recent Riv-

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