Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | FEBRUARY 2023 | 37 Water rivers, so we all have a responsibility to help resolve this problem." They insisted that "a huge shi in blame" has to be achieved, adding: "We need to spread the blame and spread the love." One executive from a European water company agreed that a shi in public atti- tudes is important. They said that "educa- tion, skills and transparency" are needed to help achieve this change. "But it's not enough – this needs to be supported with the right data and insights from across the network." Improving engagement with the pub- lic and sharing more information about local water quality is key. "In some places, certainly in smaller rural and suburban areas, information can be shared on social media and can be very valuable," explained another executive. "When people know that their storm over‚ ow is going oƒ all the time, it seems to really animate them, which is excellent." However, they added "it would be lovely if we could have the same level of inter- rogation and analytics on other pollutant sources", such as car emissions and sedi- ment, not just CSOs. There was consensus from all of the contributors to this report that tackling CSOs must not be to the detriment of tack- ling other causes of water pollution. From a UK perspective: "The reason CSOs are in the news at the moment is because Surfers Against Sewage had a brilliant media cam- paign. They shared the argument so now the next batch of legislation and the next batch of technology will re‚ ect that. "But there's a danger in that – we can't just focus on one or two things and ignore everything else." Process The UK's current price review cycle was labelled as a major challenge for the sector's progress on pollution. An engagement lead at a UK water company said: "The funding process for the water industry can be really diŒ cult because we create business mod- els based on asset management plans every Ž ve'years. "So every Ž ve years we need to submit a new business plan rather than having more longer-term thinking. That can also make it diŒ cult explaining to customers why bills might ‚ uctuate every few years." Looking ahead, Ofwat will require com- panies to make business planning decisions within a longer-term context. For PR24, Ž ve-year business plans should be set out in the context of a 25-year delivery strategy. According to the regulator, this shi will help ensure that what is delivered in the short term is likely to maximise long-term value for customers, communities and the environment. From a European perspective, one oŒ cial from a water utility called for increased regu- latory focus on aquatic wildlife. They said: "Monitoring rivers is not enough, we need more investment to ensure water pollution is reduced and wildlife is protected. "There is a lot more that can be done but it is so important that action is taken now, not in Ž ve or 10 years." There was broad agreement among contributors that continued collaboration between water utilities, regulators, govern- ments, customers and other key stakehold- ers is critical to tackle pollution. However, concerns were raised that the UK water sector is too "disjointed" and there are "too many organisations with very niche responsibilities". "You have the Environ- ment Agency, Rivers Authority, the water companies, etc. Everyone is responsible for a slightly diƒ erent part of the system. So either nothing gets done or organisations focus on looking a er their little section without sharing. I think there needs to be a lot more joined-up thinking, which has to come from the top." Technology While collaboration and more joined-up thinking are key to the sector's progress on water pollution, there is an opportunity for new technologies and data insights to facilitate improved information sharing and stakeholder engagement. However, despite a lot of data already being publicly available, it can o en appear too complex and inaccessible, according to a European water expert. "It can be diŒ cult to decipher what data is really important and'useful. "I would love to see the data democra- tised and shared out so that everyone can access it because that's when you will see real change. If everyone sees all of that data, they can see how bad CSOs are, or how high the phosphorous or mercury levels are and what eƒ ect it could have on them. That's when people start to care." As part of the drive to democratise data, one UK executive praised the "brilliant citi- zen scientists" who regularly share water quality data online. "They provide some wonderful visualisations and it allows every- one to see the information and compare one region to another. "People and companies can then be held to account. Plus, if all of the data is avail- able, then you're not just focussing on one thing. We all agree that's when things start to become a problem because everything else goes downhill when you focus on one thing." Nadine Buddoo, intelligence editor in association with In association with I N F O C U S R E P O R T – why CSOs aren't the only challenge In this report Introduction People Engaging customers and other key stakeholders Process Tackling bureaucratic blockers and optimising performance Technology Leveraging new technologies and data WATER POLLUTION Download the report Download the report Water Pollution – Why CSOs aren't the Only Challenge free at: https://utilityweek.co.uk/water- pollution-why-csos-arent-the-only-challenge/

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