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UW February 2023 HR single pages

Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government

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UTILITY WEEK | FEBRUARY 2023 | 5 KNOWLEDGE WORTH KEEPING Subscribers to Utility Week can access premium content and exclusive research at the Download section of our website. http://www.utilityweek.co.uk Water sector faces a deluge of challenges This month's edition includes several deep dives into the challenges facing water companies – from tackling sewer over ows and wastewater emissions to the tests they will encounter over the next price control. With public and political pressure continuing to mount, the sector knows it has to innovate fast and • nd a compelling narrative to show it has the solutions to overcoming these and other hurdles. Transparency is key, although in the short term this will only increase the pressure. In January, Thames Water became the • rst company to launch a near real-time map showing sewer over ow spills across its entire region. On the morning of writing this column (admittedly a er a sustained period of heavy rain), the map shows a sea of red and yellow, with around 100 out of its 468 over ows having spilled within the past 48 hours – 40 of which were discharg- ing as I watched. Thames is far from alone in this situation and across England and Wales the picture will look worse before it looks better. As our report on p10 shows, many common challenges are being faced across Europe and there remain untapped bene• ts in sharing knowledge and data across the globe to solve issues in our back yards. This international collaboration has resulted in some ground-breaking research on reducing emissions from wastewater treatment, which is explored on p8. The • ndings from Severn Trent and partners in Australia and Denmark will be enormously helpful in measuring the true impact of emissions in waste- water processing but they do make for worrying reading. Their conclusion that potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide are "substantially" higher than previously thought adds further complexity to the sector's ambitious net- zero plans. The industry has a more positive story to tell when it comes to sustainable urban drainage (SuDS), as explored on p12. Defra's long-awaited green light for a mandate on SuDS in all new developments is a landmark moment but much more needs to be done to bring nature-based solutions into business as usual. The regulator's approach to the next price control will be crucial here and as we set out on p30 Ofwat has said it will support this "step change" by consider- ing the societal and environmental bene• ts within business plans. How this will work in practice is not entirely clear yet and a" ordability will inevitably be a friction point as the companies begin to draw up their budgets for the second half of the decade. At this stage it seems unlikely PR24 will be a smooth ride, not that anyone really expected that. The way water companies invest in their infrastructure and their communities needs to evolve fast and that requires a joint e" ort by regula- tor and regulated towards a common goal. James Wallin, editor, jameswallin@fav-house.com Meet the Editorial Team Learn how Utility Week membership can build confi dence in your team's decision making - speak to our membership team today on e: jonikiforov@fav-house.com; t: 01342 332077 Editor James Wallin, e: jameswallin@fav-house.com; t: 01342 332015 Content director: Jane Gray, e: janegray@fav-house.com, t: 01342 333004 Intelligence editor Nadine Buddoo, e: nadinebuddoo@fav-house.com; t: 01342 332054 Insights editor Tom Grimwood, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; t: 01342 332061 Senior reporter Adam John e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; t: 01342 332069 Water correspondent Ruth Williams, e: ruthwilliams@fav-house.com; t: 01342 332069 Policy correspondent David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com Adler & Alan Working towards a CSO-free future https://bit.ly/3wd1MTQ Over IT Smart meter rollout: intelligent solutions for legacy challenges https://bit.ly/3ZNJnKV Letter from the Editor James Wallin SAMPai Keep your Digital Twin In-Sync with Field Changes https://bit.ly/3GTyfDD

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