Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/272707
Award-Winning Vehicle Tracking *Limited Offer. 0870 013 6663 enquiries@quartix.net www.quartix.net Van Fleet World • FREE for first 3 months • Then £22.90/month • 12 month contract • FREE installation • On-site warranty • inc. Driving Style Monitoring "THE QUARTIX SYSTEM HAS HELPED REDUCE OUR FUEL USAGE AND IMPROVE OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE THROUGH INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND BETTER RESPONSE TIMES TO REPAIRS." ROB THOMAS, HEAD OF PROPERTY SERVICES, VALLEYS TO COAST HOUSING LTD. V2C A4.indd 1 26/11/2013 11:55 AQUAPAL® The best for potable water The highly flexible potable water hose AQUAPAL® meets the highest demands in terms of purity and hygiene: q Absolutely neutral to taste and odour q Resistant to high temperatures, can be steamed q Resistant to commonly used cleaning and disinfecting products q Approved for outdoor use q Meets all recommendations and regulations for the transport of potable water q Conforming to FDA and WRAS q 3 years warranty ContiTech Fluid Technology info@fluid.contitech.de/ih www.contitech.de Continental Aquapal GB 270x88 02-2014.indd 1 12.02.14 13:46 3 March 2014 Water & Wastewater Treatment EDITOR'S COMMENT A stilted response to flooding I t has been both fascinating and distressing to see Wraysbury in the news. I know the tiny Thames Valley town not only from the desperate flood disaster images swirling across our screens, but from childhood visits to stay with my great-aunt in the 1970s. Mollie's house was as eccentric as she was; single- storey, but raised on stilts at the rear, with room enough to walk around underneath. It was fronted by an expansive brick staircase which, to us kids, seemed impossibly high for an ordinary house. I remember being told the area was a floodplain but, much as my childhood sense of adventure would have wished it, I never saw it swamped. Looking at the luxurious summer lawn grazed by Mollie's pet goat, and the field beyond, that seemed highly unlikely. As a child I remember thinking that the stilts were pretty pointless, but still, made for a scary game of hide-and-seek. My captivation with Mollie's house caused me to stop off in Wraysbury last year to see what, if anything was left of it. Unsurprisingly everything had changed. The house was long gone and in its place, ordinary suburban houses stretched along both sides of the road and in every direction as far as it was possible to walk. The better-informed adult I am now wanted to knock on the doors and say, 'Don't you know this is a floodplain? Where are your stilts?' The adult me was also asking, 'Who on earth gave planning permission for such developments?' We have witnessed some unedifying bickering between the politicians and government departments in the wake of extensive and prolonged flooding in southern England. The water companies too have been drawn in as sewage has backed up and entered homes. Rather than slinging around the culpability, it would be simpler to work out who is not to blame. House-owners, builders, planners and councillors all knew what they were getting into – simple surveys would have told them. Their delusional decision-making on housing seems closer to my own childhood naivity in thinking 'it couldn't happen here', rather than any genuine attempt to build safe and sustainable communities. Hyper-fuelled demand for housing in the south-east means developments have gone ahead without mitigating drainage or suitable architectural design. The future though is even less certain. Whatever Environment Secretary Owen Patterson thinks, most climate change scientists anticipate increasingly extreme and frequent weather events. With a shrinking budget and an 8:1 cost benefit ratio on projects, it is hard to see what more the Environment Agency can do. On the other hand, what the Government can do is deliver realistic financing to protect communities at risk of flood. It could also get behind a strategy of partnership across its departments, local authorities, communities and other stakeholders. As Southern Water's chief executive reminded me when we met recently (see page 12), water companies also have a role - not only do they have valuable expertise, but wherever there is water, these newly customer- oriented businesses have their assets and their reputations at risk. nnn Natasha Wiseman, editor Follow WWT on Twitter @wwtweeting