Water & Wastewater Treatment

RESEARCH Round-up 11 March 2014 Water & Wastewater Treatment wwtonline.co.uk Back-to-nature flood schemes could be a cost-effective way of tackling flooding of low- lying land, say researchers at Newcastle University. Using Belford Burn in Northumberland as a demonstration pilot, the team have shown that by changing and hindering the natural flow pathways within a small catchment system, it is possible to manage the amount of run-off from the land Costing around £200,000, the Belford scheme was installed after a study of the area suggested the cost of a full conventional flood defence scheme for the town would cost in the region of £2.5M. The findings are expected to inform the Government's environment white paper. Research lead, Mark Wilkinson, who is now based at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, said, "What we have shown at Belford is that by employing so-called 'soft engineering solutions' to restrict the progress of water through a catchment – disconnecting fast- flow pathways and adding storage – we have been able to reduce the risk of flooding in the lower areas." 'Natural' flood engineering more cost effective A supply chain so 'lean' it's transparent Providing long-term visibility of major projects is at the core of strategic supply chain relationship management. Increasingly, the UK water industry is demonstrating elements of exemplary practice through strategic alliances such as Anglian Water's @One, the Eight 2 O alliance for Thames Water and Scottish Water Solutions. The benefits of truly strategic alliances have been recognised since the 1990s. By teaming with design and build main contractors and other strategic delivery partners such as programme management and IT, water companies share a long term view of projects to streamline resources. To date, the focus has been on cementing linchpin relationships with 'Tier One' contractors. The challenge is now to provide greater visibility vertically to the remaining 'tiers' of the supply chain. 'Lean' sourcing practices that borrow approaches from lean manufacturing are already established in the public sector and industry. Driving out cost and inefficiency across the whole supply chain benefits both consumers and investors and there are already some very positive signs. I was also hugely encouraged to be consulted recently by one of our forward-thinking water company customers and asked what benefits there might be to consumers if Hydro had greater project visibility stretching over several years. For equipment manufacturers there would be numerous opportunities to make savings. Typically multiple requirements to upgrade the same process equipment are dealt with by a framework agreement and the contracts shared between more than one supplier. Even then there is often no guarantee for an equipment manufacturer of a known share of the total work available. Similarly, major capital projects can be split into numerous competitive bids for a repeat supply of the same equipment. An up-front commitment by a water company to purchase would enable efficiencies in a number of areas including labour planning, standardisation in design and manufacture and further standardisation in on-site installation and commissioning. There could also be benefits in terms of securing better commodity price, for example, for steel, or by negotiating favourable exchange rates for goods sourced overseas. It is consumers who ultimately pay the price for unnecessary costs in the supply chain. Focusing on this as a primary driver, and delivering results accordingly, benefits everyone in the chain. Keith Hayward UK Sales & marketing manager, wastewater division For more information on Hydro's water and wastewater products in the UK, visit www.hydro-int.com INDUSTRY VIEW Oxford University is to lead a £2M research project to provide new insights into the management of drought and water scarcity in the UK. The project will take a risk- based approach, drawing on global experiences and insights from other hazards to society and the environment. The researchers, led by Professor Jim Hall of the Environmental Change Institute, will use case studies and scenario modelling to analyse drought at a range of levels, from households and farms to river basin and national scales. The reserchers say this will provide better evidence of the risks and impacts. Improved understanding of the effectiveness of different measures will better-inform decision-makers on real-time drought management and longer-term planning, the University says. The potential use of soil for water storage is being explored in a £4.2M EU-funded project at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD) in Germany. The project, which aims to demonstrate managed aquifer recharge as a solution to water scarcity and drought (MARSOL), will involve eight field sites in Greece, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Italy and Israel. Coordinated by Professor Christoph Schüth at the Institute for Applied Geosciences, some 20 research institutions and companies from seven countries are involved in the research. The different ways in which a range of waters, including desalinated ocean water, river water, and treated wastewater can be stored in the ground, using different techniques, will be explored. Oxford Uni leads drought research project £4.2M awarded for water storage research A pilot pond in the Belford Burn catchment shows its function as a 'leaky dam', slowing runoff during a storm

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