Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2014 | 11 Comment I t is exactly eight years since I start- ed editing WWT and as I welcome readers to the redesigned maga- zine – an achievement a long time in the dreaming – it is also goodbye from me as I step-down to pursue other ambitions in the water sector. Re• ect- ing on my time at the helm of the UK's leading water title – two issues have transformed in that period – customer engagement and innovation. The importance of having the customer's mandate is something I ponti• cated on, perhaps tediously, in the early years of my editorship. Coming to an engineering trade title with a social science background – and as a customer it seemed obvious to me that casting water bill payers as ignorant, penny-pinching tech- Hello – and farewell nophobes without ever informing or asking them what they wanted – was the real barrier to a sustainable and resilient industry. This means that every time I • nd a story where a utility is surprised when their new customer surveys and forums back the most practical and commonsense ideas, I get a certain thrill. It is also fascinating to watch con- tractors and suppliers reposition their o€ erings to reveal maximum customer bene• t – the change has gone much deeper than I ever imagined it might. To hear this month that two utili- ties have passed Ofwat's prequali• ca- tion test and reap the rewards of their customer engagement (see News) squares the circle. Innovation Innovation too is in the news. UK- WRIP's much anticipated report on re- search and innovation reveals how far the UK still has to go in achieving its potential in the global water market – from £1.5Bn to £8.8Bn in six years, to be precise. The nation has failed to capitalise on its remarkable techni- NATASHA WISEMAN EDITOR wwtedit@fav-house.com cal heritage – 2014 is the centenary of the discovery of activated sludge in Manchester – national wealth and geo-linguistic advantages. This is the same kind of arrogance that leads England fans to think the team has a chance in the World Cup while the country and its cash-rich premiership teams rigidly fail to invest in training the young. UKWRIP's Tapping the Potential report o€ ers the chance to take stock and take action. This critical industry, worth £30Bn to the global economy in period to 2020 deserves the same kind of gov- ernment backing and industry collab- oration for innovation and research that I witnessed on a state-sponsored trip to Toronto two years ago. Scotland's Hydro Nation ambi- tions are neglected by the report, but if such a branding exercise, backed with a solid commercial and technical strategy, was created for the whole UK – the rewards in terms of trade and employment could be manifest. For further reading please go to www.wwtonline.co.uk Supplier view sponsored by On 1 January 2015, International Effi ciency Class 3 (IE3) motors become mandatory and, with the water industry employing more motors than practically any other industry, the signifi cance of that date should not be lost on anyone, says Ian Allen of ABB. Briefl y, EC regulation 640/2009 specifi es any motors placed on the market a er this date, with a rated output between 7.5 to 375 kW, will need to have a minimum effi ciency class of IE3 or a minimum of IE2 if they are operated with a variable-speed drive (VSD). From 1st January 2017, the regulations will also apply to motors rated up to 7.5 kW. Now is a good time for water utilities, with their huge burden of Are water utilities' electric motors up to scratch? pumping, to ask themselves if they are really getting the best effi ciency they can out of their motors. Although the onus is on manufacturers to place the correct motors on the market by the deadlines, it is not advisable to think that it's 'somebody else's problem'. Working with a motor manufacturer or its distribution partners is vital if the water industry is to get the right deal. The best manufacturers want to avoid being seen as commodity suppliers and as such would encourage their customers to get them on-board in the early stages of a project. The only way an end-user will know of an innovation is to ask its partner at the very outset of a project. Too many motor users focus on the initial purchase costs of their motors, yet a typical motor will, over a 20-year period, consume 100 times more than its purchase price in energy costs alone. In our personal lives, we understand the cost of owning the car and not just the cost of buying it. For example, although an IE3 motor carries around a 10-20% premium compared to an equivalent IE2 motor, its increased effi ciency will mean it has a payback time of around six months. As well as energy, there are numerous other factors that aff ect a motor's running costs. Water utilities need to ensure they have the right policies in place – when to replace a motor, if it should be replaced before failure, what support their motor provider off ers, whether to replace like-for-like or go with a higher effi ciency and what new technology is available. The more forward-thinking motor manufacturers already have IE3 ranges available. Yet, this is not the end of the line. The world's fi rst IE4 synchronous reluctance motor and drive package (SynRM) replaced an induction motor- based variable-speed drive package at South Staff s Water in the UK, resulting in an additional 6% energy saving. For more information telephone 01925 741111, email energy@gb.abb. com or visit www.abb.co.uk/energy

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