WET News

2 WET NEWS June 2014 COMMENT "A fairer playing eld for ALL contractors... That's a good thing." NEWS+ June 80B Last year, 55 million tonnes of raw sewage was released into the tidal River Thames – the equivalent of eighty billion toilets flushing straight into the river. "We are continuing to improve the quality, reliability and resilience of our assets and increase capital investment in our network to £836M this year" Steve Mogford, CEO, United Utitlies United Utilities has cut its carbon footprint by 11% in the year to March 2014. UU has reduced its carbon emissions by 23% since 2005-6. Its CO 2 equivalent for 2013-14 was 449,042t. 11% 23% IN A NUTSHELL "#watermen is de n- itely the best TV programme ever. So wonderfully peculiar"@paulisbored 15,000 More than 15,000 custom- ers of Essex & Su™ olk Wa- ter in Billericay have been asked if they would like an audit of their showers, taps and toilets in a bid to prevent leakage. 200km More than 200km of new pipelines will be installed on Wessex's water supply grid "We have embraced lessons from the auto-motive and other sectors, in particular the need for standardisation and smooth transition into operations – an approach we call factory thinking" Tim Cooper, business development director - water, Costain "E™ ective supply chain management relies on good communication and a strong, collaborative working relationship, which are all central to our Engineering Tomorrow strategy" Martin Orrells, Costain general manager for Procurement & Supply Chain Management 1M One million businesses in England will be able to choose their water supplier from April 2017. A new report suggests households are less concerned about compulsory water metering, although opinions are split about their impact on water bills Urgent increase in public engagement on water needed I have to admit – I'm not a huge fan of the European Union (EU). However, I was pleased to see that the mighty power machine in Brussels is actually doing something useful for once, although it wasn't long before it lived up to my expectations. It is revamping the EU procurement directives to make them less cumbersome and time-consuming (see front page and page 6). The changes will also bene‚ t SMEs, which is a good thing. In other words, a fairer playing ‚ eld for ALL contractors and suppliers, no matter their size. That's a good thing. E-procurement But, typically, Brussels has to make life diˆ cult for some and in the case of the revamped procurement directives it will be for those that are hiring. Companies issuing tenders will be faced with an increased administrative burden – they will have to split contracts into smaller lots and assess a greater number of bids. E-procurement procedures are also being adopted, whereby tender publication and communication with bidders will be done electronically, adding more to the administa- tive workload of utilities. So, while the directives will bene‚ t SMEs, the Brussels red tape will move to the hand that feeds the supply chain. Wessex Water's amazing supply grid project I went over to Wiltshire recently to see how construction of Wessex Water's water supply grid is taking shape. What an amazing project it is, and you can't help but get caught up in the enthusiasm for it. The £225M scheme, when complete in 2018, will provide resilience and water supply security to Wessex Water's customers (see pages 8, 10, 11). The integrated grid will enable the company to move water to where it is needed, even if the supply is interrupted due to unforeseen events. Existing assets It will also enable Wessex Water to help out neigbouring water companies if needed. What's even better is that the company has weighed up the pros and cons of using its existing assets, or whether to build new local solutions. In the end it was decided go down the existing assets route. It is a project that that Wessex Water should be congratulated for especially as it is a sustainable approach that could, and dare I say should, be adopted by other water companies. There is a lot of discussion about whether the UK should have a national water supply grid or not to ensure water security. Regional supply grids would be one way of achieving that. Rigger boots are becoming a safety issue WECS recently banned sta— and visitors from wearing Rigger boots on their construction sites. There are safety issues over the boots' ankle support. It seems a case for the Health & Safety Executive to look into. their front doors, said the report, except perhaps when ™ oods hit the headlines. For this reason, the public sees the debate over the future of the water sector as being mainly about prices and billing rather than the other major challenges facing the country.› M ore than 40% of the gen- eral public is unaware of the wider social and en- vironmental bene‚ ts of water companies, such as monitoring and reporting on pollution and helping to mitigate ™ ood risks and preserving open water areas. That is according to a new in- depth study by valve, meterbox and water ‚ tting specialist Talis UK. The study, titled Talking Water, looks into customer atti- tudes towards the water industry ahead of the major changes tak- ing place within the sector. One thousand households nation- wide were asked a range of ques- tions relating to issues a— ecting water supply and management. The report highlighted that while the public is appreciative of its water supply and the recrea- tional facilities open water areas provide, in the majority of cases people "are blissfully unaware" of many wider challenges. Its ‚ ndings, said Talis, sug- gest that there needs to be an urgent increase in public engage- ment and education about some of the major decisions being taken in their name. The issues of which most households are aware stop at NEED TO KNOW Flooding, abstraction and low investment are the three highest areas of concern for households Managing the wider water infrastructure, such as maintaining pipes, was the second most visible role of water companies behind clean water supply and waste removal The majority of respondents would like the water sector to operate more like the electricity and gas suppliers Mandatory water metering is less important to households than higher bills and confusing tari™ s Customers would be happy to pay £1.28 a day for their water supply. The average cost across the UK is £1 a day Currently, people felt water bills represented value for money, but many feared that change in the sector would result in higher bills (71%); confusing tari— s (65%); or worsening ser- vice (60%). However, there is much less concern for the intro- duction of mandatory water meters, although opinions are split about their potential posi- tive impact on bills or water usage. Commenting on the results of the study, Mark Hodgens, manag- ing director of Talis UK, said: "It's important for us to have a thor- ough understanding of the water industry so that we can ‚ nd out what makes our customers tick. Our Talking Water report helps to further this understanding, by highlighting public attitudes and awareness of the upcoming chal- lenges and diˆ cult decisions that face the UK water sector in years to come. "Water is the most vital resource we have, but wider pub- lic involvement in the debate of how to change the sector is mini- mal. We're hoping that this research will act as a catalyst for the UK water industry to work together to build awareness of the choices and implications."

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