Water & Wastewater Treatment

4 | MAY 2014 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry news May Leak detectors triumphed at this year's Water Achieve- ment Awards, winning the top accolades for Outstand- ing Innovation, Most Innova- tive New Technology of the Year and Most Innovative Use of an Existing Technology. LeakFinder ST, an ad- vanced leak correlator devel- oped by Echologics in col- laboration with Severn Trent and Loughborough Univer- sity won the awards for Most Innovative New Technology of the Year and Outstanding Innovation. LeakFinder is a ground- breaking leak noise correla- tor that can detect leaks on plastic pipes. It can be used to accu- ● LeakFinder ST scoops top award for Outstanding Innovation ● Leak detection behind APEM/United Utilities and Southern Water's awards Leak detectors dominate Achievement Awards 2014 Contract Tracker NI Water £200m tender Northern Ireland Water has gone out to tender with a contract worth up to £200million for construction and civil engineering work. The contract is for its water mains rehabilitation framework for PC15 - its third price control programme for the six-year period from 2015-16 to 2020- 21. Northern Ireland Water expects to appoint up to four partners to the six year design and build framework contract for the construction and/or renovation of water mains of various diameters and ancillary works in Northern Ireland. Scottish Water £100m tenders Scottish Water is tendering a contract worth up to £100 million for tier 1 delivery partners to work on the water infrastructure for its Quality and Standards IV capital investment programme. It plans to appoint up to eight tier 1 contractors for 2015 to 2021, to act as a strategic partner for Caledonia Water, Water Alliance Partner. There are two lots, one for civil engineering works up to £50m and a second for clean water network replacement/ rehabilitation up to £50m. rately detect leaks and assess the structural condition of water pipes, without break- ing ground or disrupting service; especially helpful as water utilities confront the challenge of replacing aging water infrastructure.„ The advanced technology means the correlator is able to detect leaks faster and detect those leaks that have traditionally been more di… cult to pinpoint, principally those on non- metallic pipes. Keiron Maher, Research & Development Manager for Severn Trent Water, said: "A lot of hard work went into the product and we're really proud. This project has reinforced the value of bringing together cutting-edge academic re- search (Loughborough Uni- versity), a commercial part- ner (Echologics) and an end user (Severn Trent Water) to drive step change innovation. The resulting package is not only technologically advanced, but is also extraordinarily easy to use. The result from the ' eld trials have been so promising that Echologics has decided to launch the Leak' nder ST, in May 2014. " Another pioneering pro- ject to identify underground water leaks using sensors in the sky earned APEM and United Utilities the trophy for the Most Innovative Use of an Existing Technology. The initiative, by digital aerial survey specialists APEM and water company United Utilities, involved analysing hi-tech images taken across a 400 sq km area of Cumbria. APEM's surveys located 100km of buried pipes and several leaks which workmen could ' x. APEM harnessed its survey aircra› ' tted with hi-tech thermal and near infra-red sensors to conduct the work. For the full list of 2014 winners see wwtonline.co.uk 470 people attended the Water Industry Achievement Awards at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole for an outstanding night of achievement and rewarding excellence in the water industry. Hosted by the hilarious Patrick Monahan, with 1920s fl apper girls and the champagne fl owing - a great night was had by all. The Water Industry Achievement Awards, in their eighth year, celebrate and reward outstanding innovation. "This project has reinforced the value of bringing together cutting- edge academic research, a commercial partner, and an end user to drive step change innovation." Lontra, a fast-growing Midlands fi rm, has secured the fi rst global license for its Blade Compressor technology, which was designed by Steve Lindsey and won the Most Innovative New Product at the 2013 Water Industry Achievement Awards. The deal, signed with Sulzer, a global leader in pumping equipment with 21 manufacturing facilities worldwide, will see aeration equipment incorporating the British technology sold across 150 countries. www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | MAY 2014 | 5 Polluters pay Detergent pollutes Clyde A mysterious white foam which ap- peared on the River Clyde was caused by an illegal discharge of detergent to the sewer network, says the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). It and Scottish Water carried out an investigation. A SEPA spokesman said: "SEPA is aware of another discharge of foam on the Auldhouse Burn and White Cart Water near Thornliebank and SEPA offi cers have also carried out a separate investigation to assess the potential impact on the local environment. It is unclear at this stage whether the two incidents are connected." Record US fi ne US-based Alpha Natural Resources will pay a $27.5m fi ne and spend $200m to reduce illegal toxic discharges in waterways in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, according to a proposed settlement. The agreement includes the largest fi ne ever for violations of water pol- lution permits. The Associated Press obtained details about the settlement before it was fi led in federal court in West Virginia. "This is the largest one, period," Cynthia Giles, head of the environmental protection agency's en- forcement offi ce, told the AP. "It's the biggest case for permit violations for numbers of violations and size of the penalty, which refl ects the seriousness of violations." South West Water fi ned for beach sewage South West Water has been ordered to pay £35,937 in fi nes and costs for a series of sewage spills at Hope Cove in South Devon in a case brought by the Environment Agency. A court heard how between September 2011 and Decem- ber 2012 there were several incidents where sewage was seen escaping from manholes in a lane in front of Shippen Cottages and from a manhole at Outer Hope, upstream of a sewage pumping station. In May 2011 the Environment Agency issued South West Water with a formal caution following an earlier series of sewage spills. Time of opportunity – retail competition in 2017 ● Sustainability Live 2014 took place on 1-3 April at the NEC Birmingham. Water fi rms rank on World's Most Ethical Companies Northumbrian Water, AE- COM, and CH2M Hill are among the world's most ethical companies, accord- ing to American think tank Ethisphere Institute. The world's Most Ethical Companies (WME) designa- tion recognises companies that go beyond making statements about doing business "ethically" and translate those words into Thames Water's commercial director, Dr Piers Clark, says the opening of the retail mar- ket in April 2017 represents a "time of opportunity which should be very, very exciting". Clark was a speaker on a pan- el at "Sustainability Live" on the question "What does the opening up of retail competi- tion mean for the UK water industry?" He said that incumbent water companies might have an advantage in terms of having the expertise and know-how but might also have "practices that slow us down". He said that with such a dramatic change for the in- dustry incumbent companies had to make sure that they could compete with the new en- trants who might be "more " eet of foot than estab- lished water companies". And Clark argued that VOX POP "Nurturing talented young people is vital for the future of our business... We have chosen to bring in the new leaders of Anglian Water now, developing the lifeblood of our future business through apprenticeships." Phil Brown, head of people development, Anglian Water "At the peak of our work to tackle fl ooding, we were spending in excess of £100,000 a day on tankers and over- pumping, and most of that on tankering," Paul Kent, Asset Strategy Manager, Southern Water "Without the development of activated sludge, the world – not just Manchester – wouldn't be how it is today. You wouldn't have the capability to sustain large, urban developments that you do now. In terms of its importance to the world's social and economic development it's been a really important invention." Marie Hart, Head of Engineering Disciplines, United Utilities action, according to Ethis- phere. WME honorees not only promote ethical busi- ness standards and prac- tices internally, they exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices. This year's 144 ethical companies represent 41 in- dustries and include 21 • rst- time honorees. Ethisphere has recognised a large group of organisations based out- side the US – 38 companies from 21 countries and 5 con- tinents. wwtonline.com water companies have to be resilient and a little audacious if they are to compete. "We can't get this wrong," said Clark. "We can't aš ord to let the fact such as 'you know the market codes aren't ex- actly right, we might not have the right IT systems in place', we can't let that sort of thing stop us supplying water to our customers." Andrew Beaver, Ofwat di- rector of strategy, said: "From a regulator's perspective there are two critical things. One is that we need a level playing • eld here – we need to make sure that entrants can join this market on level terms. That rivalry is really important for customers. The second thing is market governance. All the market participants will have to sign up to a set of rules. That could be quite a di¢ cult thing for people in this sector to get their heads around." Rob Wesley, Head of Policy, Water UK, chaired the panel discussion. He said: "The sec- tor is on the verge of a genuine- ly new era with all businesses, public sector and charity cus- tomers in England due to have a choice of supplier." Dr Piers Clark

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