Water & Wastewater Treatment

4 | JULY 2014 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry news July The Environment, Food and Rural A airs committee (EFRA) has urged Govern- ment to ensure ood protec- tion takes priority over cost- cutting in its winter oods report published last month (June). In the published nd- ings of an inquiry into the ooding events of winter 2013/14, the committee highlighted that funding for maintenance was at 'a bare minimum' and was the ' rst thing to be cut'. With budgetary con- straints unlikely to ease, the committee has called on DEFRA for reassurance that there will be no cuts to frontline ood and coastal risk management jobs at the Environment Agency, and for fully-funded plans to be drawn up to address the cur- rent backlog of dredging and maintenance on 'an equal footing' with investment in Prioritise fl ood protection over cost- cutting says EFRA Contract Tracker Scottish Water off ers 12-year contracts Scottish Water is seeking up to four Tier 1 contractors to deliver construction-related services for its Quality & Standards IV (Q&S IV) capital investment programme starting in 2015. Two programmes are available, worth between £468M and £624M in total, and the contract is for 12 years. And... Scottish Water is also seeking up to 17 companies for a 12- year framework agreement supplying civil engineering consultancy services. The tender process for the frame- work, worth up to £400M, ends on July 1, 2014. Amey double win worth £100m Amey is to be Severn Trent Water's design and build partner, providing developer services as part of a fi ve-year deal. Amey has also retained the contract to be sole pro- vider of the water company's meter installation, repair and maintenance for a further three years, with an option to extend for a further three years. The contracts are worth a combined £100m. International contracts Biwater has been awarded a turn-key project to design and construct a new wastewater treatment plant in the city of Aourir on the Moroccon coast. FCC Aqualia, FCC's water man- agement subsidiary, has been awarded a €70m contract to build a desalination plant in Djerba, located off the coast of Tunisia. new defences. EFRA chair Anne McIn- tosh said: "We have repeat- edly called on the govern- ment to increase revenue funding so that necessary dredging and watercourse maintenance can be carried out to minimise ood risk, yet funding for maintenance remains at a bare minimum. Ministers must take action now to avoid a repeat of the devastation caused by the winter oods." "The government needs to recognise the importance of regular maintenance work and put it on an equal footing with building new defences." The report, 'Winter oods 2013-14' also recom- mends a move to a totex ap- proach to ood funding to avoid confusion over capital and revenue budgets and an engagement and education campaign with key stake- holders such as farmers, landowners and internal drainage boards about their responsibilities. "We want clarity for eve- ryone when it comes to ood funding budgets," said McI- ntosh. "We see no reason why the government cannot move to a total expenditure approach for ood funding to allow more exibility to spend in the most e ective way." Search 'Winter Floods' at wwtonline.co.uk to read the report in full Michigan State University (MSU) has developed an anaerobic digestion system that turns cow manure into both energy and clean drinking water. The McLanahan Nutrient Separation Sys- tem (MNSS) couples an anaerobic digester to an ultrafi ltration, air stripping and a reverse osmosis system. The technology produces water that is clean enough for livestock to drink, or to be discharged in an environmentally-friendly manner. £1m per day The amount Dwr Cymru Welsh Water is investing to improve and maintain its services, according to its latest results. The company spent £354M in 2013- 14, and plans a further investment of £344M over the next 12 months. The money will be spent maintaining and upgrading more than 27,000km of water mains and 30,000km-plus of sewers and building six new water treatment works. "…funding for maintenance remains at a bare minimum. Ministers must take action now to avoid a repeat of the devastation caused by the winter fl oods." ANNE MCINTOSH, EFRA chair www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | july 2014 | 5 Polluters pay UU fined £400k for biogas leak The Environment Agency has fined United Utilities £400,000 for a pollution incident at its Stockport treatment works. A gas holder at the site, part of the sludge treatment system, tilted sideways, allowing 50,000cu m of biogas to escape over a three-week period in October 2011. The Environment Agency estimated that the potential contribu- tion was equivalent to 456 tonnes of carbon dioxide. United Utilities admitted two breaches of environmental permit conditions and was fined £200,000 for each offence at Manchester Crown Court in May this year. Civil sanction 'first' for Wessex Water In the first case where a civil sanction has been used for a pollution offence committed by a water company, The Environment Agency has accepted an Enforcement Undertaking from Wes- sex Water Services. The offer includes actions for Wessex Water to improve its operations and infrastructure, as well as financial contributions totalling £25,500 to environmental organisations and those affected by the offence. It relates to a major pollution incident in Bristol on July 11, 2013, when a blockage resulted in raw sewage being discharged into the River Trym. South West Water fined £150k South West Water (SWW) has been ordered to pay £153,600 by Truro Crown Court a er poorly-treated effluent discharged into the Par River from the company's treatment works at Luxulyan near St Austell in Cornwall in July 2013. Scottish Water fined for Purgatory Burn pollution Scottish Water has been fined £12,000 by Glasgow Sheriff Court a er pleading guilty to a series of uncontrolled sew- age discharges into the Purgatory Burn near Kirkintilloch between March 6 and June 25, 2013. Defra announces further delay in SuDS legislation Ofwat: 'Ruthless prioritisation' in face of job losses Ofwat has told wwtonline it will embark on a 'ruthless' prioritisation of its work as it seeks to shed up to 46 jobs in a bid to deliver a 30% reduc- tion in its 2015-16 budget. The regulator has now embarked on an internal consultation over its plans to restructure in order to meet Schedule 3 of the Sustain- able Drainage Systems (SuDS) legislation will not be implemented in October as previously stated by De- fra, the department has an- nounced. This is the second time the legislation has been delayed this year. An initial delay was announced by water minister Dan Rogerson on January 6, when he said: "Regrettably, it is looking increasingly unlikely we will be in a position to ensure the scheme comes into force this April, which was our pre- ferred date for implementa- tion as stated previously. "Defra is instead providing local authorities with the extra time they need to pre- pare for these new regula- tions to ensure local govern- ment is sufficiently prepared to undertake their statutory duties successfully from the outset." However, no official an- nouncement has been made about this second delay. Rather, key stakeholders in- volved in the consultation have been informed by letter that implementation will not happen before October and that an announcement will be made over the summer. It says: "The government remains committed to imple- menting SuDS at the earliest VOX POP "This is a first for the UK, and we've already had a lot of interest from investors who want to be involved in this world-leading project." Mike Gerrard, Thames Tideway Tunnel MD on opening an investment competition to fund the project "It's only fair that when companies make mistakes, they put it right and make sure customers are not out of pocket." Cathryn Ross, Ofwat chief executive, on the news that Thames Water will pay a package of £86M for mis-reporting sewer flood risk "I am privileged to be given the opportunity to help shape [the] future from within the institute and I'm enthusiastically looking forward to meeting the challenges that brings." Heidi Mottram, Northumbrian Water Group chief executive on taking up the Institute of Water presidency the budget cuts. The planned job losses represent a quarter of Ofwat's workforce. The spokesperson said the reduction in staff and budget "will mean a ruth- less prioritisation of how we deliver work to get the best deal for customers. Tougher decisions will be made". However, he added: "This is a consultation, and nothing is set in stone at this time." Visit wwtonline.co.uk for more on this story as it happens available opportunity, but not in a way that affects de- velopment. While several de- partments are working hard on this, it has become clear we will not be in a position to implement Schedule 3 from October, as we had hoped. "A statement will be made in the summer that will set out in greater detail our plans for implementation. Howev- er, we would still expect the secondary legislation setting out the implementation date would be laid in Parliament approximately six months before that date." Commenting on the news, Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) deputy public affairs director Sam Ibbott said: "This is very dis- appointing. Not only has the implementation of SuDS been further delayed, but there is no indication of an updated timetable – leaving the indus- try in limbo, and potentially jeopardising investment. "The announcement talks of implementing SuDS in a way that 'does not affect development'. It is not clear what this means, but we are wary of any move to dilute the regulations. If you think SuDS affects development, you should try flooding." For more reactions to this story search 'SuDS legisla- tion' at wwtonline.co.uk

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