Water & Wastewater Treatment

8 | september 2014 | WWt | www.wwtonline.co.uk capability. It is also looking at potential opportunities to provide professional services to Bristol Water, Wessex Water and Scottish Water. Aitken has joined B&V a•er a 13-month stint as water utilities director at CH2M Hill, prior to which he spent five years based in his native city heading up the UK and Ireland water and energy business of Dutch consultants Grontmij. There he led a reorganisation of the renewable energy section of the firm, comprising renewable energy solutions, asset management systems and asset solutions. Doing the same with the water business – dividing it into water asset design, water consultancy and water environment divisions – he also grew it from one key account to six, increasing revenue and profits every year. His achievements therefore suggest he'll be a very safe pair of hands in guiding the company towards its £310m revenue target. Will he be reorganising his division of B&V in a similar way? It's too early to say, and it'll depend how effectively the organisation works in the months ahead, he affirms. Given the success of the strategy he pursued at Grontmij however, it's conceivable that he may decide to shake up his new employer's water business, given that it is by far the largest part of its UK operation. "I think we're very well known out in the marketplace for what we do in water. But what I see is a particular demand for an understanding of the interconnectivity between our three areas of expertise: especially water and energy, but also telecoms as well," he observes. One way in which this is demonstrated is in the area of smart integrated infrastructure, involving the ongoing integration of data analytics with the automated technology on the operational side of the water business. "Data management is a hugely exciting area for us. The data science, analytics and so•ware skills are becoming an ever-more important part of the business, rather than just a bolt-on." "At the moment we've got the retail competition coming through in the Water Bill, while further changes will happen to upstream services as we approach AMP7. Data management will be ever more critical in terms of how water companies understand their customers and their needs, as well as their assets from both a cost and performance point of view." The firm has a core team of about 30 professionals in smart analytics-related roles, with around another 1,000 in its global telecoms business who will work on some aspect of this specialism. An example of a project where these cutting- edge skills were essential was in a new, multi- million pound membrane water filtration system. Smart analytics are used to monitor its performance in terms of cleaning effectiveness and spot issues that, if undetected could lead to a costly requirement for the membranes to be replaced. It involves monitoring long-term membrane system performance, including permeability and cleaning events; and balances the tradeoffs between cleaning, fouling and efficiency losses. Although the company may be vying with rivals that include Aitken's previous employers CH2M Hill and Grontmij, as well as others such as MWH for contracts involving this kind of work, seeing these kinds of projects through to completion is what he and his staff at B&V find most enjoyable and exciting about their jobs. He describes several other projects that strike a chord with him. While the company is looking at small-scale solutions in the 50-kilowatt range for using biomass from sewage treatment waste to produce renewable energy, it has also worked on plants at the other end of the scale, such as a 12-megawatt one for United Utilities. The firm has also designed and installed hydro turbines in a number of large water supply pipes at raw water and treated potable water locations for Scottish Power. These helped to reduce its operating costs while efficiently and reliably producing renewable power. It's also looking at ways in which treatment capability could be scaled down where required. "It could involve micro engines or scalable activated sludge processes that could be brought to market and used as a method of power generation. I can't go into too much detail before they are further developed, but this shows how we try to be at the cutting edge," he enthuses. "We're also looking at using micro gas turbines in the water network. It's possible that we could install the right type and size of turbine that would reduce pressure in areas of high pressure in the pipes, where pressure- reducing valves are currently used, while also producing a small amount of power for the grid. "The expertise we bring in this kind of work is knowing what's appropriate, scalable and affordable so that it provides the right return on investment for the client. That's where we really count," he concludes. Further reading at www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry leaders Path to the top march 2014 – present mD european Water Division, black & Veatch 2012 – 2013 european Water Utilities Director, CH2m Hill 2010 – 2012 Director, Water & energy, Grontmij Group 2008 – 2011 Chairman of Water special Interest Group: ACe 2007 – 2011 UK Water expertise Area Director: Grontmij 2000 – 2007 Water Divisional Director, scotland and Ireland: the Carl bro Group 1997 – 2000 technical director, member of water management team: the Carl bro Group 1987 – 1997 Chartered, then senior engineer: Crouch & Hogg "We can o en solve a number of problems for water companies at the same time. this might be raising a dam to increase the capacity of water available, for example, but we might also improve the amount of hydro energy that can be generated. scott Aitken

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