WET News

WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS News+ Costain reports a record order book so far this year, p4; setting a framework that would allow the supplier community to act in a diff er- ent way has been a challenge for Thames Water's eight2O alliance, p6 Onsite: Advanced digestion We take a look at the world's largest advanced digestion plant, built for United Utilities by Black & Veatch at Davyhulme WwTW, p10, 12 Insight: Odour control criteria is shift- ing. Is the long-term cost of equipment as important as the initial investment? Foresight: Who was the person that changed your professional life? What was the best decision you ever made? Have your say, p36 "That sounds crazy, but by by building advanced digestion here we could double the throughput of this facility" Richard Lancaster, United Utilities, p10, 12 "It's terri" c when you see clients who are open to new ideas, open to ways of " nding cost e• ciencies and working better while listening to their supply chain" Thomas Faulkner, p9 CECA survey suggests contractors are not doing any training, as EU Skills reports 200,000 utilities recruits will be needed by 2023. T he Water Industry Achieve- ment Awards are back, which means it is time to get those entries in − the closing date is December 12, 2014. Organised by WET News and Water & Wastewater Treatment, the awards celebrate and reward forward thinking and best prac- tice in the water industry. Categories among the 13 you F our out of ten civil engineer- ing contractors have em- ployed apprentices in the past 12 months and a third are re- cruiting graduate trainees, ac- cording to the latest annual train- ing and development survey by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA). There are no speci‰ c ‰ gures for the water industry but the sur- vey covers 80% of the civil engi- neering market in England, Wales and Scotland. CECA chief executive Alasdair Reisner said: "It is great news that contractors are recruiting the next generation of employees as the sector gears up to deliver major programmes of work in the future." Despite the positive spin on the results by the association, the survey shows most contractors are doing no training at all – whether at apprentice or graduate level. Although civils contractors are taking on apprentices at more than double the rate of wider industry, the sector still faces an acute skills shortage. Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) estimates that about half of current employees are set to leave the energy and utility workforce and 200,000 new recruits will be needed by 2023. Reisner said: "Industry must S outhern Water has appoint- ed MWH as its new Strategic Solutions Partner to help develop improved water and wastewater services for its cus- tomers over the next ‰ ve years. The contract, which begins this month, will see MWH working with Southern Water to imple- ment its ambitious £1.6B AMP6 investment programme. MWH will plan new infra- structure and solutions for the utility, including design, engi- neering, planning and environ- mental management, and help develop and implement new research and innovation.Ÿ The contract is believed to be worth £100M-£200M. This is the ‰ rst of three con- tracts that Southern Water, which provides water and wastewater services to more than 4.5 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, will award this year.Ÿ It is believed that the ‰ rm will manage various design-and-build delivery partners to ensure South- ern Water meets its performance goals in a cost-e£ cient and sus- tainable way. MWH Global's chief executive Alan Krause said: "We will bring expertise and ideas from across our global business to this excit- ing programme and I look for- ward to our team working collab- oratively with Southern Water and all of its delivery partners to drive frontier performance." Water industry 'Oscars' now open for entries can choose to enter include Engineer of the Year; Water Resource Management Initiative of the Year; Data Project of the Year; and Partnership Initiative of the Year Details of the awards are available online at www.wwton- line.co.uk/awards or by email- ing wiaa@fav-house.com. The winners will be announced at a glittering extrav- aganza at the Hilton Birming- ham Metropole on April 21, 2015! Seven companies have already signed up and are spon- soring categories. Making a wel- come return are NM Group, sponsoring Most Innovative New Technology of the Year; the CPSA, sponsoring Sustainable Drainage & Flood Management Initiative of the Year; Doosan Enpure, sponsoring Outstanding Individual Contribution to the Water Industry; Asset Interna- tional, sponsoring Carbon Reduction Initiative of the Year; Imtech, sponsoring Partnership Initiative of the Year; TES, co- sponsoring People Initiative of the Year; and Ofwat, sponsoring Outstanding Innovation 2015. Pump Hire, Sales & Service 08450 733835 www.selwood.co.uk Pumps From 50mm To 300mm Auto Self-Priming Pumps Super Silent Pumps From 58db(A) Hydraulic Submersibles Electric Explosion Proof Submersibles Pumping Installations 24/7 Callout Branches Nationwide Selwood has been manufacturing, hiring and selling pumps for over 60 years. Please call for expert advice on all pumping applications. Pump Hire, Most contractors not training ble in our sector," he said. In the water sector most train- ing is concentrated in the water and wastewater treatment com- panies, almost all of which o¬ er apprenticeships and graduate- level programmes. Thames Water and United Utilities are supporting the Energy and E£ - ciency Industrial Partnership, announced in June and run by EU Skills, that promotes employ- ment and skills in the sector. The partnership combines £33M of government spend with £82M from the 67 participating employers. The pilot projects target unem- ployed young people. Louise Beardmore, head of organisa- tional development and HR oper- ations at United Utilities, said:Ÿ"By working together across the utility industry and with the govern- ment, we can grow the pool of young talent in our sector. Our approach to skills, training and apprenticeships is designed with these young people in mind." In London, the Construction Industry Training Board announced a new partnership with the London Enterprise Panel to provide training for the con- struction sector in Greater Lon- don. It will help 500 unemployed construction workers return to work. MWH to drive 'frontier performance' at Southern work together with government and skills providers to ensure the sys- tem is demand-led and can respond to the evolving needs of businesses of all sizes. "Unless we can continue to recruit and train new entrants, the UK will face a substantial con- struction skills shortage over the next decade. Reisner said he wanted gov- ernment help to push the mes- sage in schools and careers guid- ance centres that the infrastructure sector was a good place to work. "We need to ensure all children of primary and sec- ondary age, and their teachers, parents and carers, are well informed about the wide variety of challenging, dynamic and exciting job opportunities availa- SEPTEMBER 2014 Volume 20 • Issue 09 the throughput of this "Unless we can continue to recruit and train new entrants, the UK will face a substantial construction skills shortage over the next decade" Alasdair Reisner, chief executive, CECA

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