Water & Wastewater Treatment

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.burdens.co.uk Knowledgeable Staff We value experience and training Specialists in Below Ground Drainage for Civils and Utilities We recognise that our most important resource is our people. Our customers appreciate the vital contribution Burdens staff make to their working relationship by bringing in-depth product knowledge as well as a huge wealth of experience to every job. www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | november 2014 | 25 In the know Technically speaking: Energy efficiency A water utility manager visited a power plant and was amazed at what he saw. A single person – the power plant manager – was operating the entire facility. The water utility manager asked how this could be achieved for his water/wastewa- ter treatment facilities. The answer: advanced automation, technology and analytics. Recent research in the US has identified how implementation of new approaches in these areas can benefit Automated advances research has shown the importance of automation and analytics for the industry's future water companies around the world. Managing operational costs is one of the top five water industry issues, as identified in Black & Veatch's Strategic Directions: US Water Industry report. Labour and energy represent the largest operational expenses for water utilities, both in the UK and US. In addition to the cost of labour, ageing workforces are an issue of rising prominence, ranking seventh among all respondents in the top industry is- sues list, and sixth among respondents that have both water and wastewater facilities. Technology, coupled with the imple- mentation of formal asset management frameworks - such as PAS 55 and more recently ISO 5500 - will enable utilities to capture the institutional knowledge of existing staff and reduce the need to replace retiring staff. In addition, well-planned asset management and technology programs will help utilities reduce energy consumption, improve maintenance programs and potentially improve cash flow and billing accuracy. Energy Recovery and Efficiency When it comes to reducing operational costs, improving energy efficiency has been the proverbial low-hanging fruit for water utilities. Nearly 80 percent of US water utilities have replaced some level of inefficient equipment, accord- ing to the report. In addition, more than 70 percent are using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) analytics, and nearly 60 percent have conducted energy audits. The Strategic Directions survey also indicates that a large portion of water utilities are interested in pursuing more advanced energy programmes, with 42 percent showing interest in developing energy master plans. Energy master plans will help define the next level of energy conservation measures that go beyond what has already been imple- mented. More than half of medium and large utilities are considering or have implemented soŸware or data analytics programs to proactively manage energy costs as compared to 30 percent of small utilities. Energy Performance Contracting Many utilities remain challenged in de- veloping and implementing enterprise- wide energy efficiency programmes. Less than 10 percent of all survey par- ticipants stated their utility plans to use energy performance contracting as a means for meeting energy efficiency goals. For energy performance contracting, terms oŸen include guaranteed levels of energy reduction, negating concerns over an uncertain return on investment. Because performance contracting involves a third-party service provider, utility staff can continue to focus on other higher priority issues. Jeff Buxton, Executive Consultant, Black & Veatch made the following observation on this element of the re- search's findings, "Energy performance Jeff NeemANN SmarT InTegraTed InfraSTrucTure SoluTIon lead, black & veaTch Increased implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (amI) programmes is anticipated

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