Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | december 2014 | 7 Comment F racking and flooding: two issues that are guaranteed to raise the temperature of local people and politicians in areas which they affect. The first is a controversial solution to a national problem (our future energy supply), while the second is a growing threat amid the international reality of climate change; yet both attract the most intense emotions when viewed at the local level. Perhaps for this reason, both sub- jects have resulted in a power struggle between national and local decision- makers. Fracking licenses which get the nod from central government are resisted by fearful local councils at the planning stage, while local appeals for Time to listen to the experts investment in flood defences o en fall on deaf ears at national level - until it is too late and an area is yet again under water. The latest attempt to implement Sustainable Urban Drain- age Systems (SuDS) – one method of reducing flood risk - puts the onus on local authorities to weigh up the need for housing against the flood risk of all those concrete-heavy new develop- ments. However, one voice that is currently not heard enough in the debates is that of the water industry, and the experts within it. Water companies, along with their environmental regulators, are well placed to judge the extent to which the water supply in an area may be contaminated by fracking. A recent research report commissioned by UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) pro- vided clear information about the risks of fracking to water quality, and how they might be managed. If fracking is the answer to the country's energy needs, the decisions about where to do it ought to be based on solid evidence of how it might affect the local ground- water. Yet as Water UK highlighted in a recent positioning paper, there is no statutory requirement for the local James brockett eDItor Jamesbrockett@fav-house.com water company to be consulted in the process to award a fracking license. The industry also ought to have the best idea about whether existing sewers can cope with the burden of a new development or whether houses should be built on a flood plain, yet water industry experts have been similarly marginalised when it comes to the SuDS implementation. Unlike the SuDS approval bodies which were previously envisaged, local planning departments and councillors making decisions are made up of non-special- ists and may well place the advice they receive about drainage low down the list of priorities. Where a decision that needs to be made at a national level comes into conflict with passions locally, listening to the experts is always a strong policy. The water industry contains some of the country's most authoritative voices on engineering, science and the environment. Amid the shrill debates on both fracking on flooding, we can only hope that these experts are able to make their voices heard, and that when they do, local and national decision-makers sit up and take notice. Follow us on twitter @wwtmag BOOK NOW AT www.WWT-innovation.net Organised by Charity partner Supported by Sponsored by There has never been an AMP cycle where innovation was more important. Building on the success of the past two years, WWT's 3 rd Annual Water Industry Innovation Conference will address the role of innovation and collaboration in AMP 6. A host of expert speakers will debate the paradigm shift that non-household retail competition has introduced to the water sector, examine how to address the TOTEX challenge, and explore the role of the supply chain and investment community in meeting long-term challenges like climate change and population growth. Attend to: Learn from the innovation successes and failures of your peers Take inspiration from other industries and markets Hear from suppliers with novel technologies and solutions ready for trial and implementation EXPERT SPEAKERS INCLUDE CONFERENCE CHAIR Kieran Brocklebank Head of Innovation United Utilities Sonia Phippard Director of Water and Flood Risk Management Defra Sonia Brown Chief Regulation Offi cer Ofwat Bob Stear General Manager, Research & Development Severn Trent Water Professor Martin Cave OBE Visiting Professor Imperial College Business School Follow us @WWTlive using #waterinnovation WaterIndInnov-HPHad.indd 1 15/09/2014 16:18

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