WET News

WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS News+ Two recent reports suggest the engineering skills shortage shows no sign of abating. In fact the situation is being made worse because of a poor skills base, p6 Onsite: Service reservoirs Yorkshire Water has replaced its two Bramley Service Reservoirs (SREs) near Leeds with a single underground tank. No easy task, as it has been built on a quarry, p10, 11, 13 Insight: Tanks & storage When a council was keen for a SuDs to be included in the planning of a new housing development, the site's compact size was an issue, p18 "...all the buzzwords are about fabrication, o‹ site manufacture. Once we've started to really embrace that, behavioural change will become really key" Cath Schefer, p8 "It is vital that Brit- ish con- struc- tion compa- nies can easily " nd the right people for the job" Alasdair Reisner, p6 Water sector expected to lead 'stick and carrot' scheme to drive training and raise competency standards. T he deadline for entering the Water Industry Achievement Awards is rapidly approaching − entries must be in by close of play on December 12, 2014. There are 13 categories to chose from including Engineer of the Year; Carbon Reduction T he utilities sector is expect- ed to take a lead in piloting a new procurement ar- rangement that will help drive and encourage training within contractors as well as raise com- petency standards, EU Skills chief executive Neil Robertson has re- vealed. Speaking at our Water Indus- try Supplier Conference in Bir- mingham on November 26, Rob- ertson said he expects the water sector to be prominent in the piloting of the scheme. Unable to say too much about the pilot, Robertson said the scheme would "be stick and carrot". He told the conference that the whole industry is not training enough to meet the skills gaps, so "we've got a market failure". He added: "Contractors are not doing their bit because of the perceived short-term nature of contracting... There's lots of rea- sons why the market is failing and, not to blame anyone, it's a fact." Robertson warned that with "biblical skills shortages coming" and a pipeline of infrastructure that is going to make things worse, if contractors do not train people "they will be short" in " ve years time. As a result, labour costs will increase by 30%, he stressed. T hames Water has gone out to consultation over its plans for a £280M scheme that will protect properties in two royal boroughs - Hammer- smith and Fulham as well as Kensington and Chelsea - from sewer › ooding. The open consultation, which ends on January 25, focuses on how and where the new storm relief sewer will be constructed to help protect 1,700 homes and businesses. The Counters Creek sewer › ooding alleviation project includes innovative trials of sustainable drainage systems and measures to protect indi- vidual properties, helping to substantially reduce the overall cost of the project and limit the new storm relief sewer to a 5k-long section to capture excess rainwater. Both bor- oughs have been involved in the development of the approach. Councillor Nick Paget- Brown, leader of the Royal Bor- ough of Kensington and Chel- sea, said:£"Many of us remember the › ooding in 2007 and the problems it caused for resi- dents. Since then, our planning policy was changed to reduce and mitigate › ood risk in the borough. But clearly this can only go so far and so we have also been working closely with Thames Water to see what they can do to alleviate the risk of › ooding in the Counters Creek area." Time is running out to enter 'water' awards Initiative of the Year; Data Project of the Year; and Partnership Initiative of the Year. Details are available online at www.wwtonline. co.uk/awards. Organised by WET News and Water & Wastewater Treatment, the awards celebrate and reward forward thinking and best practice in the water industry. The winners will be announced at a glittering extravaganza at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on April 21, 2015! Talis and Selwood are the latest companies to sign up and sponsor categories. Talis is sponsoring Water Resource Management Initiative of the Year, while Selwood is co-sponsoring Health & Safety Initiative of the Year. 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, Procurement plan to aid skills shortage "We're stepping forward to treble the amount of training we do and drive new standards. The utilities industry will lead in terms of using procurement to ensure you train at the level that is needed and to recognise what you're doing on training already." Robertson said the totex approach being introduced with AMP6 will be an interesting chal- lenge on the skills side as sta© will need to operate in an envi- ronment where assets and investments are being viewed slightly di© erently. "Sta© will need to have a broader skills set, maybe by as much as 25 to 30%. They're going to have to make decisions with a wider set of information. Leakage control, catchment management, sewer › ow, for example. "This will all " lter back to you because the asset owners, the water companies, will pass all that on to you." Thames plans £280M relief sewer DECEMBER 2014 Volume 20 • Issue 12 behavioural "Staff will need to have a broader skills set, maybe by as much as 25 to 30%..." Neil Robertson REALITY CHECK The delivery of future large infrastructure projects in London and the South-east will be jeopardised unless the supply of construction workers is increased (LCCI and KPMG report) Based on the infrastructure pipeline, the report said 124,180 construction workers are required on site in London and the South-east in 2015 A 26% increase in water supply and a 20% rise in energy will be required to cope with population growth demand up to 2050 In past AMP cycles, the transition from one to the next led to the loss of thousands of jobs as the five-year cyclicality created a boom and bust roller-coaster in the industry Civils contractors are taking on apprentices at more than double the rate of the wider industry as the sector acts to meet future skills demand, according to CECA

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