Water & Wastewater Treatment

8 | FEBRUARY 2015 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Comment F ew things are more frustrating than nding you've paid over the odds for something – think about those jeans you bought one weekend, only to see them in a sale the next. Simi- larly, when it comes to non-domestic water and wastewater services, businesses might not like to discover they could have challenged their current supplier for a better deal. The UK Water Bill received Royal Assent in May 2014 and became law, paving the way for a competitive retail water market in England from April 2017. This means that all businesses will be able to choose their water supplier instead of hav- ing to work with a regional incumbent under the current regime. In Scotland, a competitive retail market has been in operation since 2008 and has driven up customer service, value for money and innovation. The good news is that the advantages of competition for English businesses are not entirely reserved for April 2017. Many organisations can Testing the competitive market for water retail Although retail competition for non-household customers will not be a reality in England until 2017, smart businesses will be already preparing for the change bene t now by testing the market ahead of deregu- lation. As has been the case in Scotland, a competitive market in England will likely mean businesses will have more buying power than ever before. They'll be able to choose a supplier for either their water or wastewater services or both, depending on what expertise and prices suit them best. Negotiate now, not later Current legislation allows for high volume custom- ers – those which use more than ve megalitres (ML) of water per year for a single site – to switch their water provider. But even customers which don't meet this threshold can test the market. Water e' ciency and wastewater management aren't subject to regula- tion, so customers can choose any supplier which meets their requirements. Looking around now also means that businesses will be more informed customers when the retail market opens in 2017. Get smart A simple and cost-e" ective way to streamline water services management is to automate it. A smart device such as an automated meter reader (AMR) collects water readings from the water supply system every 15 minutes and provides alerts in the event of any anomalies. This can help a business better understand its water use, detect leaks before they occur, and reduce costs. Map your network Mapping underground water networks can be a powerful way to take control of water use. Lots of organisations don't have an accurate or up-to-date map of their networks, which makes it very dif- cult to know where to look in the event of a burst pipe. Network mapping enables you to understand where water pipes are located, and how they con- nect with the rest of your services network. If an issue arises, you can easily isolate and deal with it without needing to shut down the entire system. Sort out your compliance Updating or streamlining your trade e— uent management keeps you on the right side of your environmental law obligation, and can even reduce associated costs. We recently worked in partnership with Devro to save £500,000 by updating its trade e— uent treatment management. We supplied mobile equipment to provide a quick, temporary treat- ment solution to the immediate issue of ammonia pollution, bringing consent levels in line. We then designed a system that neutralises the e" ects of the ammonia using a unique 'air-stripping' process. Devro is now also able to recycle some of its e— u- ent, thus contributing to a key business objective. It's our rm belief that customers in England stand to bene t from the reform to the non-domes- tic water market, and there are opportunities to reap those bene ts now without switching suppli- ers. By preparing for competition early, taking full advantage of a competitive market should feel just like slipping on a new pair of jeans – without wor- rying about having paid over the odds for them. DAVID SEYMOUR HEAD OF MARKET DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS STREAM

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