WET News

2 WET NEWS FEBRUARY 2015 COMMENT "With or without in- dustrial disputes, the water supply should not stop " NEWS+ FEBRUARY 7 The number of NEETs trainees who have complet- ed their training, and are being fast-tracked into full-time work ƒ xing water pipes, electricity cables or working on huge gas projects. "I was never in any doubt that there was a great deal of work to be done to restore the group to strength. Balfour Beatty is a large organisation which had become too complex..." Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive Costain's group order book at the end of 2014 had risen 17% to a new record level of £3.5bn (2013: £3bn), with more than 90% of orders comprising repeat business. 90% 17% IN A NUTSHELL "Cheers to this engineering miracle. A machine that turns poop into tasty drinking water." @BillGates on visiting a mini sewage treatment system 14lbs The amount of FOG disposed of down drains by the average household annually in the North- west, a UU study reveals. Fry-ups are a popular contributor to FOG in the region's sewers. $60bn How much money has been spent worldwide on managing supplier information "It has been a tricky job, replacing such large pieces of kit in a confined space and the rain that arrived just as we started certainly didn't help" Neil Hawkes, Southern Water, on the replacement of two large valves at the Sea Road pumping station in Littlehampton. "This was a complex legal case which was argued for four hours by QCs at court... Unfortunately the judge disagreed" Cllr Peter John, leader, Southwark Council, on the High Court rejecting a bid to appeal against Chambers Wharf being used as a Tideway Tunnel drive site. £6M The funding pledged by the English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee for flood defences in Severn and Wye catchment. The money will be spent over the next six years. I t hasn't been a good few weeks for Northern Ireland Water (NI Water), what with thousands of customers being le without water supply as a result of the industrial action at the company over pensions. The Water Group of Trade Unions (WGTU), including NIPSA, United and GMB, had called the industrial action to start before the Christmas and New Year festivities. The action mainly involved a work-to-rule. However, as an act of good faith and so as not to spoil everyone's Christmas and New Year the unions agreed to an emergency protocol where their members would be asked to work out of hours if called upon. Come the New Year, the WGTU dropped the emergency protocol and began the work-to -rule in earnest. The industrial action was suspended by the unions on January 21 following a Š nal o‹ er from NI Water. By then the damage had been done. Upto 9,000 properties had been le with water supply, and Lough Braden Water Treatment Works in the Tyrone area experienced problems. What was so surprising, though, was the speed at which NI Water's supply network seemed to break down. Danny Kennedy, minister for regional development, told the NI Assembly that under invest- ment had "weakened" the infrastructure. That certainly needs to be addressed because with or without industrial disputes, the water supply should not stop. So if the rumours are true that NI Water could be sold o‹ to help the NI Assembly raise funds following the Stormont House Agreement, would that be such a bad thing? Especially if it meant more investment for NI Water's infrastructure. Are companies really that trusting on procurement? Research by Achilles, the supplier information and supply chain management company, reveals that utilities are not carrying out basic due diligence on suppliers when procuring goods and services (see front page). You would think that it was common practice for businesses to screen suppliers in advance of awarding their multimillion contracts. But apparently they are not. Companies are not even conducting checks on health and safety policies, Š nancial documents, or making site visits regarding their main suppliers. Even one in three global utilities say they have issued tenders or contracts to main suppliers without having an anti-bribery and corruption policy in place. Achilles puts this all down to the utilities being too trusting and taking a relaxed approach to checking suppliers. The research highlights that around US$60bn has been spent by businesses worldwide on managing information about their supplier. This was obviously money well spent! Call 01527 833383 for advice and support Low Energy Ventilation & Odour Control Efficient, Effective, Innovative Solutions Air Technology Systems Ltd 8 Aston Court, Bromsgrove Enterprise Park Bromsgrove, B60 3AL Tel: 01527 833383 www.atsclimate.com water industry specialists APPROVED CONTRACTOR T he BITC Water Taskforce is calling on UK business leaders to take action and safeguard water supplies for the future and to improve their resil- ience to the risks presented by too much or too little of the re- source.ž The call comes as the taskforce has launched a report to kick o‹ the start of its three- year action plan. The report, Water: Securing The Resources For Future Pros- perity, highlights the water challenges in the UK,ž and explains why business should take action. It presents exam- ples of howž organisations are already responding to the challenge.ž Central to the report arež six steps that the taskforce, chaired by United Utilities CEO Steve Mogford, has identiŠ ed to help organisations takež action on water. These are: • Understand their relationship with water • Create a plan for action • Manage direct use of water • Manage indirect use of water • Build resilience to fl ooding and water shortages £ Taskforce launches six-step action plan to help safeguard water resources. Collaboration is key. BITC challenges businesses to protect water supply individual businesses are doing great things to help protect water quality and the environ- ment. We believe businesses working together and sharing best practice is crucial to encourage others to do the same. "That is why we are provid- ing the Water Stewardship in Food Supply Chains Project within the Water Taskforce with £150,000 of government fund- ing, to help boost collaboration and share knowledge across industry. It is great news that we are supporting the Business in the Community Water Task- force. In its Š rst year, this group has already achieved a lot and I am certain that we can achieve even more in the next year thanks to our funding." The water taskforce is the Š rst of a series of collaborations that aim to explore the issues and opportunities around pro- viding high quality, a‹ ordable, sustainable supplies of life's essentials – water, energy, food and connectivity. Members include Anglian Water, Costain, UU, Dairy Crest, Defra.ž REALITY CHECK More than 70% of the Earth is covered by water, but less than 0.007% is easily accessible freshwater Global freshwater demand is expected to rise by 40% by 2030 The agricultural sector is responsible for 70% of all the freshwater used by humans Each person in the UK uses around 150l of water a day, a ƒ gure that has increased by 1% every year since 1930 The volume of clean water required for domestic consumption and the amount of wastewater requiring treatment to increase as the UK population grows by ten million by 2035 • Collaborate on sustainable water quality management Commenting on the report, water minister Dan Rogerson said: "Across the country, many

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