Water & Wastewater Treatment

4 | APRIL 2015 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry news April Water companies will have to collaborate effectively with a variety of stakeholders in AMP6 as many of the asset management challenges they face are "not sole agency issues" delegates at WWT's Water Asset Management conference heard. David Elliott, Director of Environment and Assets at Wessex Water told the conference in Birmingham that if the sector was to move away from a reliance on building new assets in favour of smarter, Totex- based solutions, then it needed a "collaborative, multi-agency approach". He gave the example of the Water Framework Directive, where ensuring compliance with the new standards will require work with agriculture and industrial stakeholders throughout catchments. "We can invest as much as we like in our treatment works, but if we don't deal with diffuse pollution then that target Collaborative approach 'vital to optimise water assets' Contract Tracker Balfour Beatty picked for Thames Estuary flood scheme Balfour Beatty has been selected as the civils contractor for an integrated team that will deliver the ten-year Thames Estuary Asset Management Programme (TEAMP) for CH2M Hill. The deal is worth up to £250M to Balfour. The TEAMP, which is being carried out on behalf of the Environment Agency, is the largest single flood risk asset management programme ever awarded in the UK. Boulting wins D&B framework from UU Boulting Group, the multi- disciplined engineering solutions provider, has been successful in its bid for the Operational Technology Design and Build Framework with United Utilities (UU). The group said it is looking forward to working with UU to deliver operational design and build projects, and promised a collaborative approach and early engagement between the two companies. Three JVs chosen for Thames Tideway Three joint ventures - BMB, FLO and CVB - are the preferred tenders to build the £4.2bn Thames Tideway Tunnel, the £4.2BN 'super sewer' being built by Thames Water. The contracts are expected to be awarded in the summer, when the investors who will be chosen to finance and deliver the project as the Infrastructure Provider are announced. will never be met," said Elliott. "In many places, when it comes to nutrients in rivers for example, we are less than 25% of the problem. So dealing with it as a sole agent through asset solutions is really not the best way forward. A collaborative, multi-agency approach is needed." Wessex Water has considerable experience of catchment management, and is extending and redefining the approach towards the concept of "catchment services" in AMP6, said Elliott. This means going beyond educational approaches - which are o‹en a "win- win" for farmers and the environment alike - and greater use of incentives and compensation payments to change behaviour. Working with customers to reduce demand for water and minimise the burden on sewers will be another theme of the next five years, said Elliott. Wessex is in the process of developing a wastewater meter to help awareness of the latter, which will give customers the opportunity to save on their bill by reducing the wastewater they produce. "It's about getting customers to see that they are part of the solution," he said. Elliott – who is about to receive the new job title of 'Director of Strategy and New Markets' to reflect Wessex's future direction – said that water companies cannot afford to operate in a silo if they are to "sweat their assets" and increasingly need to trade outcomes with other stakeholders. "The challenges we face are not sole agency issues. We need to work together to make sure we get the most out of our existing assets before we building new ones," he concluded. David Elliott will be speak- ing at Utility Week Live, April 21-23 at Birmingham's NEC, on the subject of catchment management. For more details and to book your place see www.utilityweeklive.co.uk 16.5 % The reduction in water consumption per household that Southern Water says it has achieved through its customer metering programme. The utility has found that its 500,000 metered households are using 60 litres a day less water on average. HEIR STYLE: Prince Charles helped mark the 150th anniversary of London's sewer system by visiting the Lee Tunnel and historic Abbey Mills Pumping Station. He is pictured with Thames Water apprentices Liam Kelleher and Tony Brown walking 75m below ground in the Lee Tunnel. The £635M tunnel, which is 7 metres in diameter, runs 7km from Abbey Mills to Beckton sewage works.

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