Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/503268
12 WET NEWS MAY 2015 The event's support of charity WaterAid was evident throughout in the development of the Gas Innovation Summit, which has helped create a shared strategic view of the challenges and oppor- tunities in that sector. Having started out as a gas- centric project, the initiative ended up with the ambition of cre- ating a platform where the com- munity individuals are brought the people who have got the infra- structure, whether it is networks or distribution, and the funders together. It will work for electricity, it will work for renewables, it will work for gas, said Massey. She said the ambition was far bigger than where the project started from, and that only came because of collaboration. It was a very open process, and within six months a tangible visions had been delivered. ONSITE UTiliTY Week live revieW Arup associate director Peter Edwards said the built world is becoming increasingly smart, cre- ating "a deluge of data". However, he said companies needed to start with the question before making the costly investment in data management. Edwards revealed that sensors are costly, and that their use on the Crossrail project in London, for instance, accounts for 1-3% of the scheme's costs. He stressed that the presentation of data should be aimed at the engineers working on a project, and not the data staff. With the latest regulatory cycle, AMP6, having seen a total operating (totex) cost culture implemented, visitors were keen to get the low-down on this par- ticular subject. EC Harris's Greg Bradley did not disappoint, as he said the water sector needed to become "asset-centric, business- centric and future-proof, and com- panies should be thinking about whole life cost of assets and evalu- ating capex and opex interven- tions. "Getting this spot on is quite hard". Bradley said: "Totex is a broad topic. It's created a whole mindset shi'." Delegates heard that the water industry is dominated by what is being spent on assets, but Bradley outlined how the rail sec- tor has standardised its inspection and maintenance procedures and linked them to risk and unit cost. The Energy Innovation Centre (EIC) has played a leading role in creating collaboration and co- opetion in the gas sector and its CEO, Denise Massey, was on hand at UWL to outline how pan utili- ties can connect to create better infrastructure. She said the utilities have simi- lar challenges and there are real opportunities for them to cooper- ate and do the learning from each other. It is about collaboration. The EIC has been instrumental The Drilling & Tapping competition was as popular as ever exhibitors were kept busy as visitors checked out the latest innovations on display