Water & Wastewater Treatment

Conference News: Water management Welsh Water, used his presentation to show how initiatives at Wales' largest water company are aligned to the Government's new strategy. For instance, the affordability agenda is being spearheaded by Welsh Water, where bills will be coming down with less-than-inflation price rises through to 2020. "We have big plans to expand our HelpU social tariff," said Jones. "Welsh Water already helps almost as many people as all the English water companies put together, and we hope to expand that up to around 100,000 of our most disadvantaged customers by 2020." Jones also alluded to other initiatives mentioned earlier by Davies, such as RainScape, where engagement with local flood forums and local politicians in a sustainable drainage approach has had a big impact on Welsh communities such as Llanelli and Gowerton. Of course, it is difficult to drive new initiatives such as these and maintain excellent levels of service – all at lower cost for customers – without innovation, a point ably made by Jones. "We are pledging no compromise in service and record levels of investment over the next five years, so innovation will be key," he said. "For example, blockages on the sewer networks cost us around £10M a year. Yes we can get more productive, but ultimately we have to stop blockages occurring." Finally, Jones outlined the importance of a partnership approach to catchment management. He cited the Weed Wiper initiative, which has promoted the use of weed wipers in place of boom sprayers in the River Teifi and River Wye catchments, as an example of this in action; ultimately, money is saved for customers by not having to introduce extra treatment capability to cope with the pesticides from sprayers. "We can help make catchment management and natural resource management a reality in Wales," he said. In a later panel dicussion at the conference, panellists agreed that interventions on diffuse pollution must be evidence-based and involve a partnership approach. 8 | JULY 2015 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Models From 50mm To 300mm Selprime Auto Self-Priming Super Silent From 58db(A) Hydraulic Submersibles Electric Submersibles 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, SALES & SERVICE 08450 733835 www.selwoodpumps.co.uk UK's No1 Pump Hire Specialist Diffuse pollution – pollution that comes from surface run-off and soil infiltration rather than from a single discharge point – is rising up the agenda for the water sector. Stephen Marsh-Smith OBE, director at Afonydd Cymru (Welsh Rivers), told delegates: "There is a problem with diffuse pollution and it's seriously affecting our water courses, whether it's from piles of manure in farmyards, ill-advised grazing or open chicken sheds." Tony Harrington, director of environment at Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, said the company is spending just over £30M gathering evidence of diffuse pollution, the results of which will be shared with its partners in coming years. "Partnership working is particularly important," he said. "However, I think we need new approaches too, whether it's general binding rules or different ways of working together. Importantly though, any new regulatory instrument created to control diffuse pollution needs to be enforced to drive the changes we need."

• Cover