WET News

4 WET NEWS JULY 2015 NEWS+ CONTRACT WINS • Survey reveals two-thirds of utilities are confident their supply chain management can identify potential risk. Utilities can cope with supplier failures U tilities overseas and in the UK are experiencing problems caused by suppliers' failures in health and safety and financials – yet they are still confident they are adequately managing supplier risk. In a market survey carried out by Achilles, 65% of utilities worldwide said they were confident that the way their business manages its supply chain helps them identify and manage potential risk. But more than a quarter of utilities experienced problems caused by suppliers' financial instability, and more than one in five (22%) had experienced problems caused by suppliers' poor health and safety practices. The survey reports that 14% did not know how many of their suppliers would be described as high risk. In the survey, high risk is defined as those suppliers whose failure could damage a firm's financial or reputational standing or ability to operate normally. One UK utility told the survey it was leˆ in the lurch when a supplier became insolvent. The company had to find new suppliers, which resulted in a financial cost and also affected its ability to operate normally as it was faced with delays and disruptions. Tom Grand, UK & Ireland regional director at Achilles, said: "Firms know the failure of a supplier can have potentially devastating effects on a business including extreme delays and significant financial cost. But this survey suggests some firms might be unable to predict where a disruption may occur because they do not know the risk profile of their suppliers. "Prevention is vital when it comes to minimising any type of risk – including financial and health and safety issues. We have found the best way to do so is by gathering comprehensive information on suppliers in business critical areas, assessing each supplier using a risk matrix and performing- wide ranging audits on those deemed to be medium and high risk." He said utilities can most effectively tackle risks associated with suppliers when they work collaboratively to set common industry standards required of all contractors. GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK Congrats to Biwater chairman Adrian E White, awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday honours for services to trade and exporting. Kier has completed the £265M takeover of Mouchel, accelerating delivery of its "Vision 2020" strategy. Ten reservoirs in England were the subject of safety non-compliance notices in the past two years, said an Environment Agency report. The revised EU Bathing Water Directive, coming into force this year, could see 25 English beaches fail the new standard. REALITY CHECK Contaminated water from shale gas is likely to be caused by faulty wells rather than the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), according to US researchers Companies with existing fracking licenses in the UK include Cuadrilla Resources, Coastal Oil & Gas, Dart Energy and Celtique Energy. Yorkshire, Lancashire and South Wales are the areas with the most exploration activity Water quality concerns surround chemicals used in the fracking process finding their way into groundwater Scientists are unsure what role fracking's toxins play in the greenhouse gas effect Fracking moves a step closer in Lancashire • Council recommends Cuadrilla's fracking application should be approved for one of two sites in the North-west. The proposed sites will have up to four vertical boreholes each with lateral boreholes extending from them A s WET News went to press Cuadrilla was waiting to hear if one of its two applications to carry out shale gas exploration in the North-west had proved successful. The company's plan to start fracking in the region was being considered by planners at Lancashire County Council's Development Control Committee (DCC). The consideration follows the council's recommendation that the application to explore for shale gas at Preston New Road near Blackpool should be granted. be viable and is carried out at each of the sites. It is proposed that the sites will have up to four vertical boreholes each with lateral boreholes extending from them, within a defined quadrant as projected to the surface. The Preston New Road recommendation for approval is subject to several conditions including the safeguarding of watercourses. In a statement, Cuadrilla said: "We are pleased that Lancashire County Council's Planning Officers have recommended that the council's However, the council said the application at nearby Roseacre Wood should be refused because the construction work would create too much traffic. The DCC agreed with the council over Roseacre Wood, and refused the application. However, it had failied to reach a decision regarding the Preston New Road site. The applications involved drilling, fracking and extended flow testing of the gas with a direct connection to a local gas transmission pipeline, if extended testing is thought to In the US, exploration and production companies have been under pressure to reduce the amount of freshwater used in dry areas like Texas The US market to treat wastewater from shale-gas drilling will grow by 28% annually, taking it to £5.5bn by 2020 Fracking requires more water than conventional gas drilling; but when natural gas is used instead of coal or nuclear fuel to generate electricity, it ends up saving water In the US, replacing coal with fracked gas has brought US CO2 emissions back down to levels last seen 20 years ago • Amey has been awarded a £250M extension to its wastewater contract with Severn Trent Water. The Sewerage Commercial Model (SCM) contract has been expanded to cover repair and maintenance of the sewer network across the entire Severn Trent region until March 2021. • AECOM, with partners WRc and UK Water, has been selected to deliver the Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service for the Scottish government. AECOM, WRc and UK Water will manage the three-year programme, working with environ- mental technology SMEs in water and wastewater across Scotland. Development Control Committee grant planning consent for our application at Preston New Road. "In January 2015, Officers recommended refusal at Preston New Road only on grounds of night-time noise and we duly submitted additional information on mitigation measures, which was publicly consulted on, to further bring down noise levels well below limits set out in government guidance. "For our application at Roseacre Wood we supplied additional information regarding traffic routes which we and our expert advisers believe addressed issues which were raised in the officer's report in January. Whilst we remain confident that our original proposed route was adequate, the alternative route suggested also met with all necessary guidelines..." Shale gas exploration includes the the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The main concern is that the process could cause contamination of the drinking water aquifers that overlie shale gas reserves by allowing gases such as methane to permeate into drinking water sources from rocks where it was previously confined. Contamination could also be caused by chemicals used in the fracking process. Government must 'act with caution' over flood defence spending cuts • Civil engineers are urging the government to work with LLFAs and target flood spend where it is needed the most. T he Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is urging the government to "act with caution" when making spending cuts in areas such as flood risk management, that could impact on the resilience of the UK and its infrastructure networks. In its submission to the Treasury ahead of the Budget on July 8, ICE said proposed public spending cuts threaten many of government departments responsible for delivering and maintaining infrastructure, at a time when government should be reaffirming its commitment to infrastructure sitting at the heart of its economic plans. ICE highlighted concerns around the axe falling on the six- year £2.3bn investment plan for new flood defences, which is unprotected. Flood schemes are also vulnerable from potential cuts to local authority budgets. Government-only part funds flood schemes - Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) must generate the additional investment and where the partnership funding leveraged is insufficient, local authorities have to plug the gap from already stretched budgets. The Budget should be used to demonstrate the government's commitment to building the UK's resilience, locking in the £2.3bn investment for new flood defences, matching it with a six- year investment programme for maintaining existing flood defences, and avoiding further cuts to local authority budgets, said ICE. It also urged government to work more closely with LLFAs to target flood spend where it is needed most. Nick Baveystock, ICE director general, said: "We are at a critical time – the dust has now settled and government knows it must restore momentum, building on the solid foundations laid since 2010 and demonstrating its commitment to infrastructure as a catalyst for rebalanced growth, productivity and improved resilience. When public spending is tight, we know tough decisions must be made, but we hope government acts with caution when it comes to spending cuts that could affect infrastructure delivery or impact on the progress made. The UK's resilience, in particular, should not hang in the balance." He said resilience cannot be achieved through "one-off cash injections" to repair flood defences or patch up roads following extreme weather. "It is a long term challenge which demands long term thinking. 5.2million properties are at risk of flooding in England alone, with annual flood damage costs in the region of £1.1billion. It has been estimated that maintaining existing levels of flood defence would require flood defence spend to increase to over £1 billion per year by 2035." In February, the coalition government announced £140M-plus of the £2.3bn, six-year flood defence programme was to be brought forward The green light was given to 47 brand new flood defence schemes TEAM2100 is providing detailed engineering and structural investigations into the condition of tidal defences in London and Thames estuary It is estimated that maintaining existing levels of flood defence would require flood defence spend to increase to £1bn-plus a year by 2035 • Syrinix has won a three-year framework to supply Thames Water with its TrunkMinder trunk main monitoring solution. The company's CEO, James Dunning, said the win showed the confidence that Thames Water has in the technology to help manage its trunk main network actively.

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