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UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH JULY 2015 | 21 Operations & Assets Analysis H indsight is a wonderful thing – and water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) have the ideal opportunity to use it as they plan their adoption strate- gies for private pumping stations ahead of October 2016, when 15,000 pumping stations across the country will pass from private ownership to the licensed water companies. Five years earlier, in October 2011, they had been required to adopt more than 200,000km of private sewers. Before carry- ing this out, they had had to locate the sew- ers, assess their condition, and then conduct essential repairs once they had taken owner- ship of them. Some in the industry called the whole process of adopting private sewers and pumping stations, both of which were for- mally legislated for in 2011 with the aim of increasing fairness in the sewerage system, "hideously complex". However, out of the complexity of the sewers adoption have come plans to ensure that the pumping stations adoption goes more smoothly. The three key lessons that make up the backbone of the WaSCs plans are: early loca- tion; preparing for problems; and adopting early. 1. Early location Unlike with the sewers adoption, water com- panies have had several years' notice of the adoption (rules about the pumping stations were set in place at the same time as those for the sewers, back in 2010). That means they can avoid the costly scramble that took place in 2011, when they spent millions of pounds trying to hunt down and map the sewers. In the end, they unearthed more than 200,000km, an 80 per cent increase on their existing networks. This time the companies are taking advantage of the advance notice and have slowly built their awareness campaigns, get- ting customers to register pumping station locations via online portals. South West Water wrote to customers in 2011 informing them about the pumping sta- tion adoption scheme, and has since identi- fied more than 300 of the 900 it expects to take on. Thames Water started its campaign to find its 4,000 pumping stations at the same time, and has since run a number of local campaigns. Internally, it is offering staff a £25 reward for any pumping station they locate. However, around half of the 15,000 pump- ing stations predicted to be adopted have still to be located. Consumer Council for Water (CCWa- ter) policy manager Steve Grebby says this should not be a problem because the WaSCs have one more trick to use. This builds on the mass mailout informing customers of the sewer adoption by targeting areas where pumping stations are expected to be. "Tell- ing them the pumping station will be taken off their hands in a couple of months will get their interest," he says. 2. Early adoption The tight timeframe for the sewer adop- tion meant much of the additional network changed hands overnight. To help the companies get to grips with the significantly enlarged network, the Envi- ronment Agency gave the WaSCs a six-month grace period so they could resolve any prob- lems early to limit the risk of fines and pen- alties. This is not being offered this time around. With the money set aside, and to prevent blockages and sewer flooding leading to fines and penalties, many of the WaSCs have started taking on pumping stations before the deadline so they can fix any issues. Severn Trent is adopting "those stations we deem high risk" of failure, and those that are difficult to access, giving itself as much time as possible to complete the necessary maintenance work. Welsh Water started its adoption process in 2013, and has been taking on six pumping stations a week as it works towards its esti- mated total of 900. Grebby says that leaving the pumping sta- tions and their potential problems until the deadline would means the WaSCs "inher- iting a lot of assets in one go and come in October 2016 find they've got a big problem". 3. Prepare for problems Once the private sewers were adopted, com- panies saw the number of blockages rocket due to the poor condition of large stretches of them. Thames Water had to deal with an addi- tional 14,946 blockages in the 12 months from adoption, 21 per cent of the company's total for that year, while South West Water saw its blockage figures jump from 3,000 to 8,000. This was repeated across the industry. With this increased activity came increased costs. In the second half of 2011/12, United Utilities spent £21 million as a result of the 32,200km of private sewers it took on, while South West Water spent £44 million to determine the condition of and to improve its newly adopted sewers. The companies have just £375 million allocated for the transfer, upgrade and main- tenance of private pumping stations in their PR14 final determination. To limit the costs, Thames Water is operating a "safe and serviceable" regime, whereby it will bring or keep the pumping stations at a minimum standard, below that found at other pumping stations across the region. Other companies are set to follow a similar regime. Thames Water specialist network man- ager Justin Camis tells Utility Week: "Bring- ing the pumping stations up to standard would be a huge undertaking." He adds that Thames Water will look to upgrade the pumping stations in future asset manage- ment plan periods. Pumped up for action In 2016, water companies will be required to adopt 15,000 private pumping stations. Learning from the private sewer adoption of 2011, they already have plans in place, says Mathew Beech. l A numbers game: many of the 15,000 private pump- ing stations are housed in small cabinets but their condition varies dramatically