WET News

4 WET NEWS october 2015 News+ CONTRACT WINS GOOD MONTH BAD MONTH For crickets, as the wart-biter is reintroduced by South east Water at east Sussex treatment plants. For South West Water, fined £73K for two separate sewage pollution incidents. UU's is expecting a £25M compensation bill for the crypto crisis – £10M more than estimated. Scottish Water sets up academy for skills training • Water company's new training scheme will enhance skills, harness expertise as well as 'blend' wisdom and youth. S cottish Water expects up to 400 employees a year will benefit from a new skills academy it has created at Balmore Water Treatment Works (WTW). Expert training will also be given to some of Scottish Water's partners. Five long-serving Scottish Water employees, with more than 120 years of experience between them, will pass on their knowledge and expertise to develop water engineers at the purpose-build training facility near Glasgow. Balmore WTW has been equipped with its own test rig to simulate real- life scenarios, such as work on water mains and pipes, and has already been used to provide training to fire service employees on the use of hydrants. Scottish Water said 400 employees are expected to be targeted initially, including operational staff who maintain its 30,000 miles of pipes. Each employee will spend two days a year in the facility, which will then be complemented by on the job training to ensure training skills are put into practice. Paul Campbell, Scottish Water's Organisational Learning and Development lead, who conceived the skills academy, said: "As one of the UK's top performing water british Water says at least 40,000 staff are laid off as a result of the troughs in the five-yearly AMP cycles eU Skills statistics reveal that 139,500 people work in the water industry in england, 28,500 of which are employed by the regulated water companies and utilities the industry is facing an aging workforce, which is expected to worsen over the next 15 years Skills are integrally linked to innovation Historic investment in skills in the industry has remained relatively low Bluewater Bio helps phosphorus removal trial • company contracted for year-long trial with Yorkshire Water as part of wider initiative for industry. Y orkshire Water has awarded a contract to Bluewater Bio for a year- long phosphorus removal trial at one of its wastewater treatment works in Derbyshire. The utility will use Bluewater's high-rate filter technology, Filterclear, for a full scale trial at Bolsover Sewage Treatment Works, starting on November 6. The site serves a population equivalent of 10,000, and Filterclear will be used for 100% of the flow. The trial is part of a wider initiative being managed by UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) on behalf of several major water and sewerage companies in the UK. As part of the National Chemical Investigation Programme (CIP) the feasibility and cost implications in achieving a Total Phosphorus level of 0.1 mg/L will be evaluated, with the outcome of the trials aiding in determining the strategy the respective water companies' implement when addressing P removal in the future. Phosphorus removal is a key focus for many sewerage companies at the moment as discharge consents on it are being tightened as a result of regulation under the EU Water Framework Directive. Fergus Rooksby, commercial director of Bluewater Bio, commented: "We are delighted to work with Yorkshire Water on what is a very important area of interest for the industry as a whole. With increasingly stringent discharge coming into place for P removal across the UK and Europe, economically viable and sustainable approaches need to be examined and evaluated. "FilterClear's exceptional final effluent quality coupled with its small footprint, off-site manufacturing approach and short lead times make it an ideal option for a chemical dosing approach to low phosphate concentration consents." Headquartered in London, and with an R&D team based at Cranfield University, Bluewater Bio has a growing technology portfolio focused primarily on the rapid upgrading, optimisation and monitoring of water and wastewater treatment plants. • Nomenca, Cema clayton consortium, eric Wright Group and Damar Group have been awarded Yorkshire Water's new £100M MeIcA contract. Part of the five-year contract will ensure that the 720 sewage pumping stations that have recently been transferred to Yorkshire Water are brought up to its standards. • Mott MacDonald bentley, Interserve, Integrated Water Services and a joint venture between esh construction and MWH have been awarded ten-year frameworks, worth £50M a year, by Northumbrian Water Group (NWG). The frameworks took effect from october 1, and cover the Northumbrian Water and essex & Suffolk Water regions. • Panton McLeod is to provide critical engineering services for Scottish Water as part of a 12-year framework contract. the sole supplier contract includes the inspection, cleaning and maintenance of more than 2,000 treated water storage assets across the whole of Scotland, including the highland and Islands. companies, we are absolutely determined to ensure that the experience and knowledge we have built over the years is retained within Scottish Water so that our customers continue to receive the highest possible standard of service. It's a great way of harnessing the expertise of long-serving employees to help our wider workforce and new recruits to learn and develop. "This is about both managing knowledge and transferring knowledge. Clearly, it is vital that our next generation coming through the business are equipped with the skills and knowledge to perform effectively." Campbell said the Skills Academy will also allow more experienced workers to be trained in new skills, and to feel confident that they can continue to play an important role. "It's about blending wisdom and youth and we're sure there will be considerable interest in how it is developing." Aberdeen-based Raymond Johnston, one of the skills academy instructors, said: "I have worked for Scottish Water and its predecessors for 34 years and I am very excited by this new development of training up existing experienced employees to develop and deliver training and support learning in our business. "I joined the Skills Academy as it is an excellent opportunity to help enhance the skills of the distribution employees who work for Scottish Water, we are developing new methods of working on the water network and this will benefit our customers by cutting down on the number of interruptions to their water supply and help to maintain the high quality of water we are providing." Jointly organised by 2 5 t h N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5 ■ b i r m i N g h a m Sponsored by Supported by This is the only annual event that brings together senior directors from UK water sector consultancies, contractors and subcontractors, equipment manufacturers and service providers of all sizes. Book now at www.WWT-supplychain.net Attend this unique one-day event to: • Explore innovative approaches to better your relationship with water companies • Find out how to implement BIM successfully to maximise efficiency and hear what Totex means for the water industry and its impact on the supply chain WaterIndSupp15-88x130-ad.indd 1 25/09/2015 10:50 "clearly, it is vital that our next generation coming through the business are equipped with the skills and knowledge to perform effectively" Paul Campbell, Scottish Water operational staff who maintain Scottish Water's 30,000 miles of pipes will initially be targeted

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