WET News

2 WET NEWS OCTOBER 015 COMMENT "It will be worth it – just think of the sheer horror on our faces..." OCTOBER 400 Atkins is seeking applica- tions already for its gradu- ate development pro- gramme in 2016. The group expects to have 400 vacancies across the UK business. "Coming together under the single new brand is also an important step in bringing our people together to realise our passion of improving the quality of life and being recognised as the best." Neil McArthur, Arcadis CEO, as the group drops the EC Harris and Hyder Consulting brands. Trade union GMB has urged Ofwat to investigate the leakage levels at Severn Trent Water, saying the utility has increased its estimated background water consumption by 20% in the past 12 months. Seven Trent insists its leakage levels have decreased 10% over the past " ve years. Its focus is to bring that level down even further, and to " x as many leaks as possible within 24 hours. 20% 10% £100M The amount that Southern Water has loaned from the European Investment Bank to help fund improvements to water supply and wastewater treatment in its region. The ten-year loan is a " rst for the company. 10K With obstacles! We will be taking part in the WaterAid Tough Sh!t on October 24. Gulp! "The safe removal of wastewater may be less glamorous than providing a clean water supply, but it's equally important." Atkins'Jim Hunt on the fi rm being one of fi ve appointed to Severn Trent Water's Sewerage Management Planning framework. "The company knew there was a foreseeable risk of an unauthorised discharge for a nine month period..." Judge Christopher Parker QC, fi ning Southern Water £160K over a major sewage pollution incident at East Worthing WwTW in September 2012. 50 The number of interventions to be built along an 8km stretch of the River Don as part of the £19M Sheš eld Lower Don Valley flood defence project. Mott MacDonald has started the design work, while Carillion is the D&B contractor. T he water contracting world has been tinged with shock and sadness with Imtech Water, Waste & Energy (WWE) having gone into administration (see front page). It's the • rst major casualty the industry has seen in about three years. And one has to ask whether the company would still be trading normally if Imtech UK's Dutch parent, Royal Imtech had not gone bankrupt. A major cause of Imtech WWE's problems was a small number of loss-making contracts in the UK water sector. Project losses concern- ing the closure of several larger older contracts and market related start-up delays of new projects schemes were blamed. Hard work Basically, the transition from AMP5 to AMP6 has claimed a top scalp. I also continue to hear from lower down the supply chain that work is not • ltering through any quicker this time round than for previous AMP cycles. A lot of hard work was put in by Cyclicality Working Group to try and iron out the regulatory cycle' bumpy ride. The group needs to assess the AMP5 to AMP6 transition. For instance, the regulator allowed the water companies to bring forward £440M from AMP6 into the • nal year of AMP5. What proportion of that transition spend was actually spent? Has Ofwat's implemen- tation of ODIs and totex thinking had a negative impact for contractors and the supply chain? The work achieved by the Cyclicality Working Group so far should not be allowed to fall by the wayside. We're in AMP6 but there is plenty of time to revolutionise the transition process in time for AMP7. WaterAid's Tough Sh!t – we need your help Finally, here at our East Grinners HQ we're in training – all for a very worthy cause I must add. Yes, the WET News team has joined forces with colleagues from sister journals Utility Week and Water & Wastewater Treatment and will be taking part in WaterAid's Tough Sh!t muddy run fundraiser on October 24 near Deepcut, Surrey. If the 10k run wasn't bad enough, the event obstacles listed on the charity's website sound absolutely terrifying – Bunged up Bungee, Swinging Bog Brushes, Sh!t Heap Scramble, the ¢ oaters, the Porta Slide, The Long Drop just to name a few. So, lovely readers, to make this ordeal, I mean training all worthwhile and, most importantly, to help us raise as much money as we can for WaterAid please, please go to www.justgiving.com/ utility-week and give whatever you can. It will be worth it – just think of the sheer horror on our faces as we endure the course! Glasgow's wastewater infrastructure modernisation scheme making 'good progress' ¤ Scottish Water's £250M programme to transform a host of assets in the city has passed the half way stage. S cottish Water has an- nounced that it is now more than half way through its project to transform Glasgow's wastewater infra- structure and modernise a host of assets dating from Victorian times. The £250M, • ve-year pro- gramme of work is aimed at cre- ating a modern, integrated and sustainable drainage system to improve the environment and biodiversity on the River Clyde and its tributaries, while help- ing tackle ¢ ooding and the ef- fects of climate change. Starting in 2013, the invest- ment followed years of collabo- ration and studies by the Metro- politan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP), whose members include Scot- tish Water, the Scottish Envi- ronment Protection Agency (SEPA), Glasgow City Council and Scottish Canals. Scottish Water's investment includes upgrades to about 200 CSOs on the River Clyde and tributaries such as the River Kelvin and White Cart Water at a cost of about £105M. The investment also includes a number of key projects to tackle ¢ ooding at a cost of about £45M and wastewater improvements in the south west of Glasgow to remove excess surface water from areas with known "pinchpoints" which cause restrictions in the system. The ¢ ooding investment includes completed projects such as improvements to sewer capacity in the Shettleston area of Glasgow, which has reduced the risk of ¢ ooding in Strowan Crescent, and a project to tackle ¢ ooding which has a© ected more than 60 properties in the Shaª on Road area of Temple in Glasgow. Other key ¢ ooding projects and work to improve river water quality are under way in areas such as Cathcart, Paisley, Yoker, Clydebank and Bearsden, with more in the pipeline. The value of investment already completed is about £100M or 40% of the total £250M in the • ve-year programme. Geo© Aitkenhead, Scottish Water's asset management director, said: "We're making good progress with this massive investment in Greater Glas- gow's waste water infrastruc- ture, the biggest in living mem- ory. As we speak, we are pressing ahead with many key projects simultaneously across the area. "The environment and com- munities throughout Greater Glasgow will bene• t hugely from this because it will protect the natural environment and meet the needs of growth, eco- nomic development and regen- eration. It will also support jobs and employment opportunities, including a number of apprenticeships. "Some major projects have already been completed and the preparatory work for others is well under way." By far the biggest project in the programme is the £100M Shieldhall Tunnel, which will resolve large-scale water qual- ity problems in the River Clyde and its tributaries.

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