Water & Wastewater Treatment

4 | December 2015 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry news December Almost two-thirds (63.6%) of England's bathing waters have met the new 'excellent' standard under the tougher Bathing Water Directive (BWD), the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced. Of the 624 coastal and inland bathing waters in England, 377 were declared excellent, while 595 met at least the minimum quality standard. Only 29 were rated poor. Environment Minister Rory Stewart said: "Our bathing waters continue to get better, with 97% meeting new, tougher standards. We continue working to further improve the quality of our water, and last year our coast was the cleanest it has ever been. "Swimming is allowed and all beaches remain open; new EU standards are simply there to advise and inform the public on water quality. Two-thirds of bathing waters 'excellent' under new BWD Contract Tracker Thames awards monitor deals Thames Water has awarded contracts for the supply of flow, level and pressure instruments to ABB Ltd, NIVUS GmbH and Siemens PLC; a separate lot covering flow, level and pressure calibration and commissioning has gone to Z-Tech Control Systems Ltd. The contracts last three years with an option to extend to six years. YW gives Ice Watch contract Yorkshire Water has awarded a two-year, £500,000 winter maintenance deal to Ice Watch to carry out gritting and snow clearing services to more than 120 of its top operational sites. The deal will ensure key assets are kept free of ice and snow so work can continue throughout the winter. DrainsAid wins septic tank AM deal with Network Rail DrainsAid, the specialist drainage and sewer rehabilitation division of Peter Duffy, is to manage the septic tank assets on the London North West (LNW) route having secured a two-year deal with Network Rail. The company will help the railway maintenance specialists with planned and reactive drainage services for Network Rail assets throughout the region, including sites in remote and challenging locations. "I want Britain's beaches, seas and lakes to have the cleanest water in the world. We need everyone to help us achieve this – from Government, water companies and councils to local communities." The 2015 figures are the first time that new, tougher standards have been applied. However, Defra has produced guideline findings over the last three years in preparation for the new standard, which are built in to this year's results. Last year, these found that 78.2% of bathing waters would pass the minimum standard. The results for 2015 therefore represent a significant improvement on this, although year-on-year comparisons are difficult because of variations in weather. Bathing water compliance has improved steadily since 1988, helped by improvements to the sewerage system by water companies. Bathing water conditions are now strongly linked to wet weather because spills from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) occur during heavy rain. Dr Pete Fox, Director of Land & Water at the Environment Agency, said: "Water quality at beaches is better than any time in living memory, with dramatic improvements having been made over the last few decades. The Environment Agency has led successful work to monitor, investigate and reduce pollution, which has benefited the environment and people with nearly all of England's beaches meeting the new stringent water quality standards. "The Environment Agency will continue to encourage water companies, local authorities, farmers, and businesses to work together to maintain and improve water quality." 12,386 The number of sewer blockages in the London Borough of Havering in the last five years. The borough has been named as a 'fatberg hotspot' by Thames Water, in a study to reveal the worst areas for 'sewer abuse' by customers. MOULDING THE FUTURE: Anglian Water is exploring the future of 3D printing technology through a collaboration with The Sheffield Water Centre, an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Sheffield. Here Anglian and UoS researchers show off some of the printed items, which include plastic nozzles for use in sand filter beds at treatment works.

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