WET News

FEBRUARY 2016 WET NEWS 7 News+ Virtual site visits with 3D 360-degree simulator • Welsh Water has spent millions of pounds in the past 12 months on innovation to improve services. D wr Cymru Welsh Water has invested almost £9M in innovation projects over the past 12 months to help improve services for customers and protect the environment. Delegates attending Welsh Water's Innovation Conference in Swansea last month had the opportunity to see some of the projects including a demonstration of the company's new 3D design simulator, the igloo 360. The simulator allows 3D models to be projected in a 360 degree immersed environment, enabling virtual site visits to be conducted, and helping to plan investment schemes ahead of time without the need to travel to site. Welsh Water's innovation projects include: • An £8M investment in a two-year coastal invest- igations programme at 49 sites around the Welsh coastline, which includes field oceanographic surveys, monitoring water quality in rivers, surface water drains and the sewer network • The Smart Networks project uses data analysis models to target operational activity to reduce sewer blockages before customers are affected • Investing in renewable energy to reduce costs and carbon footprint. More than £24M has so far been invested at Welsh Water's Five Fords WwTW near Wrexham • Developing Welsh Water colleagues through a range of learning and d e v e l o p m e n t programmes to enhance innovation capacity Speaking at the event, Edwina Hart, minister for Economy, Science and Transport said: "The need for innovative Welsh businesses is bigger than ever. Supporting and encouraging a culture of open innovation in Wales is a fundamental tenet of our strategy, Innovation Wales. We are working with industry, academia and research organisations to deliver more innovative projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology. Only through collaborative working will new products, processes and services emerge, contributing to the success of Welsh businesses and economic growth." Welsh Water's chief operating officer, Peter Perry, said: "Our second annual innovation event has been a great success, bringing together industry experts, leading researchers, environ- ment bodies and Welsh Government, to share innovation successes and best practice. Our aim is to earn the trust of our customers every day and we know we can only do this by providing the best possible service at the most affordable price, whilst also protecting the environment in our care. "Driving innovation forward helps us to create greener communities, limit our impact on the environment, provide the highest quality of drinking water and lower our costs – all to the benefits of our customers." "Only through collaborative working will new products, processes and services emerge..." Edwina Hart, AM • Freedom of information request reveals extent that water companies withholding outfall frequency and contents data. D etails of nearly 2,000 sewage outfalls are being withheld by water companies, according to anglers' legal organisation Fish Legal. A freedom of information (FOI) request by Fish Legal revealed that the frequency and contents of 1,968 sewage outfalls remain unknown to the Environment Agency (EA). As a result, the discharges cannot be properly regulated. During the privatisation of the water industry in 1989, several thousand outfalls were given temporary deemed consent (TDC) because no legal permits for these discharges existed. Since then the EA has been pressing for the industry to provide information about the outfalls so that bespoke permits can be created under the environmental permitting regime and enforcement action can be taken where discharges pollute rivers, lakes or coastal waters. In 2009, the Environment Welsh Water's Lynn Parry shows Edwina Hart features of the firm's Smart Hub Information on 2,000 sewage outfalls remain unknown to EA Agency tried to apply blanket conditions to bring the temporary discharge consents in line with other combined sewage overflow permits. But water companies appealed the action and the appeal was upheld by the Planning Inspectorate. The water companies said they would prefer to disclose on a voluntary basis rather than being required to do so under regulations, and as a result few details have been forthcoming. The Freedom of Information data shows a variable response, with some water companies such as Anglian Water, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water making little or no progress. Others companies, such as Wessex Water and South West Water, have managed to reduce their number of temporary discharge consents significantly. However it is important to note that some temporary discharge consents are in the process of being reviewed. Anglian Water dra•s in UHP jetting kit from the Netherlands to tackle clogged sewer A nglian Water has brought in ultra-high powered (UHP) jetting equipment from the Netherlands to tackle a pipe that had become clogged with fat in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. Supplied by Anglian Water's partner, Draincare, the UHP jet is mounted on a remote controlled robot. It is the first time the water utility has used the technology, and it is part of an ongoing battle against blockages in the region's pipes. Nik Shelton, Anglian Water spokesperson, said: "This pipe has been an ongoing problem for us and there have been flooding incidents in the area as a result." Shelton continued: "When fat gets poured down plugholes it congeals and sticks to the sewers creating blockages. We have used our own jetting equipment many times to clear this pipe, but now some of the fat has hardened meaning we needed to bring this ultra-high powered jet in to clear it. "We hope that our customers will see this and understand the problems fats in our sewer system cause." He said any any le¦-over grease or fat from cooking should be allowed to cool and solidify before being put in a bin. There are more than 30,000 sewer blockages a year in East Anglia, adding £15M/yr to customers' bills. Around 80% of the blockages are caused by wipes and fats. It is the first time that Anglian Water has used the technology R esearchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia claim algae is more effective at treating wastewater than many of the processes employed in municipal facilities today. Algae is a functional ingredient of a bioreactor system designed by Drexel environmental engineers to remove several chemicals from wastewater straightaway. Municipal water treatment facilities put wastewater through a gauntlet of processes that physically and chemically strain out or otherwise neutralise the bits deemed hazardous to humans or damaging to the environment before it is returned to the nearest stream or river. However, Christopher Sales, assistant professor in the College of Engin-eering and a member of the research team at the AJ Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment, aims to improve wastewater treatment with a little help from algae and its symbiotic relationship with the bacteria to remove excess nitrogen from water. He said: "One of the most time-consuming and expensive components to wastewater treatment today is ridding water of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which o¦en make their way into water from our household toilets and sinks. "It's an essential step because the release of excess nitrogen species into a water supply can lead to accelerated growth of cyanobacteria and algae — and create a massive algal bloom like the one in Lake Erie last summer which caused the contamination of the entire water supply of Toledo, Ohio." In 2006, Sales and a colleague from the University of Pennsylvania developed a high density bioreactor that can cultivate a dense mixture of microorganisms that remove oxygen organic carbon compounds from wastewater. Since then the Drexel facility has added algae to the mix to improve the reactor's nitrogen- removal capabilities and allow for the recovery of a potentially valuable resource: algal biomass. The bioreactor works by continuously cycling water into an algae and bacteria-laden environment, removing nitrogen by storing it in algae that can be easily separated from water in their new reactor Sales said the bioreactor can remove up to 80% of nitrogen from a waste stream. Algae more effective at treating municipal wastewater, say Ohio researchers

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