Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | JUNE 2016 | 23 In the know Severn Trent Water is trialling six new treatment technologies which remove phosphorus from wastewater, in order to help meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. The water company is evaluating the six technologies – two of which are world firsts – at its Packington sewage treatment works in Leicestershire. The new stricter rules in the Water Framework Directive limit the amount of phosphorus allowed to be discharged from sewage treatment works to 0.5 milligrammes per litre or, in some cases, as low as RESEARCH ROUND UP Severn Trent trials six technologies to reduce phosphorus 0.2mg/l. Severn Trent's existing technologies are unlikely to be capable of meeting the new limits, meaning the firm will have to upgrade around 100 works – many of which are being upgraded to reduce phosphorus for the first time. Phosphorus is required by all living organisms for cell growth. It is a non-renewable resource, non-substitutable for food production, essential for agriculture and directly linked to food security. Domestic sewage contains phosphorus, and standard sewage treatment processes will only provide a low-level of phosphorus RISING UP British Water has announced that Pennon Group chief executive Chris Loughlin will join its board as a non-executive director. A former chair of Water UK, Loughlin's other positions include being a board member and past president of the Institute of Water and a board member of the audit committee of WaterAid. Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) has announced the appointment of Mark Coulthread as interim chief operating officer. Coulthread was previously interim chief operating officer at Elexon – the electricity market operator – and has also worked in similar roles for Barclays, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, BT and Tesco. Murphy Group has announced the appointment of Stuart Rothery to the newly created role of sector director for water. The company said Rothery's appointment will encourage greater internal collaboration and accelerate the integration of innovation. Thames Water has announced two changes to its executive board, with Chief Financial Officer Stuart Siddall retiring and Strategy and Regulation Director Nick Fincham joining the board. Meanwhile, Graham Southall, managing director of Thames Water Commercial Services, and Rupert Kruger, Thames Water's head of business retail, have both announced they will leave the water company this year, ahead of the opening of the non- household water market in April 2017. removal. The six technologies Severn Trent is evaluating are: pile cloth media filtration; membrane filtration; ballasted coagulation; nano-particle embedded ion exchange; immobilised algal bioreactor; and absorption media reed beds. Severn Trent technical lead for innovation Pete Vale said: "Two of the technologies – the ion exchange, and the algal bioreactor – have been developed specially by Cranfield University and put into practical application for the first time. "It's relatively early days but we've seen some encouraging results from all of the technologies which is heartening given that some of them are genuine world first designs. "Each of the technologies have their advantages, and their disadvantages, which is why we're running the trials. "And the right solution for a large sewage treatment works might not be the same for a small sewage treatment works but, by looking at six such innovative solutions, we're not only putting ourselves at the forefront of the phosphorus issue in the UK, we're also making sure we're making the right decision for our customers," concluded Vale. ● 25 Innovation Zone: Diamox ● 27 Digging Deeper: smart water ● 31 Research Notes: advanced oxidation ● 35 Products: safety equipment 1 Jun CIWEM Chemical Water quality issues and control, London. 15 Jun British Water annual lunch and AGM, London. 22 Jun WWT Water Industry Energy Conference, Birmingham. 29 Jun CIWEM Abstraction reform conference, London. COmING UP The first year of the UK's largest ever metaldehyde- free farming trial has seen a 60% drop in levels of the chemical detected in reservoir tributaries. Farmers within the natural catchments of six reservoirs in Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire have been working with Anglian Water's team of advisors over the past year on the Slug It Out campaign. The area covers more than 7,000 hectares and as part of the campaign all farmers have agreed to use alternatives to metaldehyde to control slugs on their land. The first year of the trial saw 89 farmers signing up to take part – a 100% uptake. The trial area covered 7,679 hectares and an estimated 1,613 kg of metaldehyde was removed from the farmed landscape. The average levels of metaldehyde in reservoir tributaries across all the catchments fell by 60%, while the average peak levels detected within the reservoirs fell by 26%. Reservoirs are filled by water pumped from nearby rivers as well as being fed by tributaries. Metaldehyde-free farming trial achieves results for Anglian The reed bed with reactive media used in the trial