Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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Industry news August Contract Tracker Consultancies set for Tideway Tideway has selected three companies - Arcadis, Turner & Townsend and Gardiner & Theobold (G&T) - to provide commercial support services for the £4.2BN 'super sewer' under the Thames. Over the next four years, the three companies will provide access to commercial services, project and programme management resources for use on the project. Clancy Docwra and J Murphy win SESW contracts Sutton and East Surrey Water has signed major contracts with Clancy Docwra and J. Murphy & Sons to upgrade its pipes and increase the resilience of its network. The £8M-per-year contract with Clancy Docwra will see the contractor renew and replace over 100km of underground water mains in five years, while J. Murphy & Sons has won a £6.7M deal to design and build four new large pipelines in the water company's supply area. Anglian to work with Arqiva on smart meters Anglian Water has selected Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, to provide a smart water metering network trial. The four-year contract will see Arqiva partner up with technology provider Sensus to create the relevant infrastructure to operate 7,500 new smart water meters in and around Newmarket, Suffolk. IN QUOTES: BREXIT & WATER "In the coming negotiations, the environment is going to be low down the list of things to sort out." Neil Dhot, Water UK "On a pragmatic level, a lot of research into the water sector is part- funded through the EU." Paul Horton, CEO, Future Water Association "Defra's 25 year- plan has been pushed into the long grass… it's frustrating as we don't know what, if anything, could replace it." Patric Bulmer, Bristol Water Environment regs are top of water sector's Brexit concerns The future of environmental regulation, EU-funded research and cross-border transactions in the supply chain are among the chief concerns of the water sector following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, industry figures have told WWT. June's surprise referendum result has le• more questions than answers for many in a sector where considerable investment is driven by EU directives on water, wastewater and the environment. With negotiations set to take place over the terms of UK's exit, there is no reason to expect a quick resolution on environmental matters, according to Neil Dhot, Head of Corporate Affairs at Water UK. "My view is that in those negotiations – rightly or wrongly - the environment is going to be low down the list of things to sort out," Dhot told WWT. "And would the UK government, once free from the constraints of Europe, start unpicking those environmental rules in any case? I don't know, but even if they did, it's going to take years and years. "Meanwhile, the water companies have a long- term outlook, through water resource management plans and their business plans; even in this current period they are looking to comply with the standards we expect in 15-20 years' time. Ultimately, we are a long-term business and the water companies can only continue to work with what we have now." Like other large business- es, water companies will be watching to see what happens to procurement and employ- ment rules, said Dhot. In the immediate term, the UK's loss of its AAA credit rating and volatility in the pound will have an impact on the supply chain, said Paul Horton, CEO of Future Water Association. "On a pragmatic level, a lot of research into the water sector is part-funded through the EU," added Horton. "How will that change over the coming period, as we start to understand what leaving means? There are quite a few implications and what we are trying to do as an organisation is look at them, talk to members about what they might mean, and ensure there is a proper discussion across our membership. We need to generate a popular discussion across the sector." On the environmental side, one big impact is that the publication of Defra's 25-year plan, which was expected to provide direction on catchment management and natural capital accounting, has now been pushed into the long grass, said Patric Bulmer, Head of Water Resources and Environment Strategy at Bristol Water. "We don't know what - if anything - could replace it, so it's frustrating, as there was a feeling that progress was really coming together in these areas," said Bulmer. "The 25-year plan would have provided a good framework for how these initiatives could be delivered across the nation so any uncertainty makes it more difficult for organisations to be confident they're heading in the right direction." Catchment management programmes could be impacted by this since they rely on the involvement of agriculture, at a time when farmers may face a reduction in grant funding under the EU common agricultural policy, he added. www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | AuGuST 2016 | 5