Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/705933
8 | AUGUST 2016 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Comment I t's been a tumultuous month of po- litical news, with the British people voting to leave the European Union and a new Prime Minister in Num- ber Ten. The UK's exit from the EU will have far-reaching consequences for every sector and segment of our economy, and water is no exception. The dust might now have settled on the surprise referendum result of June 23, but there are still more questions than answers in a sector where considerable investment is driven by EU directives on water, wastewater and the environment. The Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, Drinking Water Directive and Water Framework Directive have been among the key regulatory drivers for the sector. While some EU rules and regulations have been transposed into national law, others apply on a direct basis and the Brexit vote has cast Brexit unknowns uncertainty over how much of it will remain to govern the sector. Few would argue with the contention that the framework provided by the EU's environmental regulations have made a positive contribution over the years, especially since privatisation, to raising standards in our rivers and coastal waters. With national governments o†en tempted to give environmental issues a lower priority than short term economic or political considerations, a continent-wide rule book for environmental protection has been a reassuring constant. It would of course be a sad outcome if the government were now to allow standards to slip and the improvement process to go into reverse. Whether or not this happens in the long term, however, one more immediate harmful aspect will be the lack of certainty - and the absence of a firm direction from government - that is engendered by the negotiation process and the prospect of reams of laws and regulations being rewritten. This doubt may prevent the sector and its partners from moving forward with more innovative environmental protection measures, such as catchment management and SuDS, which rely on the involvement of multiple James brockett eDItor JamesBrockett@fav-house.com Twitter: @wwtmag Industry view sponsored by alex Lloyd, managing Director, Jacopa Ltd In a period of change and challenge, the water sector is confronting substantive issues. But which of them should the industry focus on? And what does the supply chain need to do to support it? Possibly the most significant test the sector faces is economic and given the drive to reduce costs, suppliers have to meet short-term, highly focused project budgets in an extremely competitive environment. This is one of the key tests, because of the issues inherent in achieving very short-term high competitiveness while maintaining a business with a model that supports longer-term structural competitiveness. The need to invest is vital to ensure the lowest overheads and highest productivity, but it is challenged by the industry's highly varied needs Driving value with innovation and systems. Regulatory demands compelling the sector to meet carbon reduction objectives and other pressing requirements, such as the need to reduce the longer-term costs of operations and maintenance, also have to be prioritised. In addition, suppliers need to understand how to present the best value of a solution to meet the sector's objectives built around Totex, when the supply chain itself has yet to fully absorb the concept and its implications. So how can we overcome these core challenges? We must recognise that this is a time to drive value through innovation, but given the sector's maturity the scope for major innovation is limited. However, we can enhance, refine, tune and re-energise, set new, on- going objectives, and deliver continuous improvement. Suppliers can also address the sector's needs by prioritising reliability: through designing and specifying products that help compensate for the pressures on operators to complete routine inspections and maintenance, and finding ways to achieve treatment efficacy over the long term against the risk of producing very highly competitive products and solutions that only meet performances over the very short term. Success relies on having long-term experience and a significant installed base, giving certainty about how the design and specification of the product or solution will impact on treatment from day one and throughout the lifecycle of the asset. Effective service is also vital – supporting customers in delivering across the spectrum of their activities. This fits within an effective supply chain avoiding overlap of service each part of the chain can expertly provide. To succeed, service must be highly responsive, competitive, and expert, and must add value for both customer and supplier. From this, longer-term and value added relationships will develop, and from these will come the solutions we need to succeed at a time of change and challenge. www.jacopa.com stakeholders. Catchment management programmes will be set for particular uncertainty since they rely on the involvement of agriculture, at a time when farmers face the removal of grant funding under the EU common agricultural policy. While individual water companies might forge ahead with their own favoured approaches, there now appears a reduced chance of the government and regulators being able to shape a common strategy. Taking a wider view of the sector, however, the biggest effects of the post- Brexit reality may be felt not in the water companies themselves – which, a†er all, are regional monopolies with secure customer bases and sources of funding – but in the supply chain. The crucial question for many will be to what extent UK can curtail freedom of movement while still enjoying the single market's other freedoms. In the short term, the fall in the value of the pound will help UK firms that export and penalise those that import, but longer term the imposition of tariffs and trade barriers might create additional cost and a bureaucratic headache for a supply chain which is used to drawing in technology and expertise from many places on the continent.