WET News

2 WET NEWS AUGUST 2016 COMMENT "...the sector must instil a sense of purpose and value for water engineering" AUGUST 30% Nearly a third more of biogas energy is being produced in the UK com- pared to a year ago, accord- ing to new - gures from industry trade body ADBA. "The company is known to me as a first class performer, highly regarded by clients and I have first-hand experience of Barhale as a progressive joint venture partner over several years" Matthew Behan on becoming Barhale's new chief executive o cer. Wessex Water revealed that its turnover decreased by nearly £20M from £540.3M to £520.8M for 2015-16 - nancial year. Also, operat- ing pro- t dropped as a result of a £2bn programme of work for major water and sewerage improve- ments. The programme includes a £39M scheme to improve bathing water quality in the Burnham-on- Sea area to meet tighter standards. £20M £39M 3 The number of consultancies to provide commercial support services on the Tideway Tunnel 'super sewer'. The consultancies are Arcadis, Turner & Townsend and Gardiner & Theobold. 81% The percentage of employers that have seen increased employee turnover. "I have instructed NI Water not to install any more water meters at domestic properties in the North. In the current financial climate, the continued waste of public money to install meters which will not be used cannot continue" Chris Hazzard, infrastructure minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly. "[Severn Trent] is commercially driven, cares for safety and the environment, and of course has a proud legacy of infrastructure with engineering complexity" Jane Simpson, Severn Trent Water's new head of asset creation. 40 The Scottish government has announced that £420M will be spent to deliver 40 new flood protection projects and support local flood risk management plans in Scotland. Bring the 'passion' back for water engineering A recent survey of more than 830 UK engineers and employers has revealed that € ood risk engineering has been identi‚ ed as having the biggest shortfall in skills in the water sector. That's quite frightening, really, especially when you consider the increasing frequency of extreme € ooding that we're experiencing these days. But let's not forget that the skills shortage is just impacting € ood risk engineering. It's having an e† ect on all aspects of engineering, in the water industry and other sectors as well. According to the survey, 81% of employers have experienced increased employee turnover. Worryingly, a staggering 70% said this has led to a reduced ability to ‚ nish projects. So bearing that in mind, it's great to see that experts from the water and environment engineering organisations – such as Atkins, Ofwat, @One Alliance, Tideway – got together recently to rack their brains and come up with some potential solutions. The round table, hosted by recruitment specialist Matchtech and the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), proved a success in that the group produced ‚ ve recommendations. These include encouraging engineers to build multiple skillsets; and re-addressing the balance of technical engineers and project managers. But the one I like the most is to raise the pro‚ le of the water sector. The round table felt the industry is "not explaining why water is great". It said the sector must collaborate to instil a sense of purpose and value for water engineering – and to reignite people's passion for the sector. Can't disagree with that. Can you? WET News Water Industry Supplier Conference Free up your diaries and pop along to our Water Industry Supplier Conference being held on November 10 in Birmingham. It will be well worth the visit. We have a fantastic programme lined up covering opportunities, strategy and innovation, as well as how you ‚ t into the supply and demand picture. There be the chance to hear ‚ rst hand about Ofwat's Water 2020 and how it will tie in with the industry's next price review. There will also be a special session giving you the opportunity to directly engage with some of the water companies, as well as hear what they neeed from their supply chain. To ‚ nd out more about the conference and to register visit events.wwtonline.co.uk/ supplier. www.teekaycouplings.com tel: +44 (0)1494 679500 Restoration of Cumbrian lake to tackle phosphate levels A United Utilities-funded project is seeking to increase a lake's water flow by reducing phosphorus enriched sediments. N ovel phosphate monitor- ing technology from OTT Hydrometry is being used in a South Cumbria Rivers Trust (SCRT) project to restore Elterwater, in the Lake District, to minimise phosphate levels and algal blooms. The project, funded by United Utilities (UU), aims to increase water € ow through the lake, reducing the amount of phosphorus enriched sediments in the inner and middle basins of the lake. The phosphorus enriched sediment has caused eutrophic conditions leading to algal blooms, a lack of oxygen and poor water quality during the summer months. Elterwater is a small lake located half a mile away from Elterwater village, and is a site of Special Scienti‚ c Interest (SSSI). Between 1974 and 1999 United Utilities ran a wastewater treatment works for Elterwater village, which le¥ a legacy of phosphorus sediment in the lake. UU's asset management plan for April 2010 to March 2015 (AMP5) conducted a study into the key issues and options to recover the lake. It established that the water quality of the lake could be improved by either dredging the phosphorus-rich sediment or diverting two local becks to improve water turnover and prevent the conditions required for phosphorus release and the creation of algal bloom. Dredging would e† ectively remove the phosphorus from the lake but could have caused quite signi‚ cant rami‚ cations for the environment; this le¥ the diverting of the becks to be the best option available. Dr Mike Sturt, SCRT's technical o¨ cer, said: "Soluble Reactive Phosphate (SRP) released from the sediment accumulates over time and becomes bioavailable resulting in a proliferation of algae and bacteria, which causes a lowering of dissolved oxygen and pH, which in turn causes an increase in SRP desorption from the sediment. So there is a complex cycle in play which causes thermal strati‚ cation and anoxic/high turbidity conditions in the summer months. As a result, Elterwater is incapable of supporting natural, healthy populations of fauna and € ora beyond benthic invertebrates." Phosphate in the lake sediment is the cause of the lake's ongoing water quality problems, so the aim of the restoration project is to implement a sustainable solution that does not result in an increase in SRP within the water body. Background phosphate monitoring therefore commenced in August 2014 and samples have been taken at 2 week intervals for laboratory analysis. However, continuous monitoring is always preferable, when possible, because spot sampling risks missing pollution incidents. The project team is using the 'Cycle-P' from OTT Hydrometry, which is battery powered and can run unattended in the ‚ eld. Dr Sturt said: "Initially, two Cycle-P units were installed at Elterwater; either side of the middle basin, but a¥ er one year of operation, it became clear that one unit was su¨ cient – at the outlet of the inner basin." The performance of the Cycle-P has been excellent; it has proved to be accurate and reliable, producing good quality data that is consistent with laboratory analysis."The Cycle-P methods are based on US EPA standard methods which employ pre-mixed onboard colour coded cartridges for reagent replacement in the ‚ eld. The detection limit is equal to or less than 0.0023 mg/L PO4-P, and a range of 0-0.3 mg/L PO4-P, the Cycle P is able to measure down to extremely low levels.

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