Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/730827
40 | october 2016 | WWt | www.wwtonline.co.uk In the know Research Notes: sewer networks expenditure, more money has been targeted towards building new schemes to protect against flood risk, rather than towards the optimisation of existing assets. As a result, the understanding and assessment of sewer-groundwater interaction has fallen behind. It's fair to say that the UK is quite behind in its understanding of the problem compared to other countries. Totex optimisation of sewers As total expenditure is now a primary focus for this AMP cycle, optimisation of existing infrastructure is a much stronger financial driver for water companies. We also can't ignore the flooding of winter 2013-14, which has highlighted the need to better understand how our towns and cities interact with groundwater systems. During a period when cost savings for companies are crucial, it is essential for water companies and LLFAs to manage and optimise the drainage networks they undertake as much as possible. This can not only bring cost savings but reductions in risk to customers as well. The problem of groundwater infiltration extends beyond the water too far down a route of employing sustainable drainage methods. Some methods which are widely acknowledged to be beneficial actually may not be, if the potential impacts of groundwater infiltration are borne in mind. One area that we haven't touched on is 'smart' and 'big data' analytics. The recent development in this field has the potential to transform policy, processes and management for the benefit of the water and environment, providing that the data is available. Groundwater infiltration is not only a poorly understood process, but also has limited data sets available. Unfortunately until there is a significant change in this, groundwater infiltration is an area that is not likely to be transformed by digital technology in the same way that other areas of engineering are. With all the above in mind, it couldn't be better timed for the R&I into sewer-groundwater interactions to gain momentum. It's also an interesting dynamic for those working in academia as they are being brought closer to the issues that are facing the industry, and are now part of the team that solves the problem rather than just highlighting the issue. industry. It is widely known to be problematic for the tunneling sector, for example, Transport for London. As such, they attended the first workshop held by the Centre. This is also an area of work that the Centre intends to move into researching. Is it just infrastructure that groundwater infiltration may have an impact on? Groundwater infiltration into the surrounding soil, geology and infrastructure fill could be just as problematic as infiltration into infrastructure, because it can cause land instability; we are all too aware of the catastrophic consequences that this can have. This is another area that the Centre will be considering, alongside the improvements to the design of infrastructure and wider policy changes. Whilst sustainable urban drainage systems are now widely recognised as the future for urban water management, the impacts of their development on groundwater infiltration are poorly understood. This, combined with changes to our climate, means that we really need to get to grips with the impact of groundwater infiltration, before going The first stakeholder meeting for the new research centre was held in November last year