WET News

2 WET NEWS OCTOBER 2016 COMMENT "For Black & Veatch it must be like moving to a new school and having to • t in." OCTOBER 2 Two councils, Torridge and North Devon, have set up a new water quality task team to monitor and improve the water quality of the Taw and Torridge Estuary. "At a time of increasing change – for example in the use of technology and integration across the whole design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) cycle – AECOM is ideally placed to be the industry leader." John Priestland, on becoming chief executive for EMIA major bids at AECOM. Soaring export sales are helping pipeline inspection equipment specialist Mini-Cam to build on record turnover as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. Mini-Cam grew overall revenue by 40% from £7.6M to £10.6M in the 12 months to January 31, 2016. Exports increased and now account for 48% of overall turnover, up from 41% last year. The US market has seen the strongest rise. £11M 40% £72M Yorkshire Water's proposed £72M new state-of-the-art sludge treatment and anaerobic digestion facility at its Knostrop works in the centre of Leeds has been given the go ahead. £12.5M The amount of money that the government has committed to new temporary flood defences. "Our tugs were chosen for their compatibility with the unique Thames environment, and their high specification in terms of noise atten- uation and emissions " BMB's Chris Hughes on buying two tugs to help on the Tideway scheme (West). "If resolving this issue is left to water companies alone any solution would likely need to be 'end-of- pipe'." Anglian Water's Lucinda Gilfoyle, warning that setting up treatment to remove metaldehyde from water would cost £600M in eastern England. £40M United Utilities is investing £40M as part of a project to improve water quality in Lake Windermere. The project involves laying a new 6.5km sewer and upgrading two local wastewater treatment works, in order to signi• cantly reduce the amount of phosphorous in the lake. A more holistic approach to fl ood risk management needed I t's great to see that the water and telecoms sectors have plans in place for temporary improvements in place to resil- ience over the coming winter months (see below). These plans are similar to those al- ready in place in the power sec- tor. Defra, which recently published its National Flood Resilience Review, says these plans will ensure that the utilities obtain stockpiles of temporary defences in advance, and have ready site-speciˆ c plans for deploying them where appropriate and possible, if and when serious ‰ oods occur this coming winter. This commitment to an integrated, cross-sector approach to protecting critical infrastructure through closer collaboration between water, telecoms and power companies has been welcomed by companies such as AECOM. This, says AECOM, will help develop longer term, permanent improvements in the resilience of service provision to communities in the event of extreme ‰ ooding. But AECOM's director - water, Jon Robinson, says that ultimately, a more holistic approach that brings together multiple stakeholders working together across entire catch- ments is needed. "While the review rightly advocates a strategic, long- term approach to ‰ ood management, our hope is that funding too will increase in real terms in recognition of its importance," says Robinson. He's absolutely right. eight2O's new kid on the block Thames Water's capital delivery alliance, eight2O, has welcomed a new partner – Black & Veatch – into the fold (see P3). Black & Veatch has teamed up with the existing Costain and Atkins joint venture to form CABV. CABV is one of the two design and build consortia working in eight2O. Of course, Black & Veatch has replaced Veolia, which originally partnered Costain and Atkins for the work and walked away early last year to focus on asset optimisation. For Black & Veatch it must be like moving to a new school and having to ˆ t in. WET News Water Industry Supplier Conference Don't forget to 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 ˆ t into the supply and demand picture. I look forward to seeing you there. U tility companies have made a commitment to increase ‰ ood protection of their key local infrastructure assets so they are resilient to extreme ‰ ooding. Defra has published its Na- tional Flood Resilience Review, outlining its new approach to preparation for and resilience to ‰ ooding. In the report, the govern- ment said the water and tele- coms sectors had plans in place for temporary improvements to resilience for the coming winter, like those already avail- able in the electricity supply industry. "These plans will ensure that the utilities obtain stock- piles of temporary defences in advance, and have ready site- speciˆ c plans for deploying them where appropriate and possible, if and when serious ‰ oods occur this coming win- ter," it said. However, throughout the rest of this year, all three sec- š Defra outlines its new approach to preparation for and resilience to flooding, as it publishes its National Flood Resilience Review. Utility companies commit to permanent flood defences for key assets tors will develop and imple- ment longer term plans for per- manently improving the resilience of service provision to local communities from ‰ ooding. This could be delivered by increasing interconnectivity to enable service provision to be rerouted in the event of asset loss. Alternatively, companies could install permanent defenc- es at signiˆ cant local infra- structure asset sites or, in cases where permanent defences are not cost-e› ective, through other measures. Defra also said it will work with the utilities to improve co- operation and information- sharing between the govern- ment bodies such as the Met Oœ ce and Environment Agency and infrastructure operators on resilience – both in relation to ‰ ooding and more broadly. To help achieve this, the government is working with the utilities to establish a national infrastructure resilience council or forum. As part of the review, the government has committed to £12.5M for new temporary de- fences, such as barriers and high volume pumps, at seven locations across the country. Environment secretary An- drea Leadsom said: "Last win- ter we saw just how devastating ‰ ooding can be. This review sets out clear actions so we are better prepared to respond quickly in the event of future ‰ ooding and can strengthen the nation's ‰ ood defences. "Work is already underway towards £12.5M of new tempo- rary defences stationed around England, better protection for our infrastructure and new ‰ ood modelling that makes bet- ter use of data and technology. "We are absolutely commit- ted to reducing the risk of ‰ ood- ing by investing £2.5bn up to 2021 so we can help protect families, homes and businesses this winter."

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