WET News

4 WET NEWS OCTOBER 2016 News+ Good monthT- Bad month For the developing world, as WaterAid and Grundfos team up for a five-year partnership to help provide sustainable water. Soaring export sales are helping pipeline inspection equipment specialist Mini-Cam to build on record turnover as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. For plastic cotton buds and wet wipes, as Wessex Water wages war on them for causing pollution and sewer blockages. Southern Water was fined £24K and ordered to pay more than £33,200 for environmental conditions failure at its Tunbridge Wells North WwTW. EA concerned about reporting visibility in a competitive sludge market • Sludge working group meeting hears EA's concern over reporting with the opening up of markets. R eporting visibility and the potential for "a race to the cheapest cost option" by companies to the detriment of the environment are among concerns that the Environment Agency (EA) has over a sludge market open to competition. The latest meeting of Ofwat's sludge working group heard that the agency currently has good visibility of where sludge comes from and goes to because there are only a small number of players in the market. The EA is concerned that this could change with the opening up of markets, and reporting become more difficult. It also made it clear that it does "not want to see" a race to the cheapest cost option by companies to the detriment of the environment. Opening up the markets for sludge treatment, transporta- tion, recycling and disposal are among Ofwat's Water 2020 proposals. The environmental regulations surrounding this market, which are outside of Ofwat's control, were the purpose of the working group meeting. The regulation itself derives from two primary sources, European and domestic legislation, this is pre any impact from Brexit. Under consideration is whether water and sewerage companies' (WaSCs) regulatory dispensation, under the Con- trolled Waste Regulations 2012, will distort the market going forward. Opening up the market is likely to place pressure on the following words used in the Controlled Waste Regulations 2012 '…within the curtilage of a sewage treatment works as an integral part of the operation of those work'. WaSCs, Under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), have significantly lower regulatory obligations and costs compared to other organic waste companies who would require a permit to treat sludge. No decision has yet been made as to whether this will continue to be the case. The current rules apply to sites exceeding 75 wet tonnes per day (on any one day). One delegate asked why WaSCs receive exemptions, the response being mainly as a result of past successful lobbying MEAN MACHINE RAG, FAT, PLASTIC and other solid or fibrous debris will cause blockages, disruption and excessive downtime costs to most sewage and effluent streams. PROBLEM! There are many 'solids handling' pumps but only ONE CHOPPER pump that can provide the answer. VAUGHAN has been designed and built to perform in the most severe applications and is proven over 50 years …WHAT PROBLEM? WET WELL or DRY WELL, SUBMERSIBLE TO SELF-PRIMING… Use the right machine… A MEAN MACHINE …and there will be… NO PROBLEM. Vaughan Chopper pumps Mar 15.indd 1 04/03/2015 20:05 CONTRACT WINS • Clugston Construction has been awarded a £14.9M contract by the Amey Black and Veatch Joint Venture to provide civil engineering services at Yorkshire Water's Knostrop wastewater treatment works in east Leeds. Clugston's subcon- tracted package includes ground preparation and stabilisation, involving recycling of existing concrete structures and installation of 300 CFA piles. • Asset International has provided sewerage system components to the developers of Sherford, an ambitious modern market town development in the South Hams in Devon. Sherford is located 28 miles to the east of Plymouth. Construction of the new town began in September 2014 with 700 homes due to be completed and habitable by last month. The 3.5m diameter, 30m long multi-leg Weholite attenuation tank utilises 170m of pipes, and holds about 1,500m 3 of foul water. The tank is much larger than its more standard sized counterparts, and connects to the town's foul water pumping station. The tank was designed and made to FCG's specific needs. Campaign to raise water law awareness for plumbing work • Trade bodies and water companies join forces to raise water law awareness for plumbing work planning. T he Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS), WaterSafe and UK water companies have launched a campaign urging anyone planning plumbing work to make sure they know the water law before they start. In many cases, work on new and existing plumbing systems, and some types of water installations, needs to be notified to, and approved by, the local water supplier before it can begin. This is to make sure it meets the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations that are designed to keep drinking water supplies safe and healthy. The warning does not just apply to plumbers either – businesses, homeowners, landlords and tenants all need to follow the regulations too. The regulations apply to many types of domestic and commercial plumbing – from building new houses or extending business premises to everyday work such as installing certain types of bidets or large baths. Julie Spinks, managing director of WRAS, said: "The UK enjoys high-quality, safe drinking water and we want to make sure it stays that way. Unfortunately, very few people are aware of their legal responsibilities to ensure certain types of plumbing work comply with these important regulations. "Getting permission is quick and free, but failure to notify your local water supplier could result in extra cost to put poor plumbing right or, worse, contamination of water supplies and a court prosecution. "Our message is simple – if you are planning some plumbing installation work, take a few minutes to seek professional advice from your local water supplier, WRAS or a WaterSafe- approved plumber who is familiar with the regulations." The notification and consent process takes up to ten days. In many cases, the water supplier will simply need a description of the planned work and the contact details of those undertaking it. Types of plumbing work that must be notified to water suppliers include: • Building a house or other property/structure • Extending or altering the water system on a non-household building • Changing the use of a building or installing water systems, such as rainwater harvesting • Installing a swimming pool or pond more than 10,000l • A garden watering system (unless operated by hand) • A bath which holds more than 230l of water • A bidet with an upward spray or flexible hose • A pump or booster that delivers more than 12l of water per minute • A reverse osmosis unit (for cleaning water) • A water treatment unit which produces wastewater • A reduced pressure zone (RPZ) valve assembly or similar • Any water system outside a building that is either less than 0.75m or more than 1.35m below ground. WaSCs have lower regulatory obligations and costs Need to know Some operators are sweating their assets, which could lead to poor quality outputs. Commercial decisions are driving this behaviour but the EA does not want to see this increasing There is concern over the split between sludge and network plus, in that the level of the quality of the sludge produced could impact later processes Contaminants in sludge – questions raised include where do they go? What are the future challenges? Can it still be used on land? An EA internal audit project found some wastes not suitable for composting going to other waste treatment sites which could include anaerobic digestion and history. Ofwat's proposal is to try and address these issues and make it a more level playing field for everyone. There was a general comment that if the water industry was aligned more to the rest of the industry then this could have a significant impact on water customer bills with possibly no additional benefit to the environment. The meeting also looked at whether Brexit provides the opportunity to consolidate waste regulations, or whether this was too big a task. The response was that was no reason to change the environmental standards but it may be an opportunity to revisit the administrative processes and to reduce red tape. It was also commented that EPR is a modern recently developed platform, but may still be improved upon.

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