WET News

OCTOBER 2016 WET NEWS 7 News+ Action needed now to improve drought resilience, finds report • Research says extensive measures to manage demand as well as enhance supplies of water are needed to contain the risk of drought. T here is a significant and growing risk of severe drought impacts arising from climate change and population growth, and concerted action is needed now to build resilience of supply, a report by Water UK has concluded. The first-of-its kind research modelled the possible effects of climate change, population growth, environmental protection measures and trends in water use to produce a wide range of future scenarios. It deployed new modelling techniques to look 50 years ahead across the whole of England and Wales. The results suggest that, in some scenarios, we are facing longer, more frequent and more acute droughts than previously thought. Drier areas of the country (the south and east of England) face a higher risk of more severe droughts than those experienced in the past, while English regions further to the north and west are also more exposed to the prospect of future water shortages. The modelling shows that extensive measures to manage demand as well as enhance supplies of water are needed to contain the risk of drought. Demand management initiatives - including the promotion of more efficient water use in homes and businesses, improved building standards and widespread use of smart metering – must be used in tandem with ambitious plans on the supply side, such as moving more water from one region to another through existing waterways and new pipelines, building new reservoirs, treating more water for re-use and building desalination plants to make use of sea water. The report's authors conclude that, by adopting a step-by-step approach, the additional cost of making the supply of water more resilient to severe droughts would be equivalent to about £4 per annum per household. By contrast, the impact on the economy of inaction could be very high, costing an estimated £1.3bn per day during the most widespread situations of severe drought modelled in the report. Michael Roberts, chief executive of Water UK, said: "Since privatisation, the industry has invested billions of pounds in securing the nation's precious water resources, but we all need to do more in the face of current and future pressures on those resources. We are publishing this ground- breaking research today so that water companies, government, regulators and other agencies can together raise their game in how we plan to keep homes and businesses supplied over the next fi"y years." Jean Spencer, Regulation Director at Anglian Water, who chaired the project, said: "The threat of drought is already with us - were it not for the • Software will enable operators to track and limit greenhouse gas emissions at their sewage plants and pinpoint which activities cause most environmental harm. A long-term National Wastewater Sludge Man- agement Plan (NWSMP) has been published by Irish Water that outlines its strategy to ensure a nationwide, stand- ardised approach for the man- agement, treatment, transport, storage and disposal of waste- water sludge over the next 25 years. Through a national approach, the plan will ensure efficiencies and make ongoing improvements that will benefit Irish Water's customers and the environment. Since its incorporation in 2014, Irish Water has taken over the responsibility of providing water and wastewater services in Ireland from 31 local authori- ties. This includes managing approximately 1,000 wastewa- ter treatment plants. Currently 98% of wastewater sludge is treated to produce a biosolids product, which is being reused in agriculture. There are very limited alterna- tive options currently available in Ireland. In response to feedback from two public consultations, the NWSMP focuses on future bio- solids use being targeted at crops such as non-agricultural and crops for animal feed. A fea- sibility study will also be car- ried out to investigate alterna- tive outlets for sludge reuse in order to reduce the risks associ- ated with depending on a single outlet for wastewater sludge. Irish Water's Plan focuses on quality assurance, monitoring and reporting on a national level that will include an annual audit of the management activi- ties pending the development of a full wastewater treatment quality assurance scheme, in addition to the development of Standard Operating Procedures. SWW becomes first water company to adopt i2O's iNet The plan also proposes that a network of hub treatment cen- tres and satellite dewatering sites be further developed to optimise the balance between treatment and transport costs. The location of hubs will be considered on a regional rather than county basis and will max- imise the use of energy recovery where possible. Irish Water's head of asset management, Sean Laffey, said: "The plan outlines our strate- gic, sustainable approach to this crucial issue. This plan has been influenced by widespread and comprehensive consulta- tion from the earliest stages of development and, given that the reuse of sludge obviously has big implications for farming and rural communities, Irish Water is grateful for the engage- ment of individuals, organisa- tions and representative groups. "It was essential for us to get as diverse a view as possible on this issue as that will help to ensure the effective manage- ment of sludge from the treat- ment of the wastewater we all create. As a single national util- ity, Irish Water has the capacity and the expertise to ensure that a strategic, standardised national approach can be taken to the management of wastewa- ter sludge. This 25-year strategy sets out how we will improve the way wastewater sludge is managed in Ireland, including the introduction of a quality assurance system for the waste- water treatment process from start to finish." The NWSMP will be reviewed every five years. The actions and objectives as set out in the NWSMP developed in 2016 will be reviewed and progress meas- ured. The revised plan will invite feedback during its devel- opment prior to adoption. Irish Water sets out 25-year sludge management strategy S outh West Water (SWW) has become the first water company to adopt new data analytics so"ware from smart water network technology company i2O. The so"ware will monitor the condition of Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs) on SWW's 15,000km network. SWW has deployed 250 PRV condition monitoring loggers across its distribution network to record and communicate pressure data to i2O's iNet system. iNet then makes inferences about the condition of PRV assets by using a series of unique algorithms to analyse the data and provides regular reports on asset condition to SWW's engineers. The implementation enables the water company to schedule PRV service visits based on the actual condition of its assets instead of relying on time- based maintenance or responding to PRV failures only once they have occurred. Bob Taylor, SWW operations N ovel computer so"ware that can monitor, control and cut the carbon footprint le" by sewage works could also mean cheaper water bills, according to Brunel University London's Dr Evina Katsou. Dr Katsou is the British leader of the C-FOOT-CTRL project that is developing the so"ware, which is expected to be in use by December 2017. Based in Athens, the €711,000 EU-funded four-year research involves scientists from UK, Greece, Spain, Germany, the US and Australia. Wastewater treatment plants are major energy consumers, pumping out vast amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) - carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. Most European plants are less than 50% energy efficient. The new so"ware will enable sewage treatment plant operators to track and limit greenhouse gas emissions at their plant and pinpoint which activities cause most environmental harm. And the so"ware, could even cut household water bills, said Dr Katsou. She said: "Finding ways to decrease GHG emissions and energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants will mean cheaper and more environmentally-friendly sewage purification. And the latter can decrease the bills New so•ware to track sewage treatment works' carbon footprint "The industry has invested billions of pounds in securing the nation's precious water resources, but we all need to do more in the face of current and future pressures on those resources" Michael Roberts, Water UK director, said: "With iNet, i2O has developed a cutting-edge system that addresses a very real need that we have. By working in partnership with i2O we are able to improve customer service, reduce service interruptions and work more efficiently. The savings we expect to make on PRV maintenance alone will more than justify the investment we are making in a very short period of time." Joel Hagan, chief executive officer of i2O, said: "We are delighted to be working with South West Water, which is a leader in the UK water industry and a pioneer in its use of data and analytics. Our iNet system enables water companies to maximise the value of data from permanently deployed loggers at points of interest in the network and has a big role to play in helping water companies improve how they serve customers and address the challenges they face." Around 250 PRV condition monitoring loggers have been installed across SWW's distribution network paid by people to water utilities." Dr Katsou added: "It will have a significant added value for the water engineering sector. This new database and so"ware will guide the wastewater treatment plant operators in sustainable and eco-efficient operation of their plants." Dynamic models will simulate different processes inside the plant, while an online gas analyser logs the amount of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide emitted during biological sewage treatment. Data from the gas analyser then feeds back into the models to predict GHG emission and an online energy meter tracks energy use. A sewage plant's carbon footprint combines GHG emitted directly from sewage treatment and GHG emitted indirectly from the energy used to power the plant. The new so"ware will help operators reduce both types of GHG alongside its energy consumption. "Lower energy consumption translates to lower cost for sewage purification," said Dr Katsou. "Water customers are charged for both the fresh water they use and the cost of foul water management. By decreasing the foul water treatment, cost the so"ware tool will allow decreases in water utility bills." unprecedented rainfall in the spring of 2012, we might have suffered significant problems with water supply that summer. This is world class research that will support companies and government in planning for resilient water resources in the future." The industry research was funded by Water UK and was led by a steering group, comprising water companies, regulators and UK and Welsh Government representatives. The research was conducted by a team including Atkins, Mott Macdonald, Nera Economic Consulting, HR Wallingford and the University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute.

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