Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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18 | DECEmbEr 2016 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Close up: Sludge trading and treatment treatment, AD, food waste and energy generation operations have been hived off into a separate company – GenECO – which has its own management and finances. Whether other water companies adopt a similar model of separation remains to be seen, but unlike in reforms in the retail market, it is by no means a necessary outcome. "Each company can follow their own route," says Severn Trent's Corrigall. "The reality of these operations is they are very integrated into the day-to-day running of sewage treatment works - some of the companies that have been formed are almost virtual companies, to create the right sort of management focus, rather than being physical operations. I think the question of separation is really less of an issue than it is in retail, where there's a really clear difference between wholesalers and retailers. In this part of the value chain, you actually can have the operations very integrated." At the end of the value chain, sludge recycling and disposal are functions that are less likely to be fundamentally affected by the reforms. The ultimate customers for the recycling of treated sludge are farmers who use it as fertiliser on their fields; their main concern on the issue is to ensure that the consistency and standard of what they receive does not suffer as a result of the reforms. Progress has already been made on this in the form of the Biosolids Assurance Scheme, a set of standards established three years ago through co-operation between government, agricultural interest groups, the food industry and Water UK. Companies that receive sludge under any new arrangements, including potential new entrants to the market, will almost certainly be required in their contract to sign up to the scheme and meet its standards. It is eventually possible, albeit unlikely in the short term, that a water and sewerage company may be in a position to exit the market and outsource its sludge operations entirely. However, one drawback to this is that the weight of sludge, and the cost of transporting it, would appear to favour the development of a multiple local markets, with pockets of trading and small deals. Whatever the course taken to achieve greater efficiency, the customer and the environment should benefit from the reforms in the end, emphasises Fergusson. "What we're trying to do is get a real shi' in thinking about what sludge is, which is why we're calling it bioresources," she says. "It's trying to get a paradigm shi', to say that this isn't just an annoying waste product of sewage treatment but a resource, and there are things that can be obtained by using it wisely. This shi' in thinking should make sure that what happens with this resource is actually the best for the environment, the best for customers and for the companies, and there is also the opportunity for innovation to come in." Hear more from Alison Fergusson on the developing sludge market at WWT's Wastewater 2017 conference in birmingham on 31st January: events.wwtonline.co.uk/wastewater • Perspectives Neil Corrigall, Severn Trent: "There are 200 or so sludge treatment sites across England and Wales with a ready made fleet of tankers driving around the countryside every day – so the question is, how can we look at that system differently, and optimise it? For me, it really is a win-win for companies, for customers, for the environment, and for renewable energy." Alison Fergusson, Ofwat: "We're trying to get a paradigm shi , to say that this isn't just an annoying waste product of sewage treatment but a resource... this shi should ensure outcomes that are the best for the environment, for customers and for the companies, with the opportunity for innovation to come in." Sludge treatment at Yorkshire Water's Esholt WWTW Waste companies with AD facilities may be potential market entrants