Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/762480
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | january 2017 | 5 Water companies worldwide back flushability statement Utilities in 20 countries have signed a statement calling for wet wipes and similar products to be labelled 'do not flush' until technical standards have been agreed with the industry. The statement has been signed by 281 organisations across the world, including water utilities in the USA, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It says that the manufacturers of wipes and personal hygiene products should not be allowed to market the products as 'flushable' based on their own criteria or those of manufacturers' trade associations, and instead should have to develop and agree an ISO technical standard with the water and wastewater industry. This ISO standard would include the requirement for the product to break into small pieces quickly, not to be buoyant, not to include plastic or regenerated cellulose, and only to contain materials that readily degrade in a range of natural environments. Unless and until such a standard is agreed, manufacturers should "give consumers clear and unambiguous information about appropriate disposal methods", with labelling that says 'do not flush' and advises to put the product in the bin, says the statement. This follows news that last month, Water UK wrote to trading standards on behalf of UK water companies to complain about packaging of wet wipes and other sanitary products that claim these items are 'flushable'. In the UK alone, water companies estimate it costs £88M a year to unblock sewers, and more than half of blockages are exacerbated by wipes and hygiene products. This does not include the human and environmental impact and cost. Polluters pay VOX POP "Leakage remains an important issue for consumers and it can dampen their own motivation to save water if they think their water company is not pulling its weight." Tony Smith, chief executive, CCWater "We intend to bring real benefits to Dee Valley's operations and customers… we are looking forward to engaging with the customers and Welsh regulators and bringing our skills in water services to Dee Valley." Liv Garfield, chief executive, Severn Trent "Recent evidence shows that we will see increased demand for water from all sectors, and reduced supply because of changes in weather patterns leading to natural water shortages." Jacob Tompkins, managing director, Waterwise Leakage falling but not fast enough, warns CCWater The amount of water lost through leaking supply pipes in England and Wales has fallen for the first time in five years, but the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has called on some water companies to do much better. Figures released in CCWater's Delving into Water report show leakage fell by just over 1 per cent in 2015/16, with most water companies continuing to deliver better water and sewerage services for their customers and high levels of consumer satisfaction. But the consumer watchdog says some water companies can still do much more to plug leakage and reduce the 121 litres of water that is wasted on average per household each day. Tony Smith, Chief Executive of CCWater, said: "Water compares very favourably to most other utilities when you see consumer satisfaction with value for money at a five- year high and complaints at their lowest level for eight years. "But leakage remains an important issue for consumers and it can dampen their own motivation to save water if they think their water company is not pulling its weight. With pressure continuing to mount on our water resources, some water companies need to show more ambition in beating – not just meeting – their leakage targets." Spain faces EU rap The European Commission (EC) wants Spain to pay more than €46.5M for failing to adequately process sewage in 17 communities, nine of which are in andalucia. The commission has referred Spain to the Eu Court of justice for a second time for not "fully and completely" complying with a court judgement in april 2011 concerning poor wastewater collection and treatment. The commission is asking the Eu Court of justice to impose the lump sum, and is also proposing a daily fine of €171,217.20 if full compliance is not achieved by the date of the court's second ruling. Irish raw sewage still discharging The Environment Protection agency (EPA) has said significant funding is needed for wastewater treatment in Ireland, as its latest report revealed that raw sewage is still discharging into waterways in 43 areas and that planned delivery of treatment plants at half of these have been delayed by almost two years. The report said that a substantial and sustained increase in investment in public wastewater treatment infrastructure is needed. DCWW pays out over spills natural resources Wales (nrW) has agreed to Dwr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) paying £100,000 to environmental charities in compensation for two recent environmental offences. In the first case, a faulty hydrobrake at Ty Gwyn sewage treatment works near Buckley caused raw sewage to discharge into a tributary of the river alyn; in response DCWW made a contribution of £40,000 to the Welsh Dee Trust, £10,000 to the Wrexham and District Fly Fishing Club and £20,000 to the north Wales Wildlife Trust. In the second case, aluminium levels from alwen WTW exceeded permit conditions a er a fault on an inlet valve; DCWW made a contribution of £27,000 to the Marine Conservation Society and £5,000 to the Welsh Dee Trust. In addition DCWW paid £3,488 and £2,692 in costs.