WET News

2 WET NEWS FEBRUARY 2017 COMMENT "... rms like Balfour will need to ensure the sector's supply chain complies" FEBRUARY 2 The number of new bore- holes South West Water is working on which will supply 8K customers in East Devon with drinking water. The boreholes are located at Sidford Water Pumping Station. "There are exciting times ahead for our industry and Mott MacDonald and I'm delighted to be taking up this role..." Mike Haigh on becoming managing director of Mott MacDonald. His career with Mott MacDonald began in 1981 when he joined as a graduate engineer working on international projects in the water sector. Scottish Water's interna- tional arm is celebrating its fth anniversary having generated more than £8M of turnover since its formation. The enterprise has gener- ated £8.08M for the since its founding and involved 70 Scottish Water employees working on overseas assignments. In the past year, the subsidiary has worked on contracts in Canada, Ireland, Australia, Norway and Qatar. £8M 70 17km South Sta" s Water is to divert nearly 17km of its assets because of the £1.4bn A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme. £500M Balfour Beatty has delivered more than £500M worth of flood defences in the past 20 years. "It also demonstrates we're serious about responding to concerns about safe working in all environments " Lanes' Frank Hamlin on the firm investing in EX-rated CCTV camera technology to meet the growing demand for drainage surveys that offer enhanced standards of safety. "When planning this project, we were very much aware of the rich history of Newark that lies beneath the ground" Severn Trent engineer Nick Wallace on the company's £60M investment in Newark's sewerage infrastructure unearthing key information on the town's history during the English Civil War. £500 Misinterpreting storm chamber alarms during a sewage spillage landed NI Water with a £500 ne plus £15 O" ender Levy. NI Water was convicted by Newry Magistrates' Court after it pleaded guilty for discharging untreated sewage from Islandbank Wastewater Pumping Station, Newry. BIM level 2 consistency and compliance would be a good thing B alfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, wants to see BIM level 2 prioritised across the construction industry. The reason is because the company believes opportunities to deliver innovation and e• ciencies "are being missed" as a result of organisations which have yet to adopt BIM level 2 compliance. The call is included in Ten Steps to E• ciency in Flood and Coastal Risk Management. This is Balfour Beatty's document outlining what it believes needs to be done to ensure the e„ ective delivery of … ood protection schemes across the country without compromising on quality or safety (see p7). A government mandate that requires all central government departments, including the Environment Agency (EA), to adopt minimum, collaborative Level 2 BIM is in e„ ect. This mandate does not apply to the water sector, although it will for Scottish Water when the public sector in Scotland implements BIM from April this year. It's very much part of the "digital revolution" that is gathering pace and as the government strives to reduce capital cost and the carbon burden from the construction and operation of the built environment by 20%. The BIM process is making inroads in the water sector as contractors such as Balfour have brought the bene' ts to their clients. While the government is pro-BIM it is unlikely that regulator Ofwat will insist on BIM for the water sector. So if the opportunities to deliver innovation and e• ciencies are not to be missed in the water sector, then companies like Balfour will be needed to ensure the sector's supply chain does comply with BIM level 2. Water industry 'Oscars' are a great night out! If you're looking for something to do on the evening of May 23 then why not treat your customers to a night out at the Water Industry Achievement Awards 2017? The awards, organised by WET News and sister journal Water & Wastewater Treatment, is being held at The Vox Conference Centre, Birmingham. It's a great event to network with your peers as well as celebrate the innovative achievements of the water and wastewater sector. An early bird booking rate is available until March 3. See you there! T he lack of a clear framework for the maintenance and perfor- mance of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) is seen as the key barrier to their e„ ective delivery and adoption, a national survey has found. The research, conducted by Engineering Nature's Way, the knowledge-sharing initiative for SuDS, also revealed that most (79%) of respondents working with SuDS day-to-day believed the UK government is not fully committed to long- term delivery, and 72% believed it had not committed su• cient funds for satisfactory … ood resilience. SuDS: The State of the Nation 2016 sought the views of professionals working with SuDS at the 'grass roots'. As the government prepares for a review of the e„ ectiveness of delivering SuDS through the planning system in England, the survey generated more than 360 detailed responses from consulting engineers, local authority professionals and developers across the UK. The majority of respondents ¥ State of the nation survey reveals 'strong concerns' over the lack of a clear national framework for SuDS maintenance and adoption. Uncertainty over maintenance holds back SuDS adoption (69%) believed that uncertainty around the maintenance and through-life performance of SuDS components is presenting barriers to adoption. Most (73%) also believe more standard technical guidance is needed on the long-term maintenance of SuDS components. "The survey provided an unprecedented level of personal insights from professionals working 'at the coal face' with SuDS, with over 1,000 additional comments o„ ered," said Phil Collins, European sales director at Hydro International. "Strong concerns were expressed about the lack of a clear national framework for maintenance and adoption, together with uncertainty over which authorities or organ- isations should be liable for SuDS components over their lifecycle. Comments suggested a lack of con' dence amongst some authorities about taking over ownership of SuDS from developers. "There were also worries about the lack of arrangements in place for inspection of SuDS post-construction and for monitoring their ongoing performance, as well as for enforcement if SuDS features are not maintained as designed. Some people felt a clearer national policy is needed to place a duty on public authorities, including water companies, to adopt SuDS." While more than half (56%) of respondents believed it is too easy for developers to avoid implementing SuDS. Most agreed that proprietary SuDS components are essential to the SuDS toolbox (77%), and can facilitate Green Infrastructure (70%) as well as help to ensure the long-term maintenance of SuDS features (63%). Most respondents (61%) welcomed the new standards and guidance now in place for designing SuDS schemes and considered them to make widespread uptake more likely. However, there were some concerns over the complexity of some industry guidance, as well as the consistency of application and interpretation of standards across the country.

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