Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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4 | APRIL 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry news April Yorkshire Water has abandoned plans to transfer existing non- domestic customers to its retail spin out, Three Sixty, amid rumours that it may sell off its business book. In a statement Yorkshire Water confirmed that it will not push ahead with a plan to exit the market by transferring business customers to Three Sixty, the retail brand launched in September 2016. Instead, existing business customers will continue to be served by Yorkshire Water Business Services, it said. However, rumours are building within the water market that Yorkshire may be planning to go a step further and sell off its business customer base, exiting the competitive retail market altogether. Northumbrian Water is tipped as a possible buyer for the non-domestic customer base. Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water Yorkshire Water retail U-turn Contract Tracker Stonbury in triple win Stonbury has announced contract wins with SES Water, Portsmouth Water, Dee Valley Water and South Staffs Water. The contractor will deliver reservoir and water tower cleaning, inspection, maintenance and repair works for the three until March 31st, 2020, although there is an option for a five-year extension. ABB and Sulzer servicing deal ABB has agreed a deal with Sulzer Electro Mechanical Services UK which will see the latter providing workshop repair and maintenance services for its large motors and generators. Sulzer has been named a 'loyalty partner' of ABB, meaning that users of ABB's 6.6 kV and above medium and high voltage motors and generators will be able to benefit from the skills and facilities of Sulzer's workshops in Birmingham and Falkirk. SWW opts for i20 loggers South West Water has agreed a deal with smart network solutions provider i2O to install 4,000 loggers over the next four years in its clean water distribution network. The utility will use i2O's dNet loggers to record, communicate and analyse data relating to water demand, flow, pressure, asset condition and transients. declined to comment on the possibility that they were poised to strike a deal. It is still possible that other large water companies will decide to exit the market, even aƒer it opens fully to competition in April. Shareholder appetite for involvement in a low margin and potentially volatile market is generally low. Yorkshire Water first indicated that it was looking to pull back from its plans to transfer customers to Three Sixty in January this year in a notification to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. A recent update on the department's website confirmed: "Yorkshire Water Services have now decided not to proceed with their exit to Three Sixty Water." A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said that despite the change in strategy regarding Three Sixty, the company would continue to "fully comply" 94 The number of boil water notices imposed on private water supplies in Ireland during the course of one year, according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One fi h of the Irish population, mainly in rural areas, get their water from private supplies. SPADE IN THE GROUND: A groundbreaking ceremony has taken place marking the first construction work on Severn Trent's Birmingham Resilience Project, the £300M project to provide an alternative water supply for England's second city. The Mayor of Stourport, Cllr Ken Henderson, was on hand to put the first spade in the ground near Lickhill. with all of its statutory and legal obligations to separate its wholesale and retail activities. "A key element of this separation strategy is that Three Sixty will continue with its contract to provide, at arm's length, all retail services to Yorkshire Water in its capacity as a non- household retailer," the spokesperson said. "The decision to contract with Three Sixty back in April 2016 was taken, in part, to provide flexibility and options as market-opening approached." The news follows the surprise resignation of former Three Sixty managing director Robert Marrill in January, just four months aƒer the business launched. Other prominent market exits to date include Portsmouth Water – which was the first incumbent supplier to pull out of competition – as well as Southern Water and Thames Water.