Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/826791
22 | JUNE 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk "Customers expect us to do the right thing on leakage" Drew ritChie MaNagiNg DirEcTor of WholEsalE opEraTioNs, affiNiTy WaTEr "During PR14 we set out a challenging business plan, that was agreed by Ofwat, and part of that strategy was to look to reduce leakage by 14%, or 27ML per day, by 2020. The size and scale of that challenge is huge; that's why we committed in the business plan to investing around £500M between 2015 and 2020. "Clearly, part of the challenge is that we don't know where all the leaks are. We have a series of flow monitors across our network which tell us the amount of water that is going in and coming out, but alongside that we've still been using traditional methods of detection: people on the street with metal rods and a wooden block on top, listening to detect sounds from the water meter or the stop tap. "We re-tendered our leakage detection framework last year, and I wanted to challenge the organisations on the new framework to find a more innovative way of working. We were using a leakage detection resource which worked for us in some months of the year but not others, and moved between water companies; I felt that this sent the wrong signal and that we ought to be looking for leaks all year round, using the most innovative methods and people with the best training and skillsets. "The permanent loggers are one way of changing that. The benefit of this system from our perspective is it's far more efficient and effective: it means you can plan deployment of your resources during the day to find out where those leaks are. Detection time is cut massively, and the quality of what you can find – large and small leaks - is markedly better. Hope- fully, no more dry holes and wasted effort. "We're also addressing the skills challenges in this area. As part of our leakage detection function we've taken 30 people from our leakage detection resource in-house and taken on 10 new apprentices, and we are putting them all through the NVQ three-year pro- gramme to train and develop and mentor them, as part of our commitment as a community employer. "We've made a massive strategic push into the loggers, and we will keep pushing the boundaries. Our customers expect us to do the right thing on leakage, and I think we've proven that we are up for the challenge and willing to invest for the long term." • Around 3,087 megalitres (million litres) of treated drinking water leaks out of the pipe distribution network in the UK each day. Affinity Water leaked an average of 181ML per day in 2015-16. At 10.9 cubic metres per kilometre of pipe, this is slightly higher than the average for england and wales (9.0). the water company with the lowest leakage by this measure is Anglian (4.8) while the worst by some distance is thames water (20.5). • Leakage targets are agreed between each water company and regulator Ofwat, and are based on both the cost of reducing leakage in the area of the country concerned, and the value of the lost water in monetary terms, to customers, and the environment. For this reason, companies in the water-stressed regions of the south east must typically meet stiffer targets than in other areas of the country where water is more plentiful. • Affinity has committed to a particularly ambitious target in this AMP period, of reducing leakage by 27ML per day over five years, or by 14% in total. this is because there is projected to be a water deficit in its region due to population growth and climate change, and it has also committed to reducing abstraction – the amount of water it takes from the environment – by 42 million litres per day by 2020 and by 70 million litres per day by 2025. • THE SET UP • WIDE ANGLE audio sound file, to the control room via telemetry. The audio files from the two loggers which are either side of a leak can provide an accurate indication of where the leak is located and the system links in with GIS to help the workforce act on the information as quickly and efficiently as possible. Acoustic logging is an established area of technology for the water industry, and temporary and mobile loggers have been commonly used in recent years. However, it is only recently that the technology has come down in price sufficiently to allow this kind of mass deployment of permanent loggers. Affinity have spent around £10M so far on the project: this includes not only the permanent loggers themselves and their deployment, but on bringing in-house 30 leakage technician staff who were previously working for contractors, and training and upskilling them to be adept in using and responding to the technology. If all goes well, they hope to roll out the loggers to cover even more of their network. The Works: Leakage