Utility Week

Utility Week 22nd September 2017

Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government

Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/876437

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 30 of 31

Community Rapturous response There is a theory floating round in some quarters explaining the sudden onslaught of floods and hurricanes: the imminent end of the world. And when Disconnector says imminent, the great man doesn't just mean "soon", he means tomor- row, 23 September. Yup, according to biblical conspiracy theorists, the Rap- ture, as set out in the Book of Revelation, will see "worthy" Christians lied into heaven by Jesus, while the rest of humanity will be le to face the Apocalypse. The reason that adherents of Revelation 12 (named aer the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation) believe 23 Septem- ber is a date for your diaries is that if fulfils the prophesied appearance of "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head". In case you haven't joined the dots, the women in the prophecy is the constellation Virgo (obviously), while the crown of stars is Leo. The moon mentioned is considered to be under the "feet" of Virgo and on 23 September the sun will be passing through the constel- lation – and therefore will be "clothed with the sun". It's watertight, folks. Revelation declares that only those who've lived a life of repentance will be lied up by the Lord, so there's a glimmer of hope there. Aer the debacle of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as president of the USA, there will be a lot more penitent people knocking around than usual. Jesus could be picking up a larger crowd than he anticipated. Boris Johnson won't be among them. As harmless as an ant? In fact, you don't have to look that hard to find demonic omens. Take the fact that researchers have dug up a 98-million-year-old horned vampire ant encased in amber, for instance. According to Smithsonian. com, a newly described species of "hell ant" with a metal- reinforced horn and jaws designed to slurp blood has been unearthed in present-day Myanmar and its discovery logged in journal Systematic Entomology. Instead of the usual ant mouthparts, Vladi (as research- ers dubbed the creature) has two large mandibular blades. It's believed that when prey passed by the ant, they would set off trigger hairs. The blades would then activate, flipping up to impale the hapless creatures on the ant's horn. The flipped up mandibles have grooves that act as a type of gutter that can direct haemo- lymph (the insect version of blood) into the ant's mouth. And all this time it was spiders you were scared of. Eel be damned In (perhaps) unrelated news, a family in Derry, Ireland, was le in shock last week when a live tropical eel emerged from the cold water tap in their home. An unnamed woman from Limavady is quoted in the County Derry Post saying: "Initially, I thought it was a piece of fishing wire but then I saw it swimming about. When I realised what it was, I couldn't believe it." She added with admirable stoicism: "I don't have any real concerns about the water but it does make me want to make sure and check the water before drinking it." A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Water said: "NI Water staff called to the property and lied samples for analysis. Our scientific staff will liaise with the customer and also provide advice on any remedial work required." Hmm. 23 September, you say? The Rapture, you say? Disconnector's not laughing any more. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Deputy editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: janegray@ fav-house.com; Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Deputy news editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@fav-house.com; Senior reporter: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Sidney Houliston, e: sidneyhouliston@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332009; Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e; sophieabbott@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: Buxton Press, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Published by: Faversham House Ltd, Windsor Court, Wood Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1UZ, 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2015 Membership subscriptions: UK £669 per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the editor, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk Top Tweets this week come from @Ofwat's resilience forum. See more p10 Cathryn Ross @OfwatChiefExec Really excited to be at @Ofwat's #Resilienceintheround event, coinciding with the launch of our report http://socsi.in/oEpCC [Resilience in the Round: Building a resilient future] Richard Khaldi @RichardKhaldi @HelenMunday_FDF talking of controlling the narrative when an event occurs but maintaining empathy – tricky balance! #resilienceintheround Carl Pheasey @Carl_Pheasey James Wardlaw provides sobering example of links between operational and financial resilience: Hatfield rail disaster #resilienceintheround Stew Horne @StewHorne_CA Fascinating discussion about resilience by Lord Harris @Ofwat #resilienceintheround, are we thinking enough about interconnected events? Lisa Commane @LisaCommane Resilience in our organisations needs passion to improve, imagination, collaboration, employee and customer engagement #resilienceintheround Kate Baker @Baker_aquatic "If you think resilience is expensive...then do the calculations again" Sir James Bevan @EnvAgency @Ofwat #resilienceintheround Future Water Association @FutureWaterAsso Challenging assumptions critical to resilience – contemplate the 'unimaginable' @Ofwat #resilienceintheround Nicci Russell @nicci_vasey Prof Julia Black of LSE @Ofwat #resilienceintheround re risk analysis – relies on our perceptions of what ‹bad› and ‹likely› are.... Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH SEPTEMBER 2017 | 31

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Utility Week - Utility Week 22nd September 2017