Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH NOVEMBER 2017 | 19 Operations & Assets "My conclusion was that the company supplied water that was unwholesome as a direct result of actions and decisions made by the company, and that if a consumer were aware of the presence of the parasite they would have rejected it for consumption." Marcus Rink, chief inspector of drinking water The DWI's recommendations for United Utilities Decision to advise consumers to boil their tap water • UU should review its emergency plans for issuing protective advice to consumers and should issue written advice to customers within 24 hours of an emergency. Decision to re-start Franklaw works on 6 August 2015 and its plans to rezone areas supplied by Franklaw with water from other treatment works • UU should review its supply systems to identify measures required to improve the resilience of all of its networks, so alternative sources of supply can be introduced in a drinking water quality emergency. Programme to install ultraviolet disinfection on the outlets of service reservoirs in the Franklaw supply system • In its review of the emergency and contingency plans, UU should consider whether provi- sion of temporary treatment should form part of these plans, and, if so, what might be needed and where, and how it would be procured. Immediate response to the emergency, the emergency incident teams and communications with key stakeholders • UU should publish a report on this event and work with water companies through Water UK and other stakeholders to ensure they are aware of their roles and responsibilities under the national guidelines for responding to an emergency. Investigational sampling response • UU should review its emergency sampling response to ensure that at the onset of a cryptosporidium emergency it has enough portable high-volume sampling equipment available to enable immediate meaningful sampling investigations. Investigations into the source of the oocysts • The DWI breaks this recommendation down into nine elements, suggesting UU should implement a full programme of work to ensure all of its treated water- retaining tanks, reservoirs and trunk and distribution mains are properly main- tained and secured to prevent the possibility of ingress of surface water. • It also recommends the company reviews its procedures for emptying wash water tanks and sludge-holding vessels. • Also, the DWI urges UU to review the recommendations made in the three reports of the group of experts on cryptosporidium in water supplies, published in 1990. • It should ensure that any work required at Franklaw to address the failings identi- fied in the report are given priority and review its other high-priority sites. Planned operation to repair a leak on the coast aqueduct • UU should review all its water-treatment works for disused mains and decommis- sioned assets and remove them from live assets to prevent risk of future contami- nation from decommissioned assets entering a treated water-supply system. • The company should also ensure its records of underground assets and the status of valves are kept fully up to date. Risk assessment before the planned operation to repair a leak on the coast aqueduct • UU should review its approach to risk – assessing major operational changes to ensure that all relevant factors are taken into account, enabling the company to fully comply with its statutory duties under section 68 of the Water Industry Act 1991, to maintain a supply of wholesome water and to prevent deterioration in the quality of water supplied. United Utilities tells Utility Week the com- pany has put technology and processes in place to "guard against a repeat" of this type of incident. "Public health is always our pri- mary concern, and customers can be reas- sured that the North West's drinking water is of an extremely high quality," says a spokes- person. "Since October 2015 we had already started implementing many of the recom- mendations in the DWI's report. We are now leading the UK water industry in terms of resilience to cryptosporidium." United Utilities plans to hold a series of seminars for the water industry throughout November to "ensure the sector learns from the incident". The DWI report suggests consum- ers received "unclear" information that le them confused when advice was first published and when it was lied. Despite acknowledging that United Utilities made every effort to communicate with consumers, the DWI argues that it could have communi- cated better. Other recommendations include the use of a temporary treatment plant during a contamination outbreak, a review of crypto- sporidium-sampling equipment, and the implementation of a "programme of work" to ensure all its treated water-retaining tanks and reservoirs are properly maintained and secured. The DWI will require United Utilities to respond formally to its recommendations. The deadline is yet to be confirmed. The day of the crypto calamity may have been a dark one for United Utilities, but such an incident serves as a vital lesson for the water industry and the sector has demon- strated that it is sitting up and taking notice to ensure it doesn't happen again.

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