Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/904738
www.wwtonline.co.uk | DECEMBER 2017 | 15 "Getting to zero water quality failures will be challenging, and it is even more challenging to do so sustainably and at small scales." Professor Elise Cartmell Chief Scientist Scottish Water "The reality is that there are definitely non- compliant products out there. They might be safe, or they might not, but if you've not tested them, then you just don't know." Julie Spinks Managing Director Water Regulations Advisory Scheme Flow cytometry can count every cell in a sample of water and establish if it is dead or alive. It takes only three minutes to process and gives us infinitely better data." Aidan Marsh Flow Cytometry Project Leader Northumbrian Water "It wasn't just chance that these [water quality] incidents occurred – in each case, something has gone wrong with either people, processes or technology." Marcus Rink Chief Inspector Drinking Water Inspectorate THE SPEAKERS To take away 1. Water companies in England and Wales are adapting to the new compliance risk index (CRI) used by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, placing the focus on minimising the risk and consequences of failures in their operations on water quality 2. Inadequate risk assessments are frequently to blame for the most significant water quality incidents; water companies can learn from the oil and gas sector in implementing 'process safety' measures around the most risky activities 3. Customer-side issues such as poor quality plumbing or non-compliant products can have a big impact on water quality, but enforcement is difficult and water companies must concentrate on raising awareness and promoting accreditation schemes 4. Advances in flow cytometry, which gives a real-time indication of the amount of bacteria in a water sample, may allow for more optimised use of chlorine and other disinfection techniques. 5. Water quality as measured by mean zonal compliance has reached a plateau in recent years, and if the industry wants to be ambitious and push for zero compliance failures, it must make the best use of data to anticipate risks before they materialise a case study from Yorkshire Water on its management of an E.coli contamination incident at Thorne and Moorends near Doncaster in July 2016. The contamination, which led to 3,600 household customers being told not to use their water, was traced to a chicken processing factory in the area which had a cross-connection in its plumbing; the factory was later fined £2700 for breaching water fitting regulations. The case highlighted how poor plumbing practices on customer-side pipes can impact the wider network, and showed the need for greater awareness and enforcement of water regulations, according to speakers Luke Montgomery and Marcus O'Ceafarcaigh of Yorkshire Water. NEXT EVENT: WWT Water Scotland conference, December 7th, Glasgow.