Utility Week

Operations & Assets 14 | 24TH - 30TH NOVEMBER 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Analysis R esilience is far more than a buzzword for the water industry. Forming a major focus of the forthcoming price review, PR19, water companies are having to step up their efforts to demonstrate they understand what it takes to be resilient in the long term. Although resilience is far from being a new requirement of water companies, the introduction of a formal resilience duty for Ofwat in the 2014 Water Act has led to an increased focus on the issue in PR19. Dem- onstrating this, Ofwat has broadened its interpretation of "resilience in the round" to include corporate and financial resilience, as well as the more established area of opera- tional resilience. Regarding the latter, safeguarding water resources for future generations is likely to become the dominating factor in resilience schemes. A report from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy highlighted the coming decade as a critical time for action on this, and water compa- nies are becoming increasingly alert to the potential for climate change to radically alter current assumptions about the availability of water, as well as demand patterns from different user groups. Tackling this challenge via new approaches to operations and demand man- agement is therefore essential and increas- ingly urgent. But keeping solutions within the bounds of affordability also remains an ever-present control factor. The upshot? Resilience needs innovation – and those companies that deliver it most effectively will reap rewards in the upcoming price control by impressing the regulator. Here, Utility Week reviews the activities of six water companies who are on the front foot when it comes to resilience innovation. Northumbrian Water: Rainwise Northumbrian Water has devised the "Rainwise" initiative, which aims to reduce the flood risk to customers who may not have flooded previously, but who the company believes could be in danger in the future. It includes an education campaign to ensure the public understand how they can impact flood risk in their own communities. The company says its approach has reduced the flood risk to more than 4,000 properties so far in AMP6. Richard Warneford, wastewater director at Northumbrian Water Group, explains: "Rainwise is a proactive and reactive ini- tiative to reduce flood risk and influence customer behavioural change, aimed at increasing the resilience of our communities, reducing flooding through alleviating the pressure on our network. "The Rainwise brand provides an identity to customers, building awareness of surface water management and the steps they can take to manage water around their homes and communities more effectively." Incorporated in Rainwise is the Northum- bria Integrated Drainage Partnership (NIDP). Northumbrian Water led the development of the NIDP, a regional partnership consist- ing of 13 lead local flood authorities and the Environment Agency. Northumbrian Water is developing a pipeline of integrated stud- ies, which progress into proactive and reac- tive flood risk reduction schemes, prioritised regionally to maximise customer benefit. Warneford adds: "We know the industry and regulators are watching what we do with SuDS [sustainable drainage systems] and Rainwise, because what we are implement- ing in terms of proactivity has the potential to solve issues that haven't actually become problems yet, and that's true innovation in building resilience." Severn Trent: satellites Severn Trent is trialling satellites as a new way to detect leakage in a bid to reduce leakage levels by 15 per cent. The company, which already uses drones to spot leaks from the air, said it is going a step further with its "leakage detection from space". Dr Bob Stear, head of innovation at Severn Trent, says: "At the moment leakage detec- tion hasn't developed much in the way of new emerging technologies, so we've chosen to take a chance on satellites. We're doing two trials to find leaks in different ways." Severn Trent will be working with satel- lite communication company Rezatec, which analyses satellite data and imagery to moni- tor changes in the landscape near to the pipe. This includes changes to the vegetation, water content in soil, water accumulation and sub-centimetre ground movement, all of which help to identify potential leakage. The water company will also work with Utilis, using a Japanese satellite 637km above the earth to identify freshwater leaks. It works by picking up a signature of long- wave radiation of chlorine in water, tracking Six ways to address resilience Katey Pigden rounds up some of the innovations water companies have developed to help deliver the resilience Ofwat wants to see included in Asset Management Plan 7 and beyond. Northumbrian's Rainwise includes SuDS such as this one in Megstone Avenue in Cramlington

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