WET News

4 WET NEWS JANUARY 2018 NEWS+ Study reveals £100M annual cost of UK sewer blockages • Water UK investigation highlights wipes as the major cause of sewer blockages, which have a major impact on the environment. A round 300,000 sewer blockages are occurring every year, costing the country £100M. The statistics have been revealed in the biggest ever in-depth investigation of sewer blockages in the UK, with wipes being flushed down toilets blamed for causing serious prob- lems in the sewerage system. The information is detailed in a new report by Water UK, the trade body representing all of the main UK water and sewerage compa- nies. It showed that wipes made up around 93% of the material causing the sewer blockages which the study investigated. These wipes – which included a high proportion of baby wipes – are not designed to be flushed. Less than 1% of the domestic waste in the blockages was iden- tified as made up of products which are designed to be flushed, such as toilet paper. Thousands of properties suffer sewer flood- ing caused by these blockages every year in the UK, creating misery for homeowners and busi- nesses and leading to high clean- up bills and increased insurance costs. Sewer flooding also has a major impact on the environ- ment. The new research shows that most of these type of inci- dents could be avoided by the wipes being disposed of properly rather than being flushed down toilets. Retailers in the UK who have taken the lead with more visible Do Not Flush labelling are being CONTRACT WINS Lanes Group has won a deal to map and maintain highway drainage assets that Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council says is "critical" to its plans to minimise the risk of flooding. The work involves cleaning, CCTV surveying, and digitally mapping highway drainage assets. Northern Ireland Water has awarded a contract for leakage detection services worth £17M. Ballymena firm E Mcmullan and Abingdon-based RPS Environmental Manage- ment have both been awarded a place on the contract, two of six firms who tendered for the work Veolia Water Technologies has won a contract to upgrade the treatment process at Severn Trent's Little Aston Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) to meet tighter ammonia discharge consent. good news is that by taking action we can stop the horror people face when their homes are flooded with raw sewage." The investigation of 54 sewer blockages across the UK forms the main part of the report, titled the Wipes in Sewer Blockage Study. It was jointly funded and supported by Water UK, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and trade association EDANA. The report concluded that a renewed united and concerted approach is required to raise awareness among consumers of what can and cannot be flushed. The investigation covered 54 sewer blockages across the UK Good monthT- Bad month For scientists at the University of Washington who aim to simplify finding detrimental leaks having developed 'smart' paper that can sense the presence of water. For cities, as Arup and The Rockefeller Foundation establish a framework to help them better prepare for and respond to shocks and stresses to their water system. For Yorkshire Water, fined £45K for a pollution incident in Belle View, Doncaster, in 2014 which led to the deaths of several hundred fish. For firms who, said Wave, are wasting thousands of pounds a year on unnecessary water costs by not identifying and addressing leaks within property boundaries. Kier launches pilot scheme to help recruits return to work • Engineering and construction group joins forces with WES and IMarEST to provide tailored STEM returners programme. K ier has teamed up with the Women's Engineering Society (WES) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMa- rEST) to offer a tailored STEM returners programme for the UK engineering and construction sector. The pilot scheme starts this month and, has been open to potential recruits seeking a career within the built environ- ment. It offers successful candi- dates a structured placement with a full mentoring system. The Kier returnship pro- gramme aims to make the transi- tion back to work a successful, stress-free and long-term one. Successful applicants will undertake a tailored 13-week programme. Each person will receive two coaching sessions by WES, offering support and confi- dence before returning to the workplace. A mentor will also be assigned by Kier and WES, who will be on hand throughout the programme and beyond to pro- vide support. At the end of 13 weeks, Kier has the opportunity to make ongoing offers of employment. Currently, 427,000 female pro- fessionals, including directors, engineers, scientists, research- ers, doctors, lawyers and accountants, are taking career breaks but want to return to the workforce in the future. How- ever, Kier said three in five pro- fessional women (around 249,000) returning to the work- force are likely to move into lower-skilled or lower-paid roles, experiencing an immediate earnings reduction of up to a third. Around 29,000 women who return to the workforce on a part-time basis will be underem- ployed, meaning that they would prefer to work more hours if flexible working opportunities were made more widely availa- ble. Jan Atkinson, talent and organisation development direc- tor at Kier, said: "We know returning to work a¤er a career break can be extremely daunt- ing. At Kier, we welcome tal- ented people – be it from this industry or elsewhere – and want them to be a part of our dynamic and exciting company. "We have a wide breadth of opportunities available and we will look at applicants' transfer- able skills to see where they would fit best within the com- pany – it is not a one size fits all approach at Kier." www.rescue2.co.uk Call 01903 871105 INDUSTRY RESCUE FOR THE TEAMS WATER Our Confined Space Safety and Technical Rescue Service will provide you with peace of mind that your employees and contractors will work in the safest environment when making a confined space entry. l Full support, including site visits and consultancy. We provide valuable early guidance and entry advice l Solutions for safe systems of work and contractor management l Teams of Emergency Service and Rescue Specialists - with real life experiences l Years of experience - we are approved suppliers to many Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractors across the utility sectors l Dynamic and interactive service and advice - we are not just a 'stand by rescue team' l Technical rope rescue provision - providing access and solutions for more complex entries l Paramedic and Fire Safety cover Need to know Analysis of the samples collected at wastewater treatment works inlets showed a similarity with the items recovered from the sewer blockage samples The majority of material in pumping station clogs was an unidentifiable mass of wipes Of the 24 blockages where sufficient information was returned, 11 were at features which are integral to drain and sewer system design in the UK Since January 2017, EDANA has been promoting the use of a 'Do Not Flush' symbol on the front of packaging to help stop non-flushable wipes being flushed. EDANA members and retailers are being encouraged to adopt the front-of-pack 'Do Not Flush' logo on non-flushable wipes by October 2018. Marines Lagemaat, scientific and technical affairs director of EDANA, said: "This initiative demonstrates the benefits of cooperation between the key stakeholders and we look for- ward to further collaboration with waste water organisations." praised for their efforts, but more needs to be done to help encour- age individuals to stop using the toilet as a bin. Water UK's director of corpo- rate affairs, Rae Stewart, said: "This study proves that flushing wipes down the toilet is a major cause of sewer blockages, and that means it's a problem we can all do something about. Water companies spend billions of pounds every year making our water and sewerage services world class, but our sewerage sys- tem is just not designed to handle things like baby wipes which don't break down in water. The

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