WET News

wwtonline.co.uk | APRIL 2018 WET NEWS 7 World must prepare for 'trigger points', Jacobs VP says Jacobs' Bryan Harvey warns climate change risks 'exist everywhere on the planet' D rought and ood risks now exist everywhere in the world and preparing for "trigger points" is key to resilience, Jacobs vice-presi- dent Bryan Harvey told the World Water-Tech Innovation Summit in London. Delegates at the summit in London, which took place on 20 and 21 February, heard from an array of global speakers on the subject of crisis and weather extremes. Mark Lane, UK Water Partnership director, highlighted London's appearance on the BBC's recent listŽ of the 11 cities most likely to follow Cape Town in potentially running out of drinking water, and Harvey said it was unfortunate that the UK capital had been located "in an estuary environment that's prone to drought and ood". He said it illustrated an issue in many conurbations globally, adding: "More and more people are moving to the cities and the majority of the water is somewhere else. There's going to be a drought at some point in time and we need to prepare for that moment." Harvey, who has been working in resilience for over a quarter of a century and operates in numerous countries around the globe, said he has seen indications that the world is waking up to the challenges ahead. "There's no question that the risks associated with droughts and oods exist everywhere on the planet," he said. "From my experience, the long-term master- planning is de" nitely picking up pace around the world. "There's been a real push in many cities to look 50 or even 100 years ahead to see what's going to happen in the future. The challenge is the trigger points. We can invest now to eliminate the risks, but that would be perceived as a waste of money, or we can wait until it's too late. "What we're seeing in some places now is that they are looking at these leading indications of change which can start the trigger points for investment. We're not sure how much the rainfall is going to increase – the trigger point could happen in 20 years, 50 years or 100 years. "The important thing is that we know that at some point in time the trigger point is going to be reached which is going to require a new level of investment. That's the thing people are starting to buy into now. "With that comes that increased level of exibility in planning, with recycling, desalination, water transfers, surface water issues for droughts, and similarly for oods with spatial and planning systems. There's a recognition now that most communities could be a– ected by ooding at some point, so why not build that into the planning process now?" Anthony Tanti, executive director of Malta's Water Service Corporation, and Denis Bilodeau, president of Orange County Water District, both spoke about water reuse as a means of tackling scarcity. Malta began investing in desalination plants in the 1980s and they contribute 60 per cent of the country's water, but Tanti said groundwater had come under signi" cant stress from agriculture, so they began using treated sewage ež uent (TSE) for farming. Orange County, California, has gone a step further to contend with what one speaker described as a "perpetual drought" in the area. "In 1976, my district initially started reusing wastewater, taking partially treated sewage to drinking water standards," Bilodeau said. "We currently make up to 100 million gallons a day of puri" ed water from treated sewage." Orange County Water District uses a three-step process of micro" ltration, reverse osmosis and UV with hydrogen peroxide. Reuse is not a cheap process, with 16MW of power used 24/7 and a $1 million monthly bill, but Bilodeau said it "compares very favourably to the cost of imported water". However, he added: "We had a tremendous barrier to overcome in terms of the 'yuk' factor." Call +44 (0)1553 770 092 Nutrients and Neutralisers For all types of wastewater treatment pH Control Solutions Neutralise acidic wastewater Aerobic and Anaerobic Treatment Solutions Optimise plant performance Sludge Treatment Improve floc formulation Email environmental@omex.com Visit www.omex.com /OMEXCompanies @ OMEXCompanies WHAT MAKES OUR ZS SCREW BLOWER IDEAL FOR WATER & WASTEWATER TREATMENT? It guarantees a continuous, highly reliable supply of 100% oil-free air to your process. Energy efficiency for years on end, at the lowest possible oper- ating cost. 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