Utility Week

Community Do you want ice with that? Iceberg-towing is one of those ideas that surfaces every few years despite being obviously bonkers. In fact it was first pro- posed back in the 1800s when the heavy liing would have had to have been done with a sailing ship, which seems an even bigger ask. Well, the idea has resur- faced, this time in the mind of Nick Sloane, a salvage expert who sprang to international fame when he refloated the massive Costa Concordia. The ship sank in the Mediterranean in 2012 when the captain sailed too close to the rocks because he was trying to impress a pretty girl on the bridge. Sloane is holding a series of seminars in Cape Town, South Africa, to drum up interest, and the choice of location is no accident because if the idea is going to get a fair hearing anywhere, it's in Cape Town, which is in the grip of a very serious water crisis and in danger of running out of water. The only fact weighing in Sloane's favour is that now- adays icebergs are tracked by satellite and it's been noted that some of them float a third of the way to Africa from Ant- arctica on their own accord. The plan would be to "capture" one of these. Sloane has teamed up with a French engineer and a Nor- wegian glaciologist to form a company called Southern Ice to see if the idea has any traction, as it were. Disconnector is no psychic, but he's prepared to bet that it doesn't. Water music Perhaps wisely, while waiting for Mr Sloane's iceberg to arrive, the South African authorities are taking more direct action to reduce water consumption. Incredibly, given that the drought is an international story, research last year found that barely half the residents of the city were listening to the water-saving messages being pumped out. So a financial services company called San- lan decided to do something about it and hired PR agency Atmosphere Communications to come up with a more effec- tive campaign. They persuaded ten of the country's most popular music acts to record two-minute versions of their hits and chal- lenged people to shower for only as long as the tune played. The results were impressive. The Two-Minute Shower campaign received coverage in 95 per cent of mainstream media in SA, 1.7 million people watched the accompanying online videos, and there were thousands of downloads. Last week the campaign was named the top PR campaign of 2017 by the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa. Let's hope the UK never faces similar tribulations about water. In this land of outdoor hot tubs, Disconnector thinks it will take more than a truncated ditty by Paloma Faith to get us to turn the taps off. Nestlé's got a lot of bottle Ironically, one place in Europe that is facing a water shortage is the French town of Vittel, which lends its name to the popular mineral water. In fact, that appears to be the problem. Nestlé Waters, which owns the Vittel brand, is accused by residents and environmental- ists of "overusing" the local spring water that supplies the town and its bottling plant to maintain exports (an allegation the company denies). If nothing is done to halt the fall, residents used to having Vittel spring water on tap may be forced to rely on water piped in from the village of Lerrain, 12 miles away. The residents of Vittel are in an uproar, but as the residents of Cape Town might observe wistfully, it is very much a first world problem. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Deputy editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: janegray@ fav-house.com; Associate editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@ fav-house.com Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Deputy news editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@fav-house.com; Content editor: Alice Cooke, t: 01342 332102, e: alicecooke@fav-house.com; Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Reporter: Clare Ruel, t: 01342 332069, e: clareruel@fav-house.com Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house. com. t: 01342 332116; Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e; sophieabbott@ fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: Buxton Press, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2017 Membership subscriptions: UK £669 per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the editor, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH MAY 2018 | 31 Paul Massara @paulmassara The future system design for the electricity system shouldn't be determined by ideology or engineering but by outcomes - lower costs, more innovation, less carbon and more secure. @ElectronDLT United Utilities PLC @uugroupplc Yesterday we launched a sustainable drainage scheme @MoorlandsJSSale with @BITCenvironment and other partners. A fantastic scheme to help Manchester become a leading green city. #RBWeek #gmgreencity #nwmatters CitizensAdviceEnergy @CABenergy Citizens Advice research shows the difference between the #excessprofits of energy network companies across the country. We think people deserve money back off their energy bills. Ofgem @ofgem We have welcomed @wpduk returning £77m of its network price control funding to consumers. We have also decided not to open a mid-period review into the 2015-23 electricity distribution price controls: William Marchant @richonlyinname Speaking of pies, this is some weak, weak gravy from Ofgem on energy network returns. The man in the street would find it utterly bizarre that if a network is given millions of pounds to build something that's subsequently cancelled, that it doesn't need to return the money. Water UK @WaterUK Two independent reports have recently quoted the up-front cost of bringing the water industry under state control to be between £86 and £90 billion - enough to fund every NHS staff member's wage twice-over! Energy Networks @energynetworks @ofgem has today published its response to its consultation on a Mid Period Review for the price control for local #electricity #networks. Northumbrian Water @NorthumbrianH2O We're getting ready to take over the weather on your TV! From tomorrow we'll be presenting the weather bulletins on @MadeinTyneWear and @MadeInTeesTV and we can't wait! https://bit.ly/2vYe6eG #Scorchio Top Tweets

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