EDITOR’S COMMENT
Cut the red tape? Not if we value our health and well-being
A
shocking tale from China in the Telegraph
on 31 August revealed how night soil collectors are visiting the drains behind restaurants, sometimes in broad
daylight, and collecting the dregs of cooking oil for resale to street food vendors. While surely innovative, this approach to the recycling of fats, oils and grease (FOG) from sewers is unlikely to win any accolades. It is at the thick end of malpractice – but,
according to the newspaper, in China, it is not even illegal and one culprit who has been caught will not be charged. Regulation is one of a range of approaches to FOG management being considered by a Forum on FOG set up by the UK water and wastewater industry. While one would trust that the use of FOG
compounds for culinary purposes is an unlikely scenario in the UK, keeping it out of sewers (and perhaps recycling it into biofuel) will free up the flow and cut the financial and carbon burden on water companies and their customers. And regulation might be an effective way to deliver this in commercial premises. However, calling for more regulation may be an anachronism in the current governmental climate. Even a body with a key role in protecting public health like the Food Standards Agency is seen as superfluous. This is why I get a bit jittery when Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman talks about restructuring Ofwat in terms of “unnecessary red tape”. Water UK is right, the decision to review the role and remit of the water regulator is “timely”. There is a cry across the industry for the
regulator to better align with a landscape of environmental and carbon expectations and considerations that were unchartered when it
was set up 20 years ago. However, the need for better regulation should be about repositioning the red tape, not cutting it. The industry and the country is facing tough economic times and cutting back on standards and responsibilities and the bodies that regulate them may look like a shortcut to cost saving. It is at times of economic stress that ill thought out, penurious actions are most likely to occur. The tough times we face now are nothing compared with those that predicted population growth and climate change figures promise in the coming decades. A strong regulatory regime, with high expectations for the management of assets and resources, over the long term, has to be the foundation of any review, and of the health and well-being of the nation. ■■■
Natasha Wiseman, editor Have your say, email
natasha.wiseman@fav-house.com
September 2010 Water & Wastewater Treatment
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