NEWS Ofwat: major shake-up promised
Water regulator Ofwat will be reviewed to make sure it can cope with ‘future challenges’, according to the Government. The industry has welcomed the news, announced by Defra on 27 August, saying the two- decade-old water regulator needs a shake-up. “Ofwat has been successful in holding down household bills while water companies invest in their infra- structure,” said environment secre- tary Caroline Spelman. “But we need to make sure the regulator is in good shape to help the industry prepare for a changing climate and a growing population, at the same time as keeping bills affordable.” Defra has brought in David Gray,
the man who reviewed the Department for Transport, to act as lead reviewer. Lord Redesdale, chair- man of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), and a Lib- dem member of the Coalition Government called for Ofwat to be scrapped in July. He added that Ofwat was still ‘failing’ to meet the joint gov- ernment objectives of combating cli- mate change and promoting renew- able energy. He said: “Ofwat should have used its position as regulator to promote renewable energy, especially anaero- bic digestion, to reduce carbon emis- sions and take a lead role in combat- ing climate change. Failure to devel- op a renewable anaerobic digestion
Beast of Beenham’s arrives for scheme
South East Water site supervisor Haiyan Tong with the Beast of Beenham’s
industry will increase the cost to the same consumer in the future. Ofwat has claimed that the regulation that guides their action is too restrictive. “This review should make climate change a priority and without it the very case for Ofwat as a regulator must be questioned.” Chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ water panel, David Nickols, said the Institution wel- comed the review: “The world we are living in now is very different to that when Ofwat was first set up and the regulatory framework must be reformed to reflect today’s environ- mental and societal challenges. “The current investment plans do not do enough to address long-term
needs, especially climate change issues. ICE fears that without signifi- cant change in the regulatory regime to drive long-term investment in sus- tainable infrastructure, our long-term water security could be jeopardised.” The review, due to be completed early next year, will examine the role of Ofwat, including its objectives, its responsibilities, and how it will meet future challenges and ensure value for money. It will also look at how well the current arrangements, involving Ofwat and the Consumer Council for Water, work in protecting water customers. Defra is also due to publish a Water White Paper next summer that will set out policies for the future of water management.
FOG gets dedicated website
An online portal dedicated to fat, oil and grease (FOG) compounds in sewer networks has been launched by WWT as part of its Campaign on FOG. The site, which is hosted at Web4Water,
features the latest news
on water industry FOG initiatives and technology.
FOG is a major issue for water
industry as it causes blockages that can cause residential and commer- cial flooding, odour issues and the expense of clearing FOG-ed up sew- ers and drains. Water companies and the industry supply chain are now collaborating with other stakeholders such as
research institutions, the catering industry, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and kitchen designers to tackle the problem. The FOG microsite will also host
video footage, FOG Blogs and con- nect to a LinkedIn forum to keep the wide range of stakeholders networked and informed. To find out more, go to:
www.web4water.com/fog.
Customer relationships improved
A monster-size valve affectionately named the Beast of Beenham’s by engineers has taken up residence at its new home in Berkshire. The valve is 1.5m long and 1.5m high was sup- plied by GA Valves. It will spend its life controlling
water flowing into a new water treat- ment tank. The tank is being built by South East Water at Beenham’s Heath WaterTreatment Works (WTW)
in Shurlock Row, Berkshire, as part of a £2.3M upgrade of the site. The new treatment tank will help
process an extra four million litres of water that is being transferred from new underground boreholes, which were recently drilled at neighbouring White Waltham, and which are transferred to Beenham’s Heath via a 5.5km long, 300mm diameter water main.
6 Water & Wastewater Treatment September 2010
Echo Managed Services has been awarded a contract to deliver its billing and customer care system, RapidXtra, to Portsmouth Water. The new sys- tem will provide
customer relation-
ship management (CRM) functionali- ty to help improve, track and measure the customer experience. Neville Smith, Portsmouth Water’s finance and regulations director explains: “We saw it as essential that our software provider understood our approach – and the crucial role tech-
nology plays in ensuring the cus- tomer experience is high quality, help- ing us to reduce repeat contacts.” “Features, such as real-time, fully
integrated web self-serve will enable us to provide an enhanced level of customer service and flexible tariff options will help us to better manage customer demand.”
See page 24 for more on achieving operational efficiencies
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