ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Tough targets: Engineers have the solutions


As we enter the second year of AMP5, Atkins’ director of wastewater networks Richard Whale takes a look at how the water industry is faring.


Along with a host of new capital projects


and maintenance programmes, every new AMP brings with it new challenges for the whole water industry - from water companies with assets to manage through to consultants and contractors tasked with delivering work.


Ofwat spent a long time working on its price determinations for AMP5, unveiling these ahead of last April heralding the beginning of the new regulatory period. The water industry had been bracing itself for cuts to expenditure so the figures came as no surprise. They confirmed what we already knew: we are working in tougher times financially - and this of course is not limited to water engineering, it’s across the board. We feel it in our personal lives, we feel it professionally.


The price determinations set tough targets for the water companies. While projected capital spend is actually bigger than it has ever been before at £22bn, this is a good £5bn lower than


the programme requirements outlined in the water companies’ business plans.


Naturally, those tough targets translate through the whole supply chain. Under intense regulatory pressure, water company clients need more than


ever to reduce


their operational costs at the same time as improving their productivity and the services that their customers receive. The supply chain - consultants and contractors alike - has an integral role to play: we hold the solutions. We are the people who will come up with new and innovative ways to reduce those costs without impinging on quality.


Engineers love a challenge or finding a better way of something


– it’s


doing in


their blood. Our consultants


have


come up with some imaginative


solutions


to reduce costs. For one of our clients, we have developed a bespoke visual capital works linking


in


programme, a


earth map facility


virtual to


a Sharepoint (data management) site, which houses information about asset works in real time. The client can now visualise projects in true location against their asset records – a ‘bird’s eye view’ – making it easier to discuss any issues that may arise around buildability without having to visit the site every time to see progress.


The water sector as a whole is adapting; the way we all operate is changing. For AMP5, the focus is a drive for even greater efficiency. At Atkins, we have renewed focus on being ever more resourceful, casting a ruthlessly critical eye over our project delivery and ensuring that we are in a strong position to meet the needs of our clients. It isn’t about cutting corners to save money, it is about harnessing these challenging times and using them positively to drive innovation to deliver high quality value engineering, where we maximise technological opportunities, where we draw on the technical excellence of our staff in establishing even more efficient working practices.


Our relationships with specialist framework suppliers and manufacturers of technology and equipment also afford us real design efficiency. These have allowed our teams to collaborate with clients to more quickly take advantage of industry innovations targeted at improving operational


efficiency of assets, such as the trials and introduction of self cleansing systems in sewers and pumping stations, which have substantially reduced the operational costs for new and existing sewer networks prone to siltation.


Take modelling for example. Creating an accurate model of a project allows for better understanding of potential problems, which can be eliminated before they cause costly errors, particularly key with water companies keen to avoid unexpected costs. We take it a stage further with 3D modelling. Our application of advanced techniques enhances traditional design and helps reduce delays in the planning process and health and safety can benefit enormously too. We have been working with water companies to use 3D tools when designing new and existing plant to ensure access to pumps and pipework for maintenance is safe, practical and meets regulatory requirements.


We are all working in a period driven by a


need for better value – and we are embracing it and harnessing it to look beyond best practice and inspire ‘even-better’ practice. Efficiency targets are being tightened, we have stiffer regulatory outputs to achieve and we have customer service levels to improve but if there’s any industry that can adapt to the challenges, it’s ours.


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