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Severn Trent Water’s WFD implementation wishlist


SEVERN TRENT Water


has announced three recommendations on how it believes the Water Framework Directive


(WFD) should


be implemented to deliver significant environmental improvements whilst keeping water bills affordable. The


company makes


the recommendations in a report, Changing Course Through


the Sustainable


Implementation of the Water Framework Directive. The recommendations comprise: • Ministers


should set


clear priorities for further investment, prioritising the


improvement of poorer rivers.


This


will make the most practical difference for the funds available


• Ministers should ensure the affordability of further improvements by setting an appropriate pace and scale for investment


• Water companies should develop innovative, better value solutions for making improvements to the health of our rivers, in a process supported by regulators


Severn Trent Water’s strategy


and proud to regulation


director, Tony Ballance, said: “At Severn Trent Water we are


provide our


customers with the lowest average bills in the country, and we want to keep it that way. We also want to make the further environmental improvements our customers say are important to them. We believe it is possible to do both as long as the Water Framework


Directive is


implemented in a sustainable way.


“According to the Environment Agency, our rivers are now generally in


better health than at any time since the Industrial Revolution. This is in large part due to the £1,300 a household that water companies have invested over the last 20 years in environmental improvements. We can do more in the future, but we need to do it in a way that is affordable to all our customers.”


This report is the fourth in Severn Trent Water’s Changing Course series about how to shape a better, more sustainable


water including value for money. Medmerry coastal flood scheme completed


WATER UK One of the largest ever coastal flood realignment schemes in the UK has been completed in Medmerry, West Sussex. The £28M Medmerry scheme will protect 350 properties, two holiday parks and a water treatment works from coastal flooding.


The flood defences will be managed by the Environment Agency (EA), while the RSPB will manage the wildlife habitat.


The project entailed 7km of new walls being built behind the old defences, which were breached, creating 180 hectares of coastal habitat. Completion of the scheme will double the amount of manmade coastal flood habitat in the UK once the 400 hectare Steart Peninsula project opens in Somerset next year.


EA chairman Lord Chris Smith said: “With one in six people at risk of flooding in


England, schemes such as Medmerry have a key role to play in protecting people and property. They also have an important role in the local economy by encouraging more visitors to the area. Creating large-scale habitat is vital to ensuring the survival of the country’s endangered species, improving water quality and reducing carbon.”


Environment minister Dan Rogerson said: “This


new scheme will support the local community – not only minimising their flood risk but boosting growth through the new habitat and tourism opportunities. We want to protect people and help support growth in local economies through flood defence schemes. Together with partners we are spending over £2.3B to protect people from flooding and we are on course to better protect 165,000 homes by 2015.”


that delivers what customers want,


industry excellent


Costain order book at record level


ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS provider Costain is continuing to perform well in line with the board’s expectations, with “a landmark” AMP6 programme for Thames Water among the contracts it has won recently. In an interim management statement covering July 1, 2013 to the current date, Costain said it is reinforcing and building on its position as a provider of integrated consulting, project delivery and operations and maintenance services to meet the integrated service requirements of major blue chip customers. The group said these customers “are increasingly working only with suppliers who can deliver a full range of services across the life cycle of a project, ahead of time and on budget, as well as sharing their corporate and social values”.


Costain’s forward order book has increased further since the half-year, and currently stands at a new record level of £3B. As well as including more than £700M of revenues secured for 2014, the order book also provides good long-term visibility with about £2.1B of revenues secured for 2015 and beyond.


It added that it has a strong preferred bidder position of more than £400M, and the level of tendering activity across Costain’s targeted markets remains high.


Thames Water customers to get smart meters installed


THAMES WATER is to become the first company in the UK to start installing smart water meters at all the properties it serves, enabling customers to monitor their usage online. The company aims to have all its connections metered by 2030 − less than a third of its customers are currently on meters. The metering programme will be carried out borough by borough, with work starting in Bexley from early 2014. By mid-2015, 73% of customers in Bexley will have a water meter − up from 27% of homes today. Thames Water hopes the


meters will encourage the 3.5 million households in its region to be more water efficient. In addition, Thames Water will get a more detailed understanding of where water is being used, and in what quantities, across its 20,000- mile network of water mains, enhancing its ability to pinpoint


THE NEW £5M Dryden Aqua plant designed to recycle glass and create a filtration system capable of removing pollutants from water has officially been opened.


The “revolutionary” plant, at Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, has the potential to generate significant savings for the water industry, said the Scottish government.


2 | WET News | December 2013 and tackle leakage.


Steve Plumb, Thames Water’s head of metering, said: “We all have a vital role to play in reducing demand for water, but first everyone needs to understand what they are using. That’s why we’re fitting smart meters across our region as by knowing more we can all waste less.


“Our plan to meter all connections in our area was approved by the government in June 2012 and we are now ready to start the roll-out. By using smart meters we will be putting our customers in greater control of their bills, using the most advanced technology. “Britain is the only country in the developed world without universal water metering or a plan to achieve it. With London being classified as ‘seriously water-stressed’ by the Environment Agency, and with customers using a third more


water than they did 30 years ago, it is really important we act now.


“Metering is the fairest way to pay for water because you pay for what you use, value what you pay for and as a result tend to use water more efficiently.” The smart meters are connected to a wireless network, giving customers more control over their water use. Bexley’s water


supply


comes from boreholes into groundwater feeding the River Darent, Fitting more meters in the area should reduce the amount of water that needs to be taken from the boreholes and reduce pressure on the river. Alan Williams, chairman of the Darent River Preservation Society, said: “We fully support the principle of water metering and other measures to reduce demand. Over the past decade we have worked very hard to restore the River Darent.


Dryden plan offers water filtration The facility has the capacity


to process a quarter of the Scotland’s recycled glass, such as beer and wine bottles, to create a system that can be used to filter drinking water or swimming pool water, and treat industrial wastewater. The old glass is processed to become a product known as AFM (active filter media), a type of glass sand that acts as a


molecular sieve for the water. Dr Howard Dryden, chairman of Dryden Aqua, said: “Our product can eliminate up to 90% of the pollution load from industry and municipal wastewater sites and as regulations become more stringent we hope that more people will look to Scotland for the answer to their water challenges.”


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