SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable thinking – Sustainable Water 2013
The plethora of challenges facing the water industry in the UK are being tackled at WWT’s two-day conference, Sustainable Water 2013, in London in September. Natasha Wiseman reports
he UK water industry is changing apace with a shift in the regulatory landscape and, very soon, a new Water Bill. Now in its second year, WWT’s flagship event, Sustainable Water 2013, offers delegates the opportunity to explore how these evolutions will impact on their businesses, operations and daily decision- making.
T
Industry leaders including Defra’s director of water and flood risk management - Sonia Phippard - and Environment Agency chairman, Chris Smith, join Colin Skellett, chairman of Wessex Water, United Utilities’ managing director Steve Fraser, and Jerry Bryan, chief executive of Bristol Water, at Sustainable Water to share their vision of how sustainable outcomes can be achieved. Chaired by BBC broadcaster and journalist Juliet Morris, the two-day event is sponsored by Veolia Water, EDF Energy and Schneider Electric. It will get to the bones of some of the most pressing sustainability issues facing the industry.
Sonia Brown, chief regulation officer,
Ofwat, and Monica Scatasta of the European Investment Bank will address issues surrounding investment and affordability, while Southern Water’s frontline team, Mel Karam and Meryck Gough, will share their resilience strategy, developed in one of the UK’s most water-stressed regions. Cross-sector experiences can be learned from a session on demand management and customers; while sessions on catchment management, energy optimisation and resource recovery will help demonstrate the route to better outcomes in a practical way. On day two, breakout sessions chaired by industry experts including Thames Water’s head of innovation, Rupert Kruger, and Mike Keil of Severn Trent Water, will tackle climate change, water reuse and energy reduction. Delegates will have plenty of opportunities to go deeper on the issues with question and answer sessions and interactive discussions throughout the two days.
Feedback from last year’s event described it as “inspiring” and the networking opportunities as “excellent”. An optional
Speaking at conference: Colin Skellett OBE, chairman of Wessex Water
three-course dinner on day one will be an opportunity to relax and mull over the issues in a more informal way. nnn
To find out more, visit
www.sustainable-water.co.uk
Innovative approach to car park drainage
A sustainable drainage system in a car park in Barry is helping one council meet Environment Agency standards O
ne of the first UK installations of the Hydro Filterra bioretention and bio-filtration system has brought
attractive landscaping and stringent stormwater quality control to a sensitive location in Barry, South Wales. Vale of Glamorgan council decided to install three Hydro Filterra units from Hydro International at the Business Service Centre (BSC) car park to meet sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) standards.
“Features like swales and reedbeds were not feasible to introducing more biodiversity, as there was not enough room in this typical urban location, which is surrounded by buildings and
24 Water & Wastewater Treatment August 2013
infrastructure,” points out Vale of Glamorgan drainage engineer Keith Sulsh.
“The three Hydro Filterra units enabled us to meet Environment Agency requirements for removing pollutants from stormwater runoff before discharge via the storm sewer into the adjacent docks. Hydro Filterra combined several different SuDS features within one system, which was not met by any other solution the council looked at.”
According to Hydro, the Filterra system looks like a normal tree box from the surface with suitable shrubs or a tree protruding through a decorative grating in a typical concrete slab
at pavement level. Underneath, a concrete container with a mulch layer and unique soil filter medium provide effective and consistent stormwater treatment and attenuation. Hydro Filterra is connected to a surface water drain, infiltration or soakaway system via an under- drain system.
The Filterra system is a self-contained unit with high retention rate for solids, heavy metals and oils and grease, thanks to the vegetation and special growing medium. Hydro says its footprint is typically up to 50 times smaller than other standard bioretention systems, and requires little maintenance. nnn
wwtonline.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44