THE MAGAZINE FOR THE DRAINAGE,WATER &WASTEWATER INDUSTRIES
WATER PAGES
the industry needs to make savings while also improving performance. You can’t square that circle by throwing more people, more resources or more concrete at the problem.
“More intelligent and widespread use of the right data is one of the only ways to meet that dual demand and adapt to the lower cost, higher performance environment being driven by public demand, political pressure and regulatory constraints.”
The topic of collaborating to meet UK regulatory targets will be among the discussion points at the conference, along with the importance of open data sharing and transforming a traditional asset management business. The conference will present cross- sector speakers.
He added: “When moving towards greater implementation, key for utilities is around understanding what the needs are of the customer - what do they want? Then, what are the regulatory and political drivers and how do they filter through? As data professionals, understanding those can help us implement the right activities and the right outputs.”
The conference comes at a time of unprecedented environmental and economic challenges for the water sector, while it is also
strives to meet stretching AMP7 targets.
Adding to the pressure is an Environment Agency challenge to water companies in England to address areas where they are not meeting expectations. This follows publication on 2 October 2020 of its environmental performance report 2019, which stated the performance of some companies had been unacceptable.
Dickenson said: “This AMP will put the water companies under considerable constraint and
Dickenson said: “In water, where we are attempting to do new things and balance the need to be cautious with the need to innovate, collaborative events can really help steer a way forward and ensure that best practice gets to where it is needed. It is British Water’s aim to not only reach the community of data professionals but also reach decision makers and give a collective voice to how important data can be to the industry.”
British Water’s Data Conference 2020: Implementing Change Now will take place on Wednesday21 October 2020.
Collaborative approach required to achieve zero pollution
Water companies can expect increasing scrutiny into their environmental performance, as customer awareness of river and bathing water quality grows. This was among messages from Helen Wakeham, deputy director of water quality at the Environment Agency, during a keynote address at the Zero Pollutions Conference 2020, hosted by technology consultancy Isle.
Speaking on 14 September to an audience of international water professionals, including utilities and suppliers, Wakeham said: “Something has really changed in the past year. Everyone is talking about water quality. Local interest groups are attracting not just local media interest but national media interest. Rivers and beaches are
FOLLOW US
years, took place days before the Environment Agency published figures that found just 14% of English rivers are of good ecological standard.
Wakeham also spoke at Isle’s 2019 conference, when she said the agency expected the water industry to “sprint to zero pollutions”. Updating the 2020 audience on the current national picture, she said: “It doesn’t feel like we are sprinting at the moment, I don’t think we’ve even sashayed. The public could be forgiven for thinking we haven’t
all our shop windows. People notice and people care.”
The conference, hosted by Isle to support the UK water sector as it strives to achieve ambitious pollution targets over the next five
even heard the starting gun.”
Wakeham said there were areas of progress, however, particularly in innovation for real-time sewer monitoring and areas of both large and small-scale investment. She added that
November 2020 | drain TRADER 21
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