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British Water is committed to providing our member community with new innovative information on current affairs within the sector. Members can now submit their news directly to our website.
Cranfield Water Masterclass tackle a broad range of current challenges facing the water sector for the professional and practicing water engineers and scientists.
The Cranfield Water masterclass series has been developed with a focus on the current challenges facing the water sector and is informed by their latest world-class research. The classes provide insight for water sector professionals and others who wish to increase their knowledge of topical issues. Delegates will improve their understanding of both how the specific topic is of significance for the water sector and the science and research which underpins candidate solutions.
Each masterclass is delivered by an academic leader in the relevant field; an expert who is closely engaged with leading edge knowledge delivery.
Check their 2022 programme here
Clean Water is becoming more precious and finite as a resource, being dubbed by many as “Liquid Gold”. All industries require pure water for their manufacturing line. However, during the production process the water becomes contaminated, and highly dirty. This water is untreatable across conventional water systems, and usually has to be eliminated in a costly & environmentally disastrous manner.
Explore how Membracon can assist on your journey towards a water-bound circular economy to recycle up to 90%+ of your water.
The Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) will take place on 07 October.
The Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium - South Africa (SIDS-SA) is the annual flagship event organised by the Investment and Infrastructure Office (IIO) within The Presidency.
The main aim of the event is to facilitate alignment with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) and to ensure access to greater and economical sources of sustainable funding. Further, it aims to highlight the digital sectors, agriculture and housing sectors which aligns with 10 of the 17 SDG’s (Infrastructure).
Please feel free to share this info among industry contacts that might be interested. Registration to attend virtually is free :https://sidssa.org.za/get-involved/
Let’s celebrate the extraordinary work behind the most innovative infrastructure projects.
Join CEO Greg Bentley, Bentley executives, Siemens, and AEC Advisors for their latest insights during the Year in Infrastructure. Throughout the event, we will celebrate the digital advancements in infrastructure and sustainability by spotlighting the winners of the 2021 Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure.
Posted By Admin,
27 July 2021
Updated: 03 September 2021
In 2019, as part of a major programme to reduce water consumption, waste production and energy use, a leading food producer, invested in an upgrade to its existing waste water treatment plant, utilising best in class technology and processes. Part of that upgrade was a new odour control plant. Their products, with a famous brand, are exported to international markets throughout Europe, Asia, USA and Africa.
Odour and chemical testing
The odour control system, a biological scrubber, was designed by Montgomery EHS (MEHS), an Independent Irish consultancy established in 2008. It is multi-disciplinary organisation specialising in environment, health and safety, offering technical expertise, innovative solutions, support and advisory services, laboratory services and training. They carried out an odour impact assessment involving collection of samples for odour and chemical testing which were analysed in independent contract laboratories and MEHS own lab. Once the results were known it allowed the design of the bio-scrubber, water recycle rates, media volume and stack height. The bioscrubber consists of a 4.2m diameter tower with a 6m depth of Warden Biomedia’s Bioball filter media. The high surface area of the media with excellent voidage gives good air to wet surface contact time. Water is continuously circulated from the bottom of the tower to spray distributors at the top which give even distribution via an irrigation of the liquid over the Bioball packing. The odour sources from the wastewater treatment plant are ducted to a fan which blows the potentially odorous air into the bottom of the tower and, as it flows upwards, bacteria in the circulating water biologically remove the odour producing contaminants. The biological scrubber has been sampled on two occasions by an independent accredited sampling company and odour reduction is > 95%.
Perfect media for application
Trevor Montgomery of MEHS has worked with Warden Biomedia for over a decade and knows their products well. “Bioball is the perfect media for a bioscrubber,” he says, “It has a surface area of 220m2/m3, which is important for contact between the liquid and gas, but it has 95% voidage which means a low pressure drop on the gas side and that minimises fan power.” MEHS were responsible for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of the plant and have a five year service contract including remote monitoring of the plant every day and a monthly site visit.
The site is happy with the odour control system and Warden Biomedia’s filter media is made from recycled polypropylene, which helps to meet their environmental and sustainability targets
Posted By Admin,
20 July 2021
Updated: 03 September 2021
Cloud-based applications are providing water utilities with more resilient and flexible network management options, enabling them to make better use of existing data, writes Josh Britton, global product manager at technology specialist Ovarro.
The water sector is under continued pressure to make operations more efficient but in many cases, ageing IT systems are holding back progress. With budget constraints meaning the replacement of all legacy systems is not an option, advancements in cloud-based analytics tools are providing cost-effective operational enhancements in areas such leak detection and alarm system management.
Technology provider Ovarro is working in partnership with several UK water utilities to develop software tools that enables them to gain clearer insights into what is happening on their water and wastewater networks. In many cases the new tools are utilising data that has already been captured, but which previously had not been streamlined or managed effectively.
My Ovarro colleague Alan Cunningham, a subject matter expert, explains: “A lot of our water company clients talk about being data rich, information poor. They’re collecting vast amounts of data out in the field from various devices, such as remote terminal units, leak detection loggers and sewer level monitors, but they don’t have the tools to allow them to see the wood for the trees.
“If they can better use what is already being collected, they will be able to manage their operations far more efficiently without the expenditure of replacing legacy assets.
“A supplier could launch a fantastic piece of technology but if a customer needs to invest heavily in capex products to see the benefits it might not be a big seller. If they can take information that already exists and see historical patterns, that becomes more powerful.”
One example of this is AlarmVision, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application that presents real-time dashboards, which analyse the stream of alarms coming into a water company control room from its telemetry system. SaaS applications are cloud-based and can be accessed via any device with an internet connection, as opposed to a software product that is entirely installed on a device or network.
AlarmVision dashboards give a measure of control over alarms, based on internationally-recognised key performance indicators and allow action to be taken to help operators maintain or gain control. The ability to gain real-time or backwards-looking analysis of how the control room is operating against the standards gives insight into whether there is a risk of critical alarms being missed.
Operators can also identify the root cause of the largest proportion of alarms being generated on their system – for example, a faulty pump at a site could be causing 10% of total alarms on a given day. This gives water companies and municipalities insight that they can action to prioritise resources.
One example would be during a weather event, when sewer levels are high everywhere, and a high number of alarms are coming into the control room – in essence, an alarm flood. One of those alarms could be flagging up a critical problem.
A pump may have stopped, a serious pollution could be occurring, there might be a water supply issue. Missing any of those alarms because they are swamped by the nuisance alarms could be catastrophic for customers, the environment and the company, leading to penalties or prosecutions.
If the insights provided by AlarmVision have enabled a control room to already take action on the network to reduce the noise – the nuisance alarms – they far less likely to miss the most important alerts. When all the noise goes quiet, there is a chance to see what is real versus what is nuisance.
Looking ahead, Ovarro’s next-generation analytics tools are also being designed as SaaS programmes to reduce customer costs in configuration, maintenance, support and upgrade. While are developing additional functionalities to add to AlarmVision, Ovarro’s end goal is to remove alarms from the equation.
We want to enable water companies to be fully predictive and are looking at how an alarm can be predicted before it becomes an alarm and move companies from a reactive model to a proactive model. That is where we want to take this alarm management system in the future and that is the direction the sector needs to be moving in.
More information about AlarmVision can be found at: Ovarro.com/AlarmVision
Posted By Admin,
28 June 2021
Updated: 16 July 2021
Nutrient neutral planning requirements put in place in parts of England to protect sensitive waters and marine life continues to pose a conundrum for many property developers.
The concept of nutrient neutrality emerged in June 2019, when government advisor Natural England began issuing advice to local authorities with protected waters to only grant planning permission to new property developments proven to be nutrient neutral.
The guidance applies to areas with surface waters that are impacted by high levels of the contaminants, primarily phosphate and nitrate, which are present in treated wastewater that is discharged to watercourses in the final stage of the recycling process. The contaminants, often referred to as nutrients, can lead to increased growth of algae, which can have a detrimental impact on water environments and ecosystems - a process known as eutrophication.
Nutrient neutrality is a means of ensuring new developments used for housing, mixed use and tourism do not increase the nutrient burden of nearby protected waters. In the affected regions, developers must prove their schemes would be neutral by demonstrating in planning applications how they would remove or offset the full amount of nutrients anticipated.
For properties that are not on mains drainage, onsite wastewater treatment can be a significant part of the neutrality equation. As such, sustainable water recycling specialist WPL continues to see an increase in enquiries about its packaged wastewater treatment plants, which can remove up to 65% of nutrients found in wastewater. By comparison, installation of a septic tank would have no positive impact on levels.
Packaged plants are pre-manufactured, custom systems that can be installed on most commercial and residential sites and can treat wastewater flows from just one property, up to a population of 30,000 people. WPL’s patented technology is fully compliant with Environment Agency regulations, which means final effluent can be safely discharged to a soakaway or watercourse.
The modular units can be installed in a tight footprint and once they are up-and-running, visual impact, energy consumption and maintenance requirements are low. WPL can provide documentation confirming the effectiveness of its equipment, which can be submitted with a planning application. Importantly, the process uses no chemicals, which is kinder to the environment and is far safer, particularly in a domestic environment.
However, while onsite treatment is effective in removing a significant amount, developers must accept that there is no technology suitable for domestic use that would remove 100% of containments. Nutrient neutrality can only be achieved through a combination of measures and in most cases offsetting – removing nutrients elsewhere in the catchment - will have to be considered, which local planners can advise on.
The issue of nutrient neutrality is not going to go away - while Natural England’s initial guidance focused on several planning authorities in Hampshire, it now applies to selected authorities in Kent and Somerset, with more expected.
With the environment at the heart of WPL’s operations, its research and development team, with support from Portsmouth University, is looking at further low-impact ways to remove more than 65% of nutrients. Our aim is to reduce levels for our utility, commercial and domestic customers, without the use of chemicals.
Technology being researched includes absorbent beads made from zeolite, a natural occurring mineral which will safely remove phosphorous. Elsewhere, we are trailing the use of ultraviolet light in treatment units to create a suitable environment for the growth of algae, which itself removes phosphorous, and can be retained in the sludge produced for removal by the waste carrier.
We are also working on solutions to support water companies with their own large-scale, stringent targets for nutrient removal.
While the issue of nutrient neutrality is complex and the guidance under constant review, some effective mitigation schemes have taken place to the benefit and relief of developers, and we are confident of technological advancements emerging soon.
Developers should read Natural England’s guidance carefully, seek professional advice and of course contact WPL for clear technical advice.
Posted By Admin,
09 June 2021
Updated: 15 June 2021
A game-changing UK partnership that is bringing significant improvements to leak detection rates globally has been recognised by the water industry.
Technology specialist Ovarro and UK utility Anglian Water Services collaborated on the development of remote leak detection device Enigma3hyQ and cloud-based analytics platform PrimeWeb.
Between April 2018 and January 2021, the system found 6,783 leaks on Anglian Water Services’ network, with a 1:1 ratio of leaks found to points of interest issued. The sensors are effective in finding leaks over long distances and inside plastic pipes and have gone onto be rolled out globally, including in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and across Europe.
The achievements of the collaboration were recognised by the Water Industry Achievement Awards on 27 May 2021, which named it Alliancing and Partnership Initiative of the Year.
Judges commented: “This project stood out from a list of high-quality entries with a clear demonstration of the benefits of approaching a major regulatory and customer issue in an innovative way. The collaborative nature of this initiative and the open sharing of knowledge has delivered significant improvements in Anglian Water’s leakage detection rates.”
Leakage remains one of the biggest concerns for the water industry and Ofwat is expecting companies to adopt new techniques to tackle it in AMP7. In collaborating on the Enigma3hyQ project, Ovarro and Anglian Water wanted to develop technology to increase efficiency when compared with traditional acoustic detection, save time, free-up staff and improve leak detection on plastic pipes.
The utility approached Ovarro in 2017 with an idea to adapt existing technology by combining two products – a correlating noise logger and a site-based hydrophone. A development team was established with experts from both organisations to create the Enigma3hyQ system’s hardware and software elements, including a workflow management app and PrimeWeb.
The team refined processes around performance reporting, target outcome delivery, training and integration with business-as-usual leakage operations. Following a trial on 40km of mains in Louth, Lincolnshire, Anglian Water Services began fully embedding the technology.
Anglian Water Service’s smart water strategy manager Andy Smith said: “We very much created the Enigma3hyQ technology together. We didn’t want to just accept what was on offer, we wanted to collaborate to drive for the best solution for the challenge we faced.”
Josh Britton, Ovarro global product line manager, said: “We are thrilled our collaboration with Anglian Water to develop the Enigma3hyQ system has been recognised by our sector peers at the Water Industry Achievement Awards. The project’s success shows how much can be achieved when suppliers work in partnership with utilities, place high value on feedback and take their ideas forward to develop new solutions.”
In 2021, the technology was updated further, resulting in the launch of the Enigma3-BB, a remote leak detection device which uses the Enigma3hyQ technology but which is installed directly into an operational meter box chamber – a first for the industry with this type of technology.
Posted By Admin,
08 June 2021
Updated: 09 June 2021
A UK filtration specialist has put a fleet of mobile units on stand-by to help municipal water companies cope with the impact of extreme weather this summer.
Amazon Filters’ investment in rental ‘skids’ and container-mounted systems is designed to ensure clean water supplies continue to run even in potentially serious drought or flood conditions.
The move strengthens companies’ options for resilience planning, risk mitigation and compliance with regulatory demands from the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI).
Each mobile unit is installed with Amazon Filters’ SupaSpun II absolute-rated depth filters which are on the approved list for use in the public water supply under DWI Regulation 31.
SupaSpun filters are ideal for combating issues such as turbidity, high manganese and iron levels, and chlorine and cryptosporidium contamination.
Kit can be readily assembled in bespoke configurations with Amazon Filters engineers available to provide on-site assistance.
Amazon Filters’ investment programme has most recently benefited companies and contractors working to recommission two ageing water treatment stations.
One is a Grade II listed Victorian building dating from 1897. The other is a borehole station built in 1925 which had deterioration in unlined pipes and high turbidity levels.
At each location, skid assemblies featured three filter housings with 40 x 40” Supa Spun filter cartridges, giving a total capacity of 5.7 million litres of water per day.
Amazon Filters’ kit has helped to ensure both stations now successfully meet DWI R31 standards of supply.
Karl Pizzey, Amazon Filters Operations Director, said: “We have recently put dedicated investment into our mobile filtration units precisely to support our water company customers.
“Like the rest of the world, the UK is experiencing more extremes in its weather. For example, while May 2020 was one of the driest Mays on record, May 2021 was one of the wettest.
“Extremes of drought or flooding can both impact on water supplies to homes, businesses and communities. Any supply failure can have enormous implications.
“We believe that effective management must start with planning and investment in the resilience of water supply systems.
“The capability to switch from usual water sources to alternative ones, including boreholes or stored supplies, is key. This is where investment in mobile filtration kit, whether owned or rented, comes in.
“Transferring water from one place to another, and from secondary sources, will typically entail additional filtration to ensure quality standards continue to be met.
“In emergency situations, when collaborative transfers within and between regions make good sense in theory, filtration capability is vital.
“An early choice of filtration equipment will mean less risk of having to rely on a neighbouring water company to step in and maintain supplies if your region is out of action.
“Strong mobile resource also means that strengthening resilience in one location needn’t adversely affect the level of resilience in another.
“It is for all these reasons that we have invested in putting more mobile skids and container systems on stand-by for companies and their contractors to use.”
“The investment supports our ‘quick and able’ approach to manufacturing capacity.
“We are one of the very few filtration equipment specialists able to design and build bespoke solutions with fast turnaround times.”
For more information on skid rental, visit www.amazonfilters.com/skid-rental. For more details of containerised systems, visit www.amazonfilters.com/containerised-water-filtration-systems.
Posted By Admin,
26 May 2021
Updated: 09 June 2021
Water utilities are steadily replacing legacy IT systems with Software-as-a-Service applications as confidence in data security builds. As Subject Matter Expert at technology provider Ovarro, Alan Cunningham discusses the latest developments
What is software-as-a-service and where does it fit with water?
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications are cloud-based programs and associated operating instructions that can be accessed via any device with an internet connection, as opposed to a software product that is entirely installed on a device or network. A technology such as Google Docs, where documents are stored on a cloud server, is one example that many will be familiar with.
There may be a small local installation required, for example a mobile app, but data and access are largely managed by the supplier on their systems.
Water companies have traditionally used software products, for example billing systems, installed on their networks. This creates a number of challenges; in particular, it is difficult to install security updates or other upgrades and it is generally harder for suppliers to support the products. Maintaining legacy systems, for which the original technology and infrastructure may be increasingly obsolete is an expensive business but remains a widespread issue for utilities globally.
SaaS provides a mechanism for suppliers to continually evolve the software offering and meet the changing requirements of water companies. The approach typically includes a relatively low upfront cost with regular subscription costs to fund sustainment of the software and the convenience of ongoing support.
How can utilities’ security concerns be addressed?
It is fair to say that water companies have been reluctant to consider any software product that hosted their data outside of their own corporate network, on the basis that they wanted full control of information security. However, in the last five years there has been a big shift in the adoption and scaling-up of SaaS products.
Now that companies are starting to realise the benefits of a SaaS approach, binding contractual agreements and certified standards are providing the reassurance that their suppliers are doing as much as possible to reduce security risks to an acceptable level and manage them effectively.
The key standard for utilities to look for is ISO 27001, the internationally recognised best practice framework for information security management. While the standard is not new it is now widely implemented and recognised globally.
In what areas should utilities be embedding SaaS solutions?
Water companies should now be looking at SaaS opportunities across the board, whenever they are considering a software purchase. They should be weighing up the pros and cons in every case, looking in particular at ease of integration with other systems and data security requirements.
What operational challenges can SaaS solutions help to solve?
One area where legacy systems can be an issue for water companies is the control room, where a 24/7 response team monitors alarms on the network. We know that in many cases sewer flooding and pollution events can be traced back to an initial alarm that was not effectively dealt with.
The new AlarmVision system from Ovarro is a good example of how SaaS can help to solve this challenge. Typically, the number of alarms being raised is too high for staff to investigate fully and action accordingly. They are often swamped by nuisance alarms - for example, a remote device that has an intermittent 3G signal and alerts every time communication is lost - which may mean that a more important alarm is missed.
There are also periods of ‘alarm flood’ where, for example, a power failure at a site results in many alarms being raised due to stopped devices, with a mains failure alarm representing the root cause buried among these.
AlarmVision can connect to an existing alarm system and help water companies understand whether they are in control and how they can improve if not. It identifies regularly occurring alarms and provides analysis of how the pattern of alarms received match shift patterns, so these can be adjusted if necessary. All of this helps ensure that when a significant alarm is raised the required action is taken, reducing the risk of customers or the environment being impacted and penalties occurring.
What are the risks of maintaining legacy systems rather than moving to SaaS?
A major issue is the escalating cost and information security risks to water companies of maintaining legacy systems developed using increasingly obsolescent technology. As an example, extended support for Windows XP ended in April 2014, after which users of the operating system ceased receiving further support or security updates from Microsoft.
One Ovarro client requested continued support of a legacy system that was incompatible with later operating systems. To achieve this, we had to take substantial precautions to maintain a secure support environment that significantly impacted on the cost of the support contract.
What steps should the sector be taking now to avoid pitfalls in future?
Companies should be reviewing their existing IT systems and identifying any that are not using the latest versions of operating systems or other infrastructure such as database management systems. In each case, they should be obtaining costs and timescales from suppliers for upgrade.
Where costs are significant, they should also be looking at SaaS alternatives that may provide a more future-proof solution without necessarily prohibitive upfront costs.
Which sectors should the water industry look to for examples of best practice?
The big tech firms are, of course, leading the way. Google and similarly Microsoft Office documents are increasingly hosted on the cloud with the option to edit in a browser.
More generally, lessons can be taken from any industry that is customer-facing and trying to meet increasing customer expectations. The financial services sector is an interesting case. High street banks have had to play catch-up with mobile app functionality initially offered by emerging financial technology firms, which became challenger banks with measurable market share.
Where is water lacking in comparison?
Water is a naturally conservative industry with a large legacy asset base, focused on keeping the pipes flowing and maintaining water quality. Globally, the financial incentives to innovate are usually low, particularly where there is risk involved in doing so.
Concerns regarding security of data from a SaaS model remain to varying extents in different parts of the world and there is often a legislative need to retain data within the country, or even state, of origin. A particular issue in the UK historically has been that water companies have been incentivised towards up-front expenditure that can be capitalised, rather than the annual recurring expenditure associated with a SaaS model.
What role does innovation play?
The SaaS approach supports innovation by facilitating incremental product developments at affordable costs. This kind of innovation, and in particular extracting more information from existing datasets, represent huge opportunities for water. AlarmVision is a good example of this, helping companies see a bigger picture than they could previously.
How is Ovarro supporting the water industry in this area?
Our next-generation analytics products are being designed as SaaS products to reduce the costs of configuration, maintenance, support and upgrade. This builds on our expertise from our Primeweb cloud-based system used to manage Ovarro leak detection hardware.
Further analytics SaaS products are in the pipeline and in varying stages of trials with water company customers.
How do you see the SaaS landscape developing into the 2025-2030 asset management period (AMP8)?
I believe AMP8 is when the industry will shift from on-premises software being the norm to a substantial preference for SaaS solutions, with a proactive rather than reactive attitude to replacing legacy systems. Water companies are starting to learn the lessons from a short-term attitude to technology and the risks associated with infrastructure obsolescence.
Beyond that, I expect that the industry will start to embrace as-a-service models more generally, for example leasing hardware with payment models based upon availability of data.
This then ensures that the client does not get stranded with legacy hardware assets that are incompatible with future communications technology or software requirements.
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