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How does a smart water network help cut leakage by 25 per cent and consumption by 18 per cent? And do customers really need their meter read 24 times a day? Ruth Williams looks at how the water sector can avoid the pitfalls of the energy smart meter rollout and whether you can have too much data.
4 years ago
The long-awaited Environment Bill will enshrine protection for waterways that may include new PCC targets, changes to abstraction licences, review of agricultural and wastewater pollutants that enter waterways.
Southern Water is preparing to apply for a drought permit to allow it to continue abstracting water from a chalk stream after prolonged dry weather lowered the flow of the Hampshire river. Nigel Hepworth, water resources policy manager at Southern, told Utility Week that enhanced reliance on drought permits was “not a great position to be in” but said there was no “quick fix” to the problem.
Three water companies are coming together to share data and develop ideas on how to help their customers use less water and save money. At a virtual hackathon Anglian, SES and Welsh Water are hoping to make progress on key challenges for the sector
Leakage is down across the country as companies dedicate resources to getting on top of the problem. Figures from Water UK show regulatory targets were achieved across the sector for the end of AMP6.
The Agriculture Bill has the potential to transform catchment management by water companies, landowners, farmers and other stakeholders with subsidies available for farmers who employ environmental land management, according to Anglian Water's head of public affairs Daniel Johns.
Water resource management plans should prepare an area for once in 500-year drought events and feature natural capital solutions to resource management, according to proposed updates to planning guidance.
As the CMA gathers submissions and evidence for redetermining the business plans of Anglian, Bristol, Northumbrian and Yorkshire Water, Ofwat has firmly defended its position and the final determinations it handed to the companies in December.
The regulators of the water sector and government have urged the industry to go beyond the goals of PR19 and the Public Interest Commitments to play a bigger role in a green recovery. It came as the secretary of state for the environment signalled a fresh approach to green policy – one which came in for criticism from campaigners for a lack of clarity.
A new national campaign will run this summer to encourage people to use less water while spending more time at home and in the garden. Water's Worth Saving was launched as part of Waterwise's digital conference
Anglian chief executive Peter Simpson has called for water - “our most precious resource” - to be central to the climate change debate, while shadow environment minister Luke Pollard urged the sector to “make more noise” to put it there. Both were speaking on the first day of Waterwise's virtual conference.
