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[...]Compact design for significant savings in construction costs Best possible fish protection according to US standard EPA 316(b) Act Quick installation and commissioning due to pre-assembly and self-supporting frame Extremely maintenance-friendly operation with low operating costs Plant operators need robust fine screening machines that effectively protect pumps and membranes from dirt particles being carried over to the clean water side. The decisive factor here is to optimise the flow behaviour of the water in the sewer as far as possible. HUBER has developed the high-performance DiscMax® band screen as an ideal solution for the new construction and modernisation of water intake stations. On-site cost saving potentials for the customer can be exploited, which contributes to an overall higher economic efficiency of the plant. The compact, robust design of a HUBER Band Screen DiscMax® with its central drive chain and self-supporting support frame ensures safe operation with low maintenance costs, thus optimising operating costs. In addition, the special design enables particularly fishfriendly operation during water extraction. Design and Function of the HUBER Band Screen DiscMax® The HUBER Band Screen DiscMax® is used as a fine screen for the treatment of river, lake and sea water in the following applications, among others: Use as cooling water in thermal power plants. Process and cooling water in the paper industry and other industries. Raw water for seawater desalination. Process and cooling water in chemical plants and refineries. Raw water for drinking water supply. Use for irrigation in agriculture. The HUBER Band Screen DiscMax® is a direct-flow screen with crescent-shaped screen elements. Depending on the requirement profile, the screening elements can be supplied in mesh or perforated plate design with different separation sizes. The screening elements are connected to a chain and powered by a drive motor. The chain is guided by a guide track in the lower area and a chain wheel in the upper area of the machine. During operation, dirt particles settle on the screening element. They are conveyed upwards by the movement of the screening elements and removed from them by a spray nozzle system arranged behind the screening elements and sprayed into a launder. Coarser dirt particles that do not adhere to the screening elements are also conveyed upwards by carrier bars on the screening element. To improve its corrosion properties, the screen can be optimised for salt water applications through the choice of material or the selection of suitable corrosion protection systems. Sizes and process engineering data Machine material selection possible from low-alloy stainless steels to super duplex Channel widths up to 3.5 m Channel depth up to 25 m Installation angle of 90°Separation size 1 – 10 mm Available with perforated plate or mesh element Flow rates of up to 50,000 m³/h per channel Optional design with fish buckets Optimum fish protection with the HUBER Band Screen DiscMax® To protect aquatic life, the machine can optionally be equipped with a fish return system based on the recommendations of the US EPA CWA 316b standard and the EU Habitats Directive. In this system, the fish swimming towards the HUBER Band Screen DiscMax® are carefully scooped out by buckets attached to the screening elements of the machine. The buckets are made of a special plastic material to ensure gentle transport of the fish in the water. The fish are then carefully transported with the water into a separate launder and returned to the water body. The benefits of the HUBER Band Screen DiscMax ® Savings in construction costs through more compact channel structures due to the low-turbulence design of the machine Installation and assembly – quick and easy installation of the machine in the structure Zero Carry Over – no carry-over of dirt particles to the clean water side to increase the operational reliability of subsequent process steps Fish-friendly solution – optionally available with a fish return system based on the recommendations of the EPA 316b standard Easy maintenance – all maintenance steps can be carried out from the operator level Low-wear solution – all moving parts are located on the clean water side Variable speed of operation to optimise the running times and discharge capacities of the machine Machine design – high robustness and low-maintenance operation Hydraulic advantages – the flow passes through the screen surface only once Simplified design and compactness of the machine reduces noise emissions.[...]

[...]Maximum separation efficiency through reliable screening Maximum retention of fibres and hair Operating reliability for membrane bioreactors Especially for narrow channels and high throughputs High separation efficiency The HUBER Band Screen CenterMax® is available in different designs and suitable for numerous applications of solids-liquid separation. The screen can be equipped with a mesh, perforated plate or a folded perforated plate ("Star" design), according to the specific application requirements . Design and Function Whilst the wastewater flows into the open front side of the screen and out through the screening elements on the left and right side (viewed in flow direction), solids are retained on the inner surface of the screening elements leading to gradual blinding of the surface, which has an impact on the level difference in the channel. Cleaning of the filter elements starts at a defined water level in the channel upstream of the screen. The filter elements start to circulate, thus transporting the screenings upwards and out of the channel. In the upper part of the screen a spray nozzle bar sprays water onto the surface of the filter element from outside to remove the solids from the surface and flush them into an internal trough installed in the upper part of the screen from where the screenings are discharged by gravity. The screenings are usually treated further in a HUBER Wash Press WAP® . Technical data 4 sizes (chamber openings) Width of filter elements: 600 ‒ 2400 mm Maximum screen length: 10,000 mm (longer lengths available on request) Perforated plate: 1 ‒ 10 mm Star-type perforated plate: 1 ‒ 2 mm Mesh: 0.5 ‒ 1 mm Completely made of stainless steel, pickled in an acid bath Model variations CenterMax® pp - perforated plate screen HUBER Band Screen CenterMax® with perforated plate, perforations from 1 to 10 mm. High separation efficiency and retention of fibres and hair. Typical applications for 1 and 2 mm perforation: - Protection of hollow-fibre membrane filtration plants Typical applications for 3 mm perforation: - Protection of plate membrane filtration plants CenterMax® Star - folded perforated plate screen HUBER Band Screen CenterMax® with folded perforated plate, perforations 1 / 1.5 / 2 mm. Increased screen surface for higher throughputs. High separation efficiency and retention of fibres and hair. Typical applications: - Protection of membrane filtration plants CenterMax® mesh - square mesh screen HUBER Band Screen CenterMax® with mesh, mesh sizes from 0.2 up to 0.75 mm. Maximum separation efficiency and reduction of COD and BOD by 20 – 40%. Typical applications: - Load reduction in the preliminary treatment stage - Replacement for primary settlement tank - River and sea outfall applications The applications at a glance Industrial and municipal applications Primary and secondary treatment stage Protection of membrane plants Screening in the inlet to power plants Treatment of cooling water circuits Ultra-fine screen for the reduction of COD / AFS in existing plants (load reduction in the biosystem) Surface and river water screening The Benefits of HUBER Band Screen CenterMax® High throughput capacity – maximum separation efficiency Also suitable for narrow channels Economically dimensioned channel and machine Low life-cycle costs Easy maintenance and operation Maximum corrosion protection through stainless steel design and acid treatment in a pickling bath[...]

[...]No lower bearing, sprockets, bushings or guides The chain forms his own frame and at the bottom its own lower sprocket Capable of picking up large objects The HUBER Belt Screen EscaMax® complements the well-known HUBER program for municipal and industrial wastewater screening, as it is particularly well suited in situations where excellent separation efficiency is required in deep channels with high water levels. Features Individual bar rack magazines (teardrop bar profile) Edged rakes to increase removal volume, prevent screenings carryover and from falling back into the influent No submerged wear items 24/7 operation possible Cast stainless steel links (no chain rollers) Optional enclosure for odor-encasing. Automatic scraper mechanism, no service water or additional drives required The Benefits of the HUBER VersaMax® Ability to remove objects up to 16” diameter from the influent Simple and sturdy design that requires less manual attention and servicing Can be paired with HUBER’s proven lineup of washer/compactors, sluice trough designs and conveyors for an all-in-one solution Not hindered by gravel or grit Easy-to-retrofit into existing channels, installation without channel recesses possible No lower bearing, sprockets, bushings or guides All stainless steel in contact with medium are fully immersed in a pickling bath for maximum corrosion resistance.[...]

[...]Cable operated coarse screen for: Protection of pumping station Seawater intake Surface water intake Sewage treatment plants The HUBER Coarse Screen TrashMax® is ideal to be used in pumping stations, as first treatment stage of wastewater treatment plants or industrial plants, and in the inlet to power plants. The screen removes coarse and bulky material and therefore protects downstream systems. The TrashMax® excels due to its high-capacity screen rakes and the high operational safety due to efficient and reliable screen rack cleaning. Design and Function The cleaning elements, attached to the chain system, can easily be adjusted to different requirements and remove even heavy objects and bulky material. As the cleaning rakes can be variably adapted, removal capacity is then adjustable. The benefit of high cleaning efficiency is especially favourable for high solids loads. The installation height of the HUBER Coarse Screen TrashMax® above ground level is very small and only dependent, even in case of deep channels, on the installation height of screenings transport or disposal units. Both ends of the cleaning rakes are connected to robust drive chains. Two wear-resistant rollers on each side, running in lateral guiding tracks, ensure true and smooth running of the rakes as they move upwards with the result of reliable intensive screen rack cleaning. Each chain is driven by a sprocket on a common shaft and a gear motor. The rakes of the TrashMax® screen mesh with the screen rack bars at the bottom dead centre, at first with the back cleaned screen rack and then with the behind front cleaned screen rack. This operation principle avoids the accumulation of material in front of the screen and even extremely bulky objects are reliably removed by the screen rakes and transported upwards out of the channel. The lower part of the HUBER Coarse Screen TrashMax® consists in the steep conveying section followed by the upper part, the flat discharge section with a small inclination. This screen design guarantees the reliable discharge of screenings into a downstream transport or disposal system. Benefits of HUBER Coarse Screen TrashMax® Innovative combination of a front cleaned and back cleaned screen rack in a single unit Reliable removal of bulky material with high operating reliability High capacity screen rakes Exact screen rake guidance for reliable cleaning of the front cleaned and back cleaned screen rack Compact L-shaped screen Easy to retrofit into existing channels Installation without channel recesses possible Simple and easy-to-access drive unit All parts in contact with medium (except the drive and bearings) are made of immersion pickled stainless steel. No additional consumables, such as service water, required for plant operation except electric current[...]

[...]Safety climbing device, with design certification and CE marking, in accordance with DIN EN 14396, made of 1.4307 (AISI 304 L) stainless steel. In accordance with UVV regulations ladders with 3 m or 5 m a height of all must be equipped with devices that protect personnel against falls from a height, in accordance with DIN EN 14396, made of 1.4307 (AISI 304 L) stainless steel. The handle in the middle is made as a safety guard rail, with bottom and top trip gear, which can only be undone by hand, U-profile climbing rungs with perforated surface, 30 mm, slip resistance R 13 and lateral slipping limits, step height 280 mm, with fixing brackets for wall fixing (max. distance 840 mm), with coupling for insertable entrance aid. Completely shielded arc welded, acid-treated in a pickling bath and passivated. The following entrance aid with guard rail options are available : Insertable entrance aid, pivoted, type EH FSS D Insertable entrance aid, type EH FSS Insertable entrance aid, type EH FSS ‘Köln’ Options 1.4404 (AISI 316 L) stainless steel Fall arrestor type S5c with self-unfolding safety belt type HSE-BFD and spring safety hooks certified by “TÜV SÜD PRODUCT SERVICE GmbH“, CE 0123, suitable for safety guard rail Safety belt in accordance with EN 361, form A (breast-shoulder-crotch belt), suitable for safety guard rail Stainless steel fixing material: stud anchors Rest platform, foldable Entrance aid in accordance with DIN 19572 Access ladders must have a handhold at their exit. This requirement is deemed to be fulfilled if one or both handles of a ladder project at least 1.1 m beyond the exit height. This projection must be taken into account when selecting the ladder length! Refer also to our data / dimension sheet for the entrance aid.[...]

[...]Access door for buildings in potable water supply where chlorine gas is stored or used Chlorine room door, ready for installation, single door, double skinned, completely made from 1.4404 (AISI 316 L) stainless steel, with double rubber seal, the door and frame closing flush, the door opening to the outside (in escape direction), in accordance with UVV and DVGW standards. Door, skin: 1 mm , 55 mm thick, with injected CFCs-free polyurethane hard foam insulation, longitudinally ground surface finish, door inside lacquered in RAL 9006 (stainless steel look), with rubber seal. Fastened to the frame with stable maintenance-free hinge plates. Two aeration slits, W x H = 100 x 20 mm (one in top door section, one in bottom door section), with plastic insect screen. Galvanized mortise dead lock with stainless steel forend provided for a customer-supplied profile double cylinder, with anti-panic function. Stainless steel door handle set, button outside, handle inside. Frame, three-sided , fabricated from special section, with inserted rubber seal, with step flashing, including fixing material. Frame and door shielded arc-welded and acid bath cleaned before washing, drying and surface passivation. Options Frame: Z-frame Block frame Mounting: Embedded Bolted with dowelling clips Bolted through the frame not to affect the finished wall Door opening options: Hinges on left Hinges on right Other Options: Upper door closer, lockable in position One-part or two-part door arrestor Surface finish (lacquer with or without anti-graffiti properties, wooden panelling) Electronic monitoring options (alarm system in door surface, magnetic contact, lock-bolt contact) Door heating (heating cable in frame and/or door surface), without temperature sensor, without controls Potential equalisation on frame Security ventilation louvres, openings to admit light Steel sheet finish for exterior door surface for installations exposed to sunlight[...]

[...]Prefabricated manhole, completely made of 1.4307 (AISI 304 L) stainless steel Watertight, with entrance and installation opening in accordance with DVGW Standard W 122. Completely shielded arc welded, acid-treated in a pickling bath and passivated, including all built-in components. Completely stainless steel - offers long life and hygiene Absolutely water-tight - no danger of leakage Bottom made of tear pattern plate (slip resistance R 11 in accordance with DIN 51130) with inclination to the pump sump For bolted fixing on a customer-provided concrete foundation (required for watertight prefabricated manholes installed below ground water level) Robust casing, diameter: 1900/2500 mm, head room: 2000 mm, height of domes: 800 mm, total height: 3290/3400 mm Fields of application: Prefabricated stainless steel manholes are watertight and frost-proof. They are applied in flood areas and areas with a high groundwater level. They are quickly installed, permanently corrosion resistant and maintenance-free. Components The prefabricated manhole consists of the following stainless steel components: Manhole cover, round type, designed as an entrance opening, 800 mm diameter, with rubber seal, with air vent DN 150 (order no. 108/GDR) Manhole cover, round type, designed as an installation opening, 800 mm diameter, with rubber seal (order no. 108/GDR), or according to the well head size Safety access ladder, width 300 mm, vertical installation, length 2850/3130 mm Fold-back/extensible entrance aid Ventilating chimney DN 150, 200 mm, ending above manhole bottom FF-piece, as a pipe duct, length 200 mm, welded in the casing, floor distance: 800 mm Cable duct, floor distance: 1000 mm Holders for control panel Pump sump, 300 mm diameter, welded to the bottom, covered by a perforated stainless steel plate, with handle Lifting eyes Fixing material Options: Well head, in accordance with technical data sheet BKF 1, welded to the manhole bottom Provided for optional ventilator 1.4404 (AISI 316 L) stainless steel[...]

[...]Adjustable louvre TT10.B for internal face of the wall, ready for installation, 1.4307 (AISI 304 L) stainless steel. Frame , made from angle section with boreholes for bolted fixing. Slats , adjustable, overlapping when closed, with chain pull lockable in any position. Both frame and slats are shielded arc-welded and acid bath cleaned before washing, drying and surface passivation. Options: 1.4404 (AISI 316 L) stainless steel Fixing material[...]

[...]As Ofwat ponders how to explore, how stimulate more trading in the slowly developing bioresources market, Mike Willis, Business Development Director at HUBER Technology, takes a look at some of the supply chain solutions already available to the UK water companies with the potential to make a significant contribution to enhance growth. Mike Willis: During the last price review period Ofwat published it’s Towards 2020 paper setting out how it wanted to approach PR19. Part of their strategy was to develop markets in order to encourage competition. One of these was bioresources – specifically sludge treatment, transportation and disposal - a market which Ofwat has identified with a potential value of £780 million. According to the regulator’s latest bioresources monitoring report published in October 2020, water companies, which make better use of bioresources activities – transporting, treating, recycling and disposing of wastewater sludge to develop low carbon energy -, could provide real benefits to customers, society and the environment. However, the report reveals that Ofwat has concerns about how trading in bioresources is developing and as a result the regulator is now in the process of conducting a review. Over the next few months, Ofwat is taking a more comprehensive look at the market, including assessing the current barriers to competition and the development of the market. “Trading of sludge for treatment is very low and falling” The report says that while there is a reasonable degree of competition in the market for sludge transport and disposal – with third parties providing for 43% and 45% respectively – the trading of sludge for treatment is very low and falling. The water and sewerage companies have also reported a number of barriers to competition. As a provider of key technologies in the bioresources marketplace, we see the work streams identified by Ofwat of treatment, transportation and disposal of wastewater sludge as intrinsically interlinked. So HUBER takes a particular interest in how the market is or is not – developing. We have technologies, which allow you to either thicken or dewater sludge more cheaply than conventional solutions on the market. We also looked at this in the context of how it can contribute towards reducing transportation costs. In particular, from where we stand, the choice of initial biosolids treatment directly dictates how the product is subsequently transported and disposed – and has a significant impact on overall costs. It is already generally acknowledged that the planning and design phase at the start of a project has a major impact on its overall success– not simply on the upfront capital investment cost, but also on Whole Life Costs over what are frequently many years of operational life. Early supply chain involvement has a key role to play in the development of the bioresources market – and in my view, it can make a major contribution to delivering the most effective solution in terms of cost, operational performance and carbon savings, to mention just a few. According to Ofwat’s monitoring report, the regulator is particularly concerned by the fall in sludge treatment between the water and sewerage companies WaSCs over the three-year period it has been collecting data from the WaSCs. This has fallen from 2% in 2017/18 to 0.8% in 2019-20 – and appears to be mostly made up of short-term “emergency trades” resulting from either temporary outages or a large unexpected increase in volume at a site. Ofwat’s concern is understandable, given that treatment made up approximately 70% of bioresources expenditure in 2019-20, with transport and disposal accounting for around 15% respectively. Part of Ofwat’s Water 2020 analysis suggested that up to 13.5% of sludge could be traded across company borders without facing prohibitive transport costs – but evidently the market is currently operating far below this level. Why the bioresources market activity in sludge treatment under is- developed? So why is market activity in sludge treatment much less developed – and what are the barriers hindering the expansion of longer – term trades? It seems clear to suggest that a greater focus on this stage of the process holds the key to unlocking the potential for further expansion in the market – which would in turn be likely to result in more competition in sludge transport if volumes increase. In particular, the choice of thickening and dewatering services at treatment stage should be seen as crucial to enabling trading optimisation both within a Water Company’s own region and cross-border activity between regions. Ofwat’s activity dashboard based on companies’ 2019-2020 information identifies the following types of treatment works spread across the WaSCs in England and Wales, together with details of the volume of sludge generated on a site-by-site basis: 275 Sludge Treatment Centres 1516 Wastewater Treatment Works 4129 small Wastewater Treatment Works Therefore, a technology, which could cut down on process operation and transportation costs, is undoubtedly crucial to helping with further market development. It is clear to us from the work we are already doing in the water sector in this area that technology has a key role to play. HUBER is now working with some of the WaSCs to put technologies in place, which enable them to either thicken or dewater more cheaply than conventional solutions on the market – technologies that are already being used extensively by public utilities outside the UK. Ofwat itself has separately pointed out “there is precedent to draw from in Europe.” The technologies offer WaSCs the opportunity to make an immediate and significant impact on their sludge treatment costs and operational performance – and step up their activity in bioresources trading as a result. The key feature of our technology solutions is that they are all based on equipment that rotates very slowly using one, low power motor running slowly. This not only reduces energy consumption but maintains the integrity of the poly generated floculant, reducing consumption and enhancing cake quality. It is also the reason why we come out much cheaper on a Whole Life Cost basis compared to alternative technologies on offer. I want to emphasise that this is based on evidence-based data - both from our work on municipal sludge applications outside the UK and the results of trials at a number of sites with some of the UK WaSCs. Technologies that deliver in terms of capital, energy and transportation costs – and cut operational carbon in the process I am pleased to say that the trials, which typically take between 2 to 4 weeks to deliver results, have been so successful that we are seeing increasingly greater uptake of our solutions by the water companies. Take the HUBER Q-PRESS® for example, which has specifically been designed for dewatering sludge at small to medium sized treatment works and which is now in place at South West Water’s Plymouth Central WwTW. This first of kind in SWW was facilitated by our early involvement, and collaboration with SWW’s Tier one contractor Kier. On capital costs alone, we were 25% cheaper than our nearest competitor, 30% cheaper than the replacement cost of new centrifuges and about 7% cheaper than the existing temporary solution in place. The Q-PRESS® delivered equally significant savings in terms of operational costs, including: a saving of £60k a year just on tankering transportation costs alone less than 10% of power consumption compared to energy used in a centrifuge solution roughly half the amount of polymer consumed compared to centrifuge solution Other options we’ve explored on behalf of WaSCs include localised treatment hubs with our equipment in place as a means of consolidating sludge treatment from a number of works (which could extended across cross-border sites) which are roughly equidistant from a hub, thereby reducing tanker volumes. After thickening treatment, it could then be transported to bigger strategic Sludge Treatment Centres to be used for biogas energy generation, for example. I would like to conclude by highlighting two other issues, which may be relevant to encouraging greater trading activity in the bioresources sector. Firstly, as part of its current review, Ofwat is considering how to assess different forms of competition and market models. The regulator might like to consider whether the 5-year regulatory cycle itself is distorting the picture in terms of a company’s ability to make informed decisions to invest in the best technology solutions based on a true analysis of Whole Life Costs, which may be spread across two or more 5-year investment periods. Need for a truly integrated bioresources strategy at both company and sector-wide level Finally if it is not in place already, the need for the water companies themselves to avoid a disconnect by having a truly integrated bioresources strategy in place in order to realise the benefits that increased trading could offer. The ability to see the picture in the round and pull a variety of different operational issues and drivers together is key to delivering this. For instance, if separate divisions within an organisation deal with treatment and transport / disposal, are the opportunities in place to discuss how their individual decisions could potentially impact their bioresource strategy? Likewise, how are their choices considered in the context of meeting their carbon net zero goals in terms of cutting energy use and carbon emissions? The key question is – in considering one without the other how are they going to make progress and really capitalise on the commercial market opportunities opening up? To sum up, as a supplier we occupy a place at the beginning of the process. However, it seems clear that only by having integrated strategies in place across the whole value chain – both within the individual WaSCs and on a cross-border basis - will Ofwat see the step change in bioresources trading it is looking to the market to deliver. For further information contact Mike Willis at email mike.willis@huber.co.uk or phone on +44 7887 897322 This in the first of a series of articles from technology specialists HUBER in the run-up to publication of the outcome of Ofwat’s Bioresources Market Review in 2021 and the interview was carried out and written by Elaine Coles from Waterbriefing.[...]

[...]HUBER Resilience Thought Leadership: In the first of a series of thought leadership insights, Steve Morris , Managing Director at wastewater technology specialists HUBER Technology explores whether there’s a disconnect between high level ambitions about resilience and what it actually means in terms of operational delivery. Steve Morris: The National Infrastructure Commission's newly-published Annual Monitoring Report 2021 is a timely reminder, if any were needed, of the importance attached to ensuring the resilience of the UK's critical national infrastructure. Resilience is the word which is heard time and again in the water sector at the moment – from regulators, the Government, the water companies and the supply chain alike – Tier 1s down to SMEs. It’s also not uncommon to hear it referred to in the same breath as asset health - and both are of fundamental importance. In the face of the growing impacts of climate change, population growth and increased customer expectations, resilience is absolutely key – evidenced by the high level messages from the Government, the regulator and the senior management teams at the water companies. But how is resilience actually being delivered on the ground – and are there any blockages or barriers in place which are somehow currently preventing the industry from maximising its full potential? The supply chain is keen to play its part – yet it seems to me that this still continues to be an over-looked area where greater collaboration could really contribute with solutions which would help strengthen the resilience of the systems, processes and critical assets which make up the complex national water and wastewater infrastructure. Targeting resilience at both a strategic and granular level of detail However, in order to achieve the required level of resilience, I would argue that without looking at the granular level of detail, achieving it at the strategic level becomes much harder. I also wonder about the extent to which the high level message is disseminated and embedded throughout an organisation – and whether it somehow gets diluted along the way as it filters down. If a top-down approach is needed to drive the message down, then bottom-up results are necessary to demonstrate that it is having a real and measurable positive effect. Understandably, the focus and the attention of the water companies sometimes appears to be at the top of this particular pyramid. This after all is where most of the attention is on the performance metrics and outcomes which determine how they're rewarded or penalised accordingly. When we speak about resilience, we could describe this as the robustness of the system and its ability to respond and adapt to changes in the whole environment – from individual events in the system to larger scale events like extreme weather –in order to ensure continuity of services to meet customer demands. Ofwat’s own definition in its Towards Resilience discussion paper is: “Resilience is the ability to cope with, and recover from, disruption, and anticipate trends and variability in order to maintain services for people and protect the natural environment, now and in the future.” The UK Government current guidance on resilience - Keeping the Country Running - considers resilience as the ability of assets, networks and systems to anticipate, absorb, adapt to and/or rapidly recover from a disruptive event. Keeping the Country Running – the 4Rs of Resilience R edundancy - avoiding dependencies on single assets R esistance - proofing the system so that it is resistant to known risks – for example, flood defences R eliability - a system that operates effectively, irrespective of whether or not risks materialise R esponse/recovery (the ability to recover quickly so that service is not unduly impacted Resilience in AMP7 – driven by the customer voice in PR19 and impacted by COVID in 2020? So how is resilience being addressed in AMP7 and beyond? It’s important to remember that resilience is now one of Ofwat’s statutory duties and one of the four benchmarks that underpinned the PR19 process that led up to the water companies’ AMP7 Business Plans. There was a major focus on customer engagement in PR19 – much more consultation with customers to find out what they wanted. So some of the resilience requirements e.g. uninterrupted supply, clean drinking water, reduced risk of sewer flooding – reflect the customer’s voice. They may not have been described as resilience – but that’s what they equate to. I think the other thing here to bear in mind is the fact that the start of AMP7 coincided with the start of the COVID 19 and what the legacy of the pandemic is likely to be for the water sector in terms of resilience. COVID has clearly had an impact on operational activities. Just to take one example, like other companies in the supply chain, we’ve noticed a requirement to minimise the time contractors spend on site. Whether the measures the water companies have put in place to COVID-proof their activities will result in long-term behavioural changes, or whether post-pandemic they will revert to the status quo, remains to be seen. For me, I think there will however be an undoubted legacy of the water companies seeking to build even greater resilience into their assets. I’m thinking here in particular of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) - the use of offsite manufacturing facilities for onsite installation and more controlled onsite processes. The other major shift which has started to bring about transformational change is of course the increasing use of smart technologies and amount of data analysis now being undertaken. Vast amounts of operational data are now available compared with 5/10 years ago, which in theory should enable informed decision-making and an increased focus on putting investment spend where it is really needed. Embedding a resilience culture - a disconnect between theory and practice? However, at the moment there still seems to be a disconnect between the theory and practice of embedding a resilience culture throughout the water sector. While there’s a high level of desire that’s there when it comes to talking about resilience, the key question is whether more could be done to strengthen practical implementation? Key areas which I would suggest clearly impact on an organisation’s view of the resilience of its assets and processes and feed into this include: the extent to which resilience is viewed through the prism of TOTEX and whether in reality an opex versus capex approach still applies whether spending decisions are based on Whole Life costs inherent tensions which result from the ongoing misalignment of the water companies’ planning requirements and widely varying timescales On the third point, to mention just two, are the constantly debated 5 year AMP investment cycles and the Water Resources Management Plans the water companies produce every five years setting out how they will manage water supplies in their region to meet current and future needs over a 25 year timeframe. In my view, reconciling the inevitable short-termism behaviours, which the AMP investment cycles drive, with the complex investment planning decisions needed to meet long-term objectives does not necessarily produce the most efficient and cost-effective outcomes. At the end of the day, the key question for the water companies charged with delivering resilient critical water and wastewater infrastructure is how to ensure resilience is driven down and embedded through their own company. Alongside that, is how to make sure it is also embraced by other key stakeholders. I would of course include the supply chain which plays a significant role in delivering their investment programmes. If the ambition for resilience is there at the top, the supply chain can help realise it at operational level Which brings me back to my original point on the importance of collaboration – if the ambition for resilience is there at the top, the supply chain can help them to realise it at an operational level. It’s true to say that in general, operational resilience has the most immediate and visible impact on customers. At an operational level, risks include critical asset failure or telemetry failure – and it is undoubtedly the case that the failure of even a single asset, in the complex collection of assets, processes and systems that make up the UK’s water and wastewater infrastructure, has the potential to massively cascade into a problem with major impacts. I’d like to suggest that the water companies should not overlook the capability and potential of the supplier to provide invaluable insights, wherever their equipment or process sits at key points of the system. What they can bring to the party is the ability to look upstream and downstream either side of that point and understand the ramifications when the system goes out of kilter, how problems can cascade at key points of failure and what the potential options are to ensure its robustness. Water companies now have a legal duty to ‘secure long-term resilience’ Resilience is now embedded in water-related legislation for England and Wales - the water companies have a legal duty to ‘secure long-term resilience’ and Ofwat has a primary duty to enforce this. One of the four key themes of PR19, resilience is an integral part of water companies’ functions in order to meet their statutory security of supply and service obligations. While there are a wealth of papers and policy documents on infrastructure and resilience relevant to the sector, I’d like to conclude by flagging up two interesting papers which highlight some practical routes forward at both a regulatory and water company level to achieving greater resilience across the water sector. Resilience metrics at company level can help to measure and manage resilience At a company level, as part of PR19, Ofwat highlighted the resilience metrics methodology prepared by Arcadis for United Utilities AMP7 Business Plan submission as an example of good practice. The paper proposed a risk based approach to measuring resilience with resilience metrics defined to focus on: the consequences of the system failing the likelihood of the hazards occurring the vulnerability of the system to the threat resilience controls in place that can reduce any of the above The paper said that at a high level, a standardised risk assessment of resilience would be beneficial as it drives the right behaviours in the customers’ interest - such as focusing on potential service failures. Key questions the paper suggests each water company should ask themselves include: In the event of a critical asset failure, what is the expected duration the system would be out of service for? How many times has the system failed in the last 5 years due to a critical asset failure? Is there a proactive maintenance and monitoring approach for the critical assets within the system? Is the system operated at 100% capacity for the majority of time? At the regulatory level, a paper published by the Government Office of Science– Infrastructure Resilience - said that regulators should use their levers to promote adaptation and resilience building against value for money. In addition, “instead of encouraging efficiency which reduces resilience, regulations should be revised to reflect future threats and allow more information-sharing and collaboration across the supply chain.” The report recommended: “Operators need to develop a resilience strategy which employs the principles of redundancy, resistance, reliability, response and recovery for protection against disruptions. This strategy needs to have buy-in from other stakeholders including supply chain, customers and operators …and needs to be considered at all levels of the organisations.” “It must be understood that striving for optimisation and efficiency can compromise resilience making infrastructure brittle. Strong at impact, but catastrophic at failure. Instead, operators should aim for elastic infrastructure through sacrificing efficiency for the sake of resilience.” Useful food for thought in both documents for all stakeholders in the UK water sector. The supply chain stands ready to help – and given the opportunity, has the potential to bring significant added value to the water sector’s work to strengthen its resilience. Further reading: Current UK Government guidance on resilience- Keeping the Country Running– natural hazards and infrastructure Ofwat- Towards Resilience discussion paper Ofwat - PR19 Final Determinations – Securing Long-term Resilience Government Office of Science Report - Infrastructure Resilience Arcadis report for United Utilities Measuring Resilience in the Water Industry[...]