The UK Water Industry has always been spirited to promote sutainability and create a significant positive contribution to society. It has been continually discussing and working in areas to achieve it but there is no study which captures this achievement, positive impacts and ultimately the net contribution of the sector.

The Water industry has added expectations of government, regulators, NGOs and customers for a long term sustainable approach that will support society across the challenges of the coming decades. In particular, circular economy and natural capital are the latest areas that customer investment fora are increasingly seeking information on.

Thus this project will provide the evidence that the Water industry as a sector is socially, environmentally and financially responsible and help to map out the current position and further improvement that can be done.

The water industry is committed to reducing its carbon emissions and one of the ‘Big Questions’ posed by UKWIR to help inform the strategic programme of research is: How do we become carbon neutral by 2050? To achieve this, we must develop a better understanding of the greenhouse gas emissions that are specific to our treatment and disposal processes.

Greenhouse gas emissions from our treatment processes are the second highest driver of our industry carbon footprint after energy. As other elements of the industry footprint are reduced, the process emissions become more important. Currently, we are doing little to reduce this component of our footprint, because the science behind our understanding of these emissions and how to reduce them is poor.

Overall, industry Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are falling. Much of the reduction seen is as a result of lower emissions linked to grid electricity. This is partly because the UK grid mix is using less fossil fuels and partly because water companies are generating or procuring renewable energy directly. Historically around 70% of industry emissions have been linked to the use of grid electricity. As this becomes a lesser part of the total, the other elements of the industry footprint become more significant.

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To determine whether any emerging contaminants, measured through the Chemical Investigation Programme, pose a potential risk to the quality of drinking water supplies.

Problem

The Chemical Investigation Programme (CIP) Phase 1 &2 has monitored a large number of chemicals that may be entering the aquatic environment from our wastewater treatment processes.  This data, however, has not been looked at in terms of the potential impacts on drinking water quality.

Impact

We currently do not know the impact that these chemicals have on raw water quality for sources located downstream of a waste water treatment works.

Project

This project is an enabler for future work to meet the outcome “An appropriate balance of risk with regards to substances of concern, their public health impact, and mitigation”. It is the first project in a series that will allow the Industry to demonstrate to its customers and other stakeholders, including regulators, that it keeps the upstream risks it faces under review as data becomes available.  Subsequent projects will look in more detail on issues such as treatability i.e. determine if the disinfection process for water containing these chemicals give rise to unwanted by-products of health concern or cause taste and odour issues.

The drinking water and environmental regulators have stated that they see the main effort to improve water quality / quantity to be based at a catchment level. This will aid the minimisation of algae, pesticides and colour in the raw water sources which in turn will minimise issues water companies face from taste & odour contacts.

The previous UKWIR project, “Quantifying the benefits of Catchment Management” was undertaken over 5 years ago and the project “Catchment Management – how do we know its worked” was started in 2015/16 but put on hold indefinitely. Catchment management has gained traction since then with some companies making great progress. The time is right for a review of the evidence, for or against, catchment management.

The Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP) is an ongoing research programme that addresses the likely implications of environmental legislation for the UK water industry. It is intended as a means of gaining a better understanding of the occurrence, behaviour and management of trace contaminants in the wastewater treatment process and in effluents and sludge. It is a monitoring programme of unprecedented scale and complexity and has been undertaken as a collaborative programme by water companies in England, Wales and Scotland and the respective national regulators.
As part of the third phase of CIP, this project will carry out a substantial programme of investigations into presence and changes in abundance of AMR genes through wastewater and sludge treatment processes.
The programme requires that sampling must be started no later than 1 April 2020 and completed by 31 March 2021, data reported by 31 May 2021 and the specialist contractor’s final report delivered and approved by 30 September 2021.

Microplastics are plastic particles or fibres which are smaller than 5 mm and are categorised as either primary or secondary depending on whether they were specifically produced at that size or are produced from the abrasion or fragmentation of larger plastic items.
This microplastics investigation acknowledges that this is an area of cutting-edge research and is looking to build on the findings from the current UKWIR study EQ01A Sink to River – River to Tap – A review of potential risks from nanoparticles and microplastics (https://ukwir.org/view/$NvDnwfm!). The scope is therefore subject to the results of this study, as well as advances in the field of microplastics.
This study will require a specialist contractor to develop robust sampling and analysis methodologies, to collect samples from various media and consider sample volumes, blanks and the need for composite sampling. The contractor will also need the analytical capacity to cover the programme across the water companies involved.

The Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP) is an ongoing research programme that addresses the likely implications of environmental legislation for the UK water industry. It is intended as a means of gaining a better understanding of the occurrence, behaviour and management of trace contaminants in the wastewater treatment process and in effluents and sludge. It is a monitoring programme of unprecedented scale and complexity and has been undertaken as a collaborative programme by water companies in England, Wales and Scotland and the respective national regulators.

The Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP) is an ongoing research programme that addresses the likely implications of environmental legislation for the UK water industry. It is intended as a means of gaining a better understanding of the occurrence, behaviour and management of trace contaminants in the wastewater treatment process and in effluents and sludge. It is a monitoring programme of unprecedented scale and complexity and has been undertaken as a collaborative programme by water companies in England, Wales and Scotland and the respective national regulators.
A series of technology trials were carried out during the second phase of CIP, i.e. feasibility trials, (C2a), pilot trials (C2b), phosphorus removal processes (P1a), and phosphorus removal through chemical dosing optimisation trials (P1b). A number of P1 trials also had a chemical driver added, denoted by the suffix (c).
The C2 and P1(c) trials analysed the presence and removal of 74 chemical determinands in the influent and effluent of each process, grouped by; metals, priority substances & specific pollutants, sanitary determinands, steroids, and pharmaceuticals. The mechanisms of chemical removal were not studied at CIP2, leaving a number of unanswered questions, e.g.
· Are chemicals broken down or are they moved into sludge?
• Chemical removal by steel slag media – associated with elevated pH?
• Why do different installations of the same technology, e.g. sand filters, remove chemicals better than others?
• Ambiguities with tri-butyl tin feasibility & pilot plant trials data – can these be explained?
• Understanding of how chemicals are partitioned
• Optimisation of some technologies
As part of the third phase of CIP, this project will carry out a substantial programme of investigations into the removal and mechanism of removal of substances of interest through wastewater and sludge treatment processes. It is expected that this study will implement the guidance developed in UKWIR Project EQ01A232, Basis for a programme of chemical investigations to be carried out by the water industry during the AMP7 period (please click here).
The programme requires that sampling must be started no later than 1 April 2020 and completed by 31 March 2021, data reported by 31 May 2021, draft report by 30 September 2021 and the specialist contractor’s final report delivered and approved by 30 November 2021.