This programme area includes research into both the demand for water and the supply of water, with the concept of the supply/demand balance driving much of the work. Subject areas include headroom, demand management/water efficiency research. Water quality forms a large component of this research area, including epidemiology and microbiological studies, cryptosporidium, metals and algal toxins. Research also includes asset location, distribution operation and maintenance strategies (DOMS) and pipeline innovation, with leakage projects taking a high priority to help water companies reduce leakage to their economic levels.
Much of this research has been in collaboration with the regulators so that basic methods and frameworks can be agreed and applied.
Jeremy Heath
LeakageJohn A Haley
Drinking Water Quality & Health
John Haley
Drinking Water Quality & HealthPaul Merchant
Water Resources
Drinking Water View sub-categories and filter projects sub-categories 21st Century Agencies Analytical support At the tap Cryptosporidium, Giardia & other Parasites Distribution Systems Emerging chemicals Metals Microbiological studies |
Toxicology View sub-categories and filter projects sub-categories Data services Disinfection by-products Drinking water - other toxicological studies Endocrine disrupters (waste waters and sludge) |
Water Mains, Sewers and Services View sub-categories and filter projects sub-categories Distribution, Operation & Maintenance Strategy Flooding Maintenance Maintenance continuing serviceability Pipeline innovation Pipeline materials Pipeline operations Sewer Engineering |
Leakage View sub-categories and filter projects sub-categories |
Water Resources View sub-categories and filter projects sub-categories Catchment Issues Demand Demand / Supply balance Groundwater Legislation Supply Water Efficiency Water Reuse |
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BQ - Achieving 100% compliance with drinking water standards at point of use by 2050? - Phase 2 - Intensifying Natural Processes Project Status Project Completed |
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BQ - Achieving 100% compliance with drinking water standards at point of use by 2050? Taste and Odour: Methods of Detection Project Status Project Completed |
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BQ How do we achieve 100% compliance with drinking water standards by 2050? Better understanding of the chemistry of the control of lead Project Status Project Completed This project will address key issues in order to meet the outcome “Ownership and responsibility for water quality is clear and all part their part in its protection”. The project will improve our understanding of the complex chemistry which underlies the control of lead solubility. Recent developments in analytical instrumentation open up a number of avenues to enhance the industry's understanding of the surface chemistry which facilitates compliance or causes failure. |
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Real time monitoring of bacteria downstream of WTWs Project Status Project Completed |
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Understanding DBP formation: Interpretation of laboratory experiments to operational conditions Project Status Project Completed |
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BQ04 DWSTDS - Protecting water quality in the home (domestic fixs and fits) Project Status Project Completed This is the initial phase of a follow-on larger project - Protecting water quality in the home (domestic fixtures & fittings). The key objective of Protecting water quality in the home is to understand the potential contribution from customers’ pipework, fixtures and fittings to the risk of elevated concentrations of lead, nickel, chromium and copper in water throughout properties. While the main project will include surveys and sampling within customer properties, this initial project is designed to define the location, number and frequency of that sampling work, sufficient to represent a ‘statistically sound’ data set. |
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Cryptosporidium - enhancing industry's capability to respond Project Status Project Completed There is an increasing trend for water testing laboratories, and water supply companies, to send all microscope slides on which Cryptosporidium oocysts have been seen to the Cryptosporidium Reference Unit, Swansea, for genotyping (identification of species). An internal audit of results at the CRU has shown that there is a positive relationship between typeability and the number of oocysts seen on the slides. However, most slides received had just one oocyst, and these are only very rarely typeable to the required level by current methods. This is largely due to the small amount of Cryptosporidium DNA present.
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Asbestos Cement water mains deterioration and failure prediction models Project Status Project Completed In the UK, there is approximately 50,000km of Asbestos Cement (AC) water mains, 60% of which have been in service for over 50 years, the majority (approximately 66%) being small diameter, 100mm or less. With time, it has been noted that the failure rate of AC mains is increasing, demanding the need of replacement which can cost around £5 billion. Several studies have identified that the principal failure mechanism of AC water mains is: All of the above deterioration mechanisms are directly proportional to time, i.e., the longer the exposure, the greater the level of deterioration. Whilst there may be opportunities to extend the life of such pipes through lining and pressure management, these interventions are unlikely to be a success due to the small diameter and long-term exposure to the aggressive conditions that has already taken place. If the level of AC main failures (pipe and joints) continue to increase, this will impact on the number of interruptions to supply and levels of leakage. This project will be a collaborative project with the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA). |
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Impact of Customer-side Leakage Approaches Project Status Project Commenced It is estimated that about 25% of the leakage within a water distribution network is located on a customer's property and occurs within the pipe that is not the responsibility of the Water Companies. However, this is still included in the leakage figures that water companies report to regulators. The customers can be divided into household and non- household. For household customers, water companies offer a range of solutions from providing free advice to free repairs. There is limited understanding of how these different policies ultimately impact on reported leakage levels and overall cost to the business. For non household customers, water companies don't provide free repair services as a part of their standard customer leakage policy. However, with the opening of retail market, communication with non-household customers has become difficult, slowing down the leak repair and increasing the level of leakage. Water Companies are also increasingly installing smart metering which identify leaks with very low flowrates. This has challenged the industry to find such small leaks, which are not cost effective to repair, and can be difficult to locate. |
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BQ6. How do we achieve zero uncontrolled discharges from sewers by 2050? – Research gap analysis and barriers to implementation Project Status Project Completed |
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BQ6. How do we achieve zero uncontrolled discharges from sewers by 2050? - Surface water drainage from new developments Project Status Project Completed |
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Best Practice For Trunk Main Flow Monitoring Areas Project Status Project Completed Problem |
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BQ zero leakage Leakage balance and plumbing losses Project Status Project Completed |
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Combination of transient v steady state detection methods Project Status Project Commenced |
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Incidence and causes of repeat bursts at old repairs Project Status Project Completed Distribution Maintenance staff at water companies know well that many leaks and bursts, once excavated, prove to be at the location of a previous repair, and occur as a result of a failure of the old repair. However it is not known how much data is collected on this, and there is no quantitative evidence of the magnitude or significance of this problem at national level. Nor has there been any study of the reasons for the failures, i.e. whether they are due to deterioration of the clamp or other repair materials over time, or whether they are caused by faulty workmanship at the time of the initial repair. |
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Optimisation of sensor location: "Hydrant dynamics for acoustic leak detection" Project Status Project Commenced |
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Use of smart meters and smart networks for leakage management Project Status Project Completed Modern technology has made it possible to collect much greater quantities of data, and at higher resolution. Leakage analysis methods and leak detection technology have both made many advances in recent years, but data collection and manipulation processes have hardly changed. The basic principle of measuring minimum night flow into a DMA, and then subtracting estimates of household and non-household night use to give leakage, remains unchanged in the past 30 years. |
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BQ How do we halve our abstractions by 2050? Research review and gap analysis Project Status Project Completed The Big Question of ‘How do we halve our abstractions by 2050?’ is a key strategic research programme for UKWIR. However, at present it is not clear what the research needs are. These needs should take into account what research has been done and what is currently on-going. This project will produce a community-owned list of prioritised research needs in order to halve our abstractions by 2050. This list will support the development of a research programme, form the basis for future planning and identify potential collaborations with other research organisations.
The project will enable the following: Identify the needs and potential outcomes for long-term research; Facilitate collaboration with academics, research organisations, funding agencies, and other stakeholders; Minimise the duplication of future research projects and ensure greater alignment. |
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Drought Vulnerability Framework Project Status Project Completed |
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Understanding of current and future household consumption Project Status Project Completed |
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Deriving a Best Value Water Resources Management Plan Project Status Project Completed The derivation of a ‘best value’ water resources management plan, or its equivalent, is the final stage of the process before a plan is consulted on. The term ‘best value’ distinguishes it from a ‘least cost’ plan and introduces the concept that there are other factors that should equally be taken into consideration such as the impact upon the environment, long term resilience and customer preferences. |
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Environmental Assessments for Water Resources Planning Project Status Project Completed The preparation of strategic water resource plans[1] requires several supporting environmental assessments to be undertaken alongside plan development. A water company must determine if its plan falls within the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive and/or requires Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA). The plan must also be able to demonstrate that implemnation of it would not cause a deterioration in waterbody classification and/or demonstrate that it would not preclude the delivery of measures to facilitate the improvements needed to attain good status, as required under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Drought plans also require consideration under the SEA Directive and Habitats Regulations, although WFD assessments are usually undertaken as part of the ‘shelf-copy’ drought permit/order environmental assessments prepared in support of the drought plan in line with regulatory guidance. Relevant UKWIR guidance relating to SEA and HRA of WRMPs and drought plans[2] was last updated in 2012. Since then, there have been several developments in regulator guidance and current best practice (including a revision to Environment Agency drought plan guidance anticipated in late 2019), and several important Habitats Directive rulings with implications for strategic water resource plans in particular, including the 2018 ‘People over Wind’ judgment[3]. The requirement to prepare a stand-alone WFD assessment is an additional requirement since the 2012 UKWIR guidance was published. There is an increasing move to use an Ecosystem Services (ESS) approach to environmental valuation. An UKWIR project in 2016[4] reviewed the potential benefits of ESS/Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) approaches and made some recommendations for future implementation, but at time of writing these had not been taken forward. Clearly with increased focus on development of water trading and regional transfer schemes, it is crucial that environmental assessments of strategic water resource plans for both regional and company level plans adopt the same methodology, baseline environmental data collation and approach to environmental valuation to allow direct comparison of intra- or inter- company or region water resource options. This applies to all aspects of assessment including SEA, HRA, WFD and ESS/NCA. This would require an update to the current UKWIR SEA and HRA guidance, and development of standard methodology for WFD and NCA/ESS assessments for strategic water resource plans. It is essential that the regulators are fully involved in the project steering group to ensure they are signed up to the approaches and guidance developed at a National level[5]. Drought plans are different to strategic water resource plans in that they do not comprise a preferred plan or programme of water resource options, but rather a basket of measures that will be considered for implementation during a future drought event. The measures selected and the programme will depend on other factors including the timing, duration and spatial extent of the dry weather event experienced. The drought plan SEA Environmental Report is therefore a comparative assessment of the environmental effects of implementing each drought option, which should be used to review the potential environmental impacts of implementing supply side or drought permit/order options should they be progressed in the future. However, although a fundamental requirement of the Directive (and demonstrated by the SEA post-adoption statement) there is a need for better integration of SEA into the decision making process for both drought plan implementation and strategic water resource plan preferred programme selection. [1] Including Water Resource Management Plans (WRMPs) in England and Wales, Water Resource Plans in Scotland and National Water Resources Plans in Ireland. [2] UKWIR (2012) Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment - Guidance for Water Resources Management Plans and Drought Plans. Prepared by Cascade Consulting. [3] In summary the judgement was that best practice mitigation measures cannot be taken into account when considering screening plans or projects to determine if there is a likely significant effect on a European designated site. This can result in an increased burden of assessment at the ‘Plan’ stage and/or Plans being ruled as non-compliant with the Regulations. [4] UKWIR (2016) Benefits and Limitations of Integrating Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and Ecosystems Services Assessment (ESA) into Water Company Activities (2016) Prepared by Cascade Consulting. [5] Including Environment Agency, NRW, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, Historic England, Historic Scotland, Cadw and others as appropriate. |
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