This report provides a comprehensive review of current and developing technologies for minimal excavation which have the potential to enable the water industry to undertake leak repairs and the associated excavation activities, safely and efficiently. Technologies were identified through global literature reviews, interviews with subject matter experts and contact with relevant companies. A workshop attended by practitioners, technology providers and water companies, provided clarity over the critical issues that need to be resolved to enable these technologies to be widely adopted in the water industry. To encourage the transfer of the identified technology a functional specification is presented which defines the requirements for the application of this technology. A route map to enable the implementation by the water industry is also presented, including a suit of core project areas that will address the key challenges to technology implementation

This project carried out a high-level review of the tools currently use by the water sector; considered the potential for integrated ‘totex carbon’ calculation; and assessed the appetite amongst potential end users for whole life carbon planning tools.

The project has identified several gaps in industry knowledge and capability. These are set out as a series of recommendations for UKWIR and the industry to address through future collaborative research packages.

The water industry is under pressure to reduce spills from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO), but without actions to limit infiltration and separate surface water, the consequence of this allied to climate change will be larger volumes of more dilute sewage arriving at Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), possibly for protracted periods. 

Hence this project takes a wider view on dealing with the dynamic nature of volumes and strengths of the sewage that the water industry is likely to need to treat. The output of this project includes realistic operational design options for existing WwTW’s processes and considers a selection of potential alternatives for WwTW dealing with intermittent higher flows of weaker sewage.

The key aim of this work is to develop a user-friendly, best practice tool that becomes the UK water industry standard to support strategic carbon sequestration management; forming part of the answer to the UKWIR big question “How do we remove more carbon than we emit by 2050?”.

The project includes development of an industry standard tool for calculating net carbon sequestration across each water company’s land holding and / or the impact of a water company’s work on third party land (for example a catchment partnership project). The tool can be used to create scenarios for different land management strategies so that better decisions can be made regarding carbon emissions and associated land management activities. The tool is aligned with best practice carbon accounting standards and processes.

As an UKWIR BQ2 (Zero Leakage) and BQ3 (Zero Interruptions) collaboration, a series of workshops were held in the summer of 2021.  Four interrelated topics were discussed virtually by water companies, their contractors and the supply chain.   Innovative methods were used for gathering and sharing data, insight and opinion in order to disseminate valuable learning and knowledge in relatively short timescales to the appropriate industry areas. 

Failures on trunk mains are relatively low in frequency they can, however, cause significant disruption. This report details the outputs of both a practitioner workshop and associated industry surveys and examines current practices of preventing and mitigating trunk mains failures and good practice recommendations.

As an UKWIR BQ2 (Zero Leakage) and BQ3 (Zero Interruptions) collaboration, a series of workshops were held in the summer of 2021.  Four interrelated topics were discussed virtually by water companies, their contractors and the supply chain.   Innovative methods were used for gathering and sharing data, insight and opinion in order to disseminate valuable learning and knowledge in relatively short timescales to the appropriate industry areas. 

Failures on the clean water network that could potentially lead to interruptions to supply are hard to predict and detect. This report details the output of two workshops and associated industry surveys to identify current initiatives and potential future requirements for event detection and management systems. A number of key suppliers were interviewed to examine current capabilities and near future developments in event management systems. Key requirements were identified for an ideal system that water companies can apply for the future.

As an UKWIR BQ2 (Zero Leakage) and BQ3 (Zero Interruptions) collaboration, a series of workshops were held in the summer of 2021.  Four interrelated topics were discussed virtually by water companies, their contractors and the supply chain.   Innovative methods were used for gathering and sharing data, insight and opinion in order to disseminate valuable learning and knowledge in relatively short timescales to the appropriate industry areas. 

Interruptions to supply can cause significant disruption to customers lives and are a significant cause of water company customer contacts.  This report details the outputs of two workshops and associated industry surveys examining water company approaches and customer expectations and identifies current good practice and future recommendations.

As an UKWIR BQ2 (Zero Leakage) and BQ3 (Zero Interruptions) collaboration, a series of workshops were held in the summer of 2021. Four interrelated topics were discussed virtually by water companies, their contractors and the supply chain. Innovative methods were used for gathering and sharing data, insight and opinion in order to disseminate valuable learning and knowledge in relatively short timescales to the appropriate industry areas.

Companies perceive that the use of linings in water pipes to reduce leakage will be required to meet regulatory targets in the coming decades. This report examines existing literature to identify potential methods to be developed to test the long-term viability of these types of linings.

A workshop was held bringing experts together from water companies and the supply chain and industry surveys were also carried out. The report identifies three follow-on projects for the industry to consider to further develop this work as a potential Phase 2.

Establishing financial and carbon costs of disinfecting wastewater discharges enabling engagement with regulators and stakeholders is an important stage in considering the issues around the disinfection of wastewater discharges.

Regulatory, bacteriological standards and post-disinfection assumptions are documented in the report. Case studies are included to cross-reference and validate outputs. Seven likely scenarios were developed and the financial and carbon costs were estimated.

The review of research on costs and efficacy of disinfection of discharges concluded there was a paucity of any recent research.

Nature based solutions and emerging technologies around oxidation processes were considered in the project.

Regulatory frameworks in place have not changed for some time but the Environment Act 2021 may result in disinfection of storm overflows.

The possible costs and carbon emissions were estimated through a modelling exercise. Installation of disinfection on WwTWs could result in a cost of ca £4.3 billion. These costs increase to £93 billion if intermittent discharges are considered but if pre-treatment is required, these rise to ca £213 billion.

Associated carbon emissions with UV or chemical options were 85 and 53 million tonnes CO2-eq respectively.

Recommendations included: Research into microbial reduction achieved across wastewater treatment works; Determination of the efficacy alternative approaches; Engagement with key stakeholders.

The outputs will inform and influence policy decision makers on a proportionality to the benefit they deliver.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are of emerging concern both due to their potential toxicity to humans and their persistence in the environment. This literature review was required to give the water industry a better understanding of which PFAS will be of most concern (there are 4,700 potential PFAS to consider) on the basis of production, use, and toxicity. The work also looked to anticipate possible regulatory scenarios; and finally by understanding the potential impacts and obligations on the water industry, to make recommendations to inform our responses to these pressures (both financial and regulatory).