As part of UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) big question programme we are asking…. How do we achieve zero customers in water poverty by 2030?  We know water is an essential resource, households have access to clean and plentiful supply of water and cannot be cut off if they fall behind on their bills. However, for many people, the cost of water and wastewater services is unaffordable which puts them in ‘water poverty’.

At the start of the programme in 2019, we drafted a route map to answer this question, but  following many industry developments,  we conducted a sprint workshop with a cross section of stakeholders to generate ideas to refresh the Routemap.

This research report sets out a framework that builds on current practice, regulation and guidance to provide recommendations for government and regulators, water companies and other stakeholders.

The project has developed a shared climate adaptation goal and a common framework, which aligns with the current and evolving regulatory context, to support greater consistency, and a better future for customers everywhere. This report sets out a proposed goal and framework for the water sector, some key sector recommendations, and potential next steps for the framework.

UKWIR’s Big Question 08 asked “How do we continue to create value through Asset Management decision making? This project sought to answer this through merging three sub-projects delivered by an international consortium of industry and academic partners to define a Future Asset Planning framework. The framework addressed: Asset Health, Scenario Planning and Value Frameworks.

In a significant piece of work led by Atkins and supported by Ovarro, University of Manchester and Asset Resolutions, the project provided:

• a set of Value Measures and methods to build Value Frameworks in order to address true sustainability by engaging with diverse stakeholder groups to understand what is of value to them;
• a more structured approach to Asset Health addressing traditional assets but also considering the increased use of digital and natural asset solutions;
• an industry wide approach to considering scenario uncertainties and a set of development pathways to lead to adaptive planning approaches.

UKWIR has developed a standardised workbook for estimating operational greenhouse gas emissions, the Carbon Accounting Workbook (CAW), to bring consistency and accuracy to the reporting process across the water industry. The workbook has been in place for over ten years and is updated annually to reflect the needs of the industry, including changes in carbon accounting practices. 

This report sets out the changes that have been made in CAW 16. Some of these changes were implemented as a result of a review that was undertaken to assess the alignment of the CAW with the ISO14064 standards. 

This project has delivered a spreadsheet tool that extends the capability of the SAGIS-SIMCAT system by enabling modellers to directly apply climate change related modifications to SIMCAT dat files, to process outputs and to present useful and intuitive visualisations of complex data. The tool enables water companies and regulators to explicitly include climate change considerations in SAGIS-SIMCAT catchment and asset management planning applications for PR24, thereby supporting the requirements of the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Water Industry Strategic Environmental Requirements (WISER) document. Through the automation and streamlining of data management processes, the tool reduces the time and effort associated with scenario modelling and provides more effective modelling and planning procedures that take climate change into account in water quality planning. The project has served as a multi-stakeholder forum that has facilitated the dissemination, discussion and exchange of SAGIS-SIMCAT knowledge and ideas.

There may be a significant reduction in the price of this report if you have already bought a copy of the previous SAGIS report.  If you buy this latest report, you also receive all previous SAGIS reports as attachments. Please contact the UKWIR office for assistance.

Diffuse pollution such as urban run-off and atmospheric deposition is a well-established source of pollutants. This project reviewed existing data and knowledge of chemicals of emerging concern (CEC) in urban run-off (including highways) and atmospheric deposition and assessed the potential for this data to be used within the Source Apportionment Geographical Information System (SAGIS) modelling system.

This UKWIR project led by Atkins with the University of Plymouth presents the current understanding through:

• providing a systematic review of relevant literature to identify contributions of a defined range of CECs and microplastics and to identify possible knowledge gaps.
• evaluating sources to assess their potential to inform an update of data included in SAGIS, as well as to identify information gaps.
• reviewing interventions for the interception of microplastics and the identified CECs during their transit from source to receptor.

Groundwater infiltration in urban drainage systems is costly to the water industry, impacting on system performance and operating costs. Loss of effective system capacity increases the risk of level of Service failures including flooding and environmental pollution. Infiltration flows may represent over 50% of inflows to wastewater treatment works adding to treatment costs and increasing wastewater spills to the environment   

This UKWIR project led by Stantec, supported by HR Wallingford aimed to develop an understanding Ground Infiltration modelling. The key objectives of the project were:

• To obtain a better understanding of slow response runoff and groundwater infiltration.
• To develop a greater understanding of infiltration tools, relating them to physical processes, so that models which are calibrated may be used with greater confidence.
• To bring greater consistency, accuracy and transparency to the approach to infiltration modelling by providing good practice guidance for the water industry to follow.

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

Pressure transients contribute to water company assets’ degradation and structural failure, leading to, amongst other things, leakage and pipe bursts. In recent years, several water companies have undertaken programmes of varying size to capture high frequency pressure data, providing valuable information about the extent of pressure transients across the distribution networks. 
However, many such programmes have, justifiably, been driven by the operational needs of the individual water companies and therefore focused on specific network areas/issues. As such, certain network areas, such as non-pumped zones, that are not traditionally associated with having pressure transients, may have been excluded. As an industry, we still do not have a clear picture of the overall frequency and severity of pressure transient with various causes.

This project analyses the distribution and characteristics of pressure transient events. The analysis suggests that, across the whole UK water network, an event occurs once every 1.4 hours, approximately 6,500 events a year. Each one of these events has the potential to cause failure of the water main either by catastrophic failure or increases in leakage.

Most transients are relatively small in size, with a median amplitude of 12.9m/hd. They typically last around 60 seconds. Approximately, 1.2% of transients drop to atmospheric pressure or below, which could cause ingress and water quality concerns. From the analysis, for approximately 60% of transient events, there was a change in pressure from before to after the transient was observed. These changes are most likely associated with a pumping activity, or as the result of a pressure controlling valve. Although the costs and benefits of addressing the root causes of transients will vary from situation to situation, the findings of this report can assist companies in making their own cost benefit analysis.

This study provides an overview of occurrence and severity of pressure transients across the industry. However, it also highlights a lack of the availability, accessibility, and quality of critical data to enable detailed investigations on the impact of the transient on asset failure. Further studies are recommended to understand the characteristics of transients including the variability of pressure changes in the network, transient shape and unique signature, and categorisations of events and root causes. A recommended approach to future logging programmes is laid out so that water companies can get maximum benefit from the data that is collected.

Companies must work to ensure that customers continue to be satisfied with their drinking water when the treated water source they normally receive is blended or substituted with another. 
A tool has been designed to assess the impact of dynamic system changes on customer acceptability, named the “Blend Assessment Model” and is referred to as “the tool” within this document.

This document collates the process of researching the tools requirements, creating the tool and producing the accompanying monitoring guidance document.