Keeping Water in the Main, Not Down the Drain!
This four day sprint taking place at Newcastle Racecourse may be of interest to network operations, water quality and performance, vehicle design and leasing, SMEs from similar utilities, environmental waste management companies.
The water distribution network can accumulate deposits, mainly as a consequence of small amounts of metals (manganese, iron, and aluminium) entering pipes from the supplying treatment works. These deposits can re-mobilise due to changes in flow or pressure, burst mains or pumping station operation, and this can result in our customers experiencing water that is discoloured or of aesthetic concern. To combat this, NWL carries out flushing in our DMAs to help remove excess deposits and so improve the customer experience. In the last few years our teams have flushed around 4000km of distribution main per annum to maintain water quality.
During periods of high customer demand, generally during the summer months, flushing exercises are often suspended. This is to ensure we don’t create mixed messages for customers and erode any trust they have in us, particularly if they see us wasting water when we are asking them to be efficient and use water wisely. Flushing only discharges about 0.1Mld on average per DMA however, which is a nominal amount.
However, even with this nominal amount when the teams are completing over 300 DMA’s per year, we have to consider other solutions. The UK is at risk of severe water shortages with the Environment Agency highlighting that “if no action is taken between 2025 and 2050 around 4 billion extra litres of water per day will be needed for public water supply”.
Proposal:
Ventura Water in the US has starting using a technique developed by NO-DES, Inc. whereby the water flushed out of hydrants is captured in a mobile filter unit on a trailer and re-introduced into the potable water system. This minimises wastage, removes any immediate environmental concerns, and manages customer perceptions.
Ventura Water Neutral Output Discharge Eliminating System
The sprint would take this concept and create a viable option for the UK market.