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What Is United Utilities Doing To Save Water?
United Utilities provides water and wastewater services to the north-west of England from Crewe to Carlisle, with the catchment area including reservoirs in both the Lake District and the Pennines, serving around 7.3 million people and managing more than 56,000 hectares of land, protecting water quality and maintaining the natural environment.
As with the majority of firms, however, United Utilities’ environmental track record is somewhat chequered, with industry regulator Ofwat judging its performance to be average in comparison with other companies in the sector, meeting six out of the 12 key performance indicator targets in place.
The watchdog is now expecting the company to deliver a 33 per cent reduction in sewage spills from storm overflows between now and 2030, as well as delivering a 30 per cent reduction in pollution incidents.
Furthermore, a 13 per cent reduction in water leaks is expected over the next five years, as is a 34 per cent reduction in customer contacts about water quality and a nine per cent reduction in the need to repair pipe bursts along the water mains.
Ofwat, under its final price review decision, requires the company to deliver significantly improved service levels for both customers and the environment… so the question must now be asked:
How does United Utilities plan to improve?
Planning applications for Crummock Water, Chapelhouse reservoir & Overwater
On April 22nd, United Utilities formally submitted planning applications for Chapelhouse reservoir, Crummock Water and Overwater, with abstraction for public water supply stopped at these three sites in 2023 to see them all returned to their natural states.
At Crummock, the weir structure is to be removed, which will lower the outlet level by 1.35m or thereabouts, creating greater natural storm attenuation capacity.
At Chapelhouse, the plans include the removal of the dam and pump house, as well as the spillway channel, abstraction tower and overflow pond. Sections of the River Ellen will also be realigned and a new bridge constructed over the waterway.
And at Overwater, the existing weir and embankment will be removed, with a section of the White Beck realigned.
It’s expected that these schemes will deliver environmental benefits such as natural flow restoration along becks and rivers, natural salmon habitat restoration, additional tree planting and the removal of barriers to fish migrations.
£380m investment to upgrade water mains
Over the next five years, more than £380 million is due to be invested in water mains replacements across the region, with more durable and flexible pipes to be installed. It’s expected that these replacement mains will last for over 100 years, built to withstand high pressure and temperature variations to prevent water leaks and burst pipes.
Over the next year, replacements will take place in Cheshire (50km of pipes), Lancashire (30km), Manchester (15km) and Cumbria (60km).
Grant Batty, water services director, said: ““This is an important investment. By improving our water network, we can deliver benefits to customers by reducing leakage and supply interruptions.
“During the next five years, it is expected that almost 150,000 new homes will be built across the north-west, so it is more important than ever that water resources are managed responsibly.”
£9m fund to boost rainwater management
A new fund was launched at the end of April to help local councils across the north-west to manage rainwater more sustainably, giving them the opportunity to reduce the amount of rainwater that enters the sewer network.
The aim here is to relieve the pressure being put on the network, helping to reduce the need for storm overflow use during periods of heavy and intense rainfall.
Tim Armour, head of rainwater management, said: “Rainwater management interventions can deliver a range of benefits to the environment and society, including driving down spill activations and utilising more blue-green infrastructure compared to building more traditional concrete storage, which helps to increase network resilience to flooding from the impacts of climate change.
“Rainwater is a great natural resource, and by diverting the flow from our sewer network, we can utilise interventions such as SuDS to help make the most of it.”
Types of projects that could be funded include:
– Sustainable urban drainage schemes (SuDS), such as green roofs, rainwater harvesting, tree planting, infiltration systems, pervious pavements, ponds, wetlands and so on.
– Natural flood management schemes, such as soil and land management, peat management, runoff storage and management, offline storage and river channel restoration.
– Separation, where surface water from combined sewers is disconnected to ground, waterbody or surface water sewers.
How can businesses help?
If, as a business operating in the north-west, you’re keen to reduce pressure on local water resources, the good news is that there’s a lot you can achieve in this regard.
One of the best ways to go about it is to consider switching water supplier, a process that involves an audit of your entire site to reveal weak or vulnerable areas that are ripe for improvement.
Once you know where you need to improve, you can bring in water-saving solutions as appropriate, changing these over time in line with the evolving needs of your business.
If you’d like to find out more about the switching process, get in touch with the H2o Building Services team today.