Many food and beverage companies could find their private water supplies under threat following the ongoing introduction of new UK legislation. Additionally, companies with their own independent groundwater and surface water abstractions may not be realising the full un-tapped potential of their abstractions. If realised, this could potentially provide a ten-fold reduction in water supply costs, and reduce the risk of costly water supply interruptions. 

New legislation regulated by the Environment Agency places a greater emphasis on the protection and management of the water environment in terms of water quality, quantity and levels. 

A key mechanism that is being used to help manage water resources is via the abstraction licensing regime, in association with Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies (CAMS) and the Water Act. All large licences, including those that are not being utilised, are increasingly likely to come under the regulator’s microscope.

In particular, the Environment Agency will be looking at possible adverse effects on groundwater levels, surface water and water-based ecological habitats. The Agency has the power to refuse or downsize licences which are found to be causing significant environmental damage. 

Matt Travis, Technical Director at RPS Group, explains: “Food and beverage manufacturers, using significant quantities of water, have to obtain a licence from the Environment Agency (EA) to abstract water from their own wells or from nearby streams or lakes. “ 

“These licences are a major business asset as they provide independence from the public water supply, offer potential cost savings and protect the supply from any interference from others.” 

“But many licence owners are only now realising that compliance with the new rules could prove to be costly.” 

Of particular concern are those licensed abstractions within areas where the water resources are under stress. Within the CAMS regime the supply status of these catchments is described as ‘No Water Available’, ‘Over-Licensed’ or ‘Over Abstracted’, depending on water resource availability. In these areas the Environment Agency will closely review proposals for new abstractions or further increases in the quantities of existing licences, and is likely to refuse or place restrictions on these licences. This could obviously impact on expansion proposals of these licence holders. 

Coupled with this many food and beverage businesses have large abstraction licences and are not currently using the licence to its full potential. Therefore under the current licensing changes they may loose this headroom. Ground water, for example, can require relatively minor treatment prior to use in food and beverage operations.

It is also of key importance that ground water is often far less costly to use per cubic metre than towns or mains water. Although some processes are critical and may require the water quality security provided by a municipal water undertaker, many other operations such as wash down, cooling and water for sanitary uses provide opportunities for exploiting a currently under-utilised resource. 

Making use of the sites current abstraction can relate directly to cost savings, by reducing the amount of mains water which is purchased often for ten times more than it would cost to utilise the sites own abstraction water. 

RPS Group has previously and is currently involved in helping food and beverage manufacturers to:

• increase the yield of their licensed abstractions, resulting in cost savings by using less mains water;
• manage their water supply and effluent systems more efficiently, reducing the need for water and providing greater security of supply;
• undertaking water surveys and hydrogeological assessments to determine if increases in abstractions are feasible with their current plant arrangements. 

Matt Travis, Technical Director, says: “In many cases cost savings can be introduced quickly and easily with low capital and operational expenditure. Integrating water management strategies when a new plant is commissioned or extensions to current processing areas are constructed can result in significant cost savings over the lifetime of the plant.”