In an Expert Focus article for Waterbriefing, Stantec Technical Director Narinder Sunner assesses the challenge presented by the Water Industry National Environment Programme.

Narinder Sunner: The Water Industry National Environment Programme, WINEP, will be the largest environment enhancement programme the water industry has ever been tasked to deliver since privatisation in 1989.

There are estimated to be over 1600 outputs required across water companies in England and Wales with the largest proportion of these relating to phosphorus removal, accounting for up to 800 outputs. Most of the phosphorus programme has firm regulatory dates in December 2024 with a smaller batch of schemes meeting regulatory dates set for December 2021. The demands of the AMP7 WINEP and especially the phosphorus programme, will in themselves place a significant demand on the industry.

Meeting the AMP7 challenge through collaborative planning across the industry

With an increasing focus on customers and the communities, it is imperative that water companies and the supply chain work in close collaboration to ensure that the WINEP programme is delivered efficiently and effectively. Ofwat is already laying the ground for this within the industry, consulting on a competitive funding mechanism to support collaborative innovation initiatives and provision of long-term benefits to customers. The Regulator recognises that ultimately, wider collaboration will drive mutually beneficial outcomes for the whole industry’s customers and the communities they live in.

Traditionally the industry has delivered projects ready for use ‘just in time’ to meet regulatory dates. This ensures that operational costs associated with running the plant are minimised prior to the need to meet any new regulatory standard.  This has tended to result in the majority of these projects being constructed and commissioned towards the end of a five-year investment period, what is known in the industry as ‘back end loading’. This results in an unsustainable peak in demand for people, plant and material resources. Collaboration across the industry in developing a UK Wide WINEP programme could, however, allow both the smoothing out of peak demands for design and construction resources, and for process plant procurement.

Building a UK wide WINEP programme would involve significant collaboration in an industry generally operating in a competitive environment. Individual programmes would need to be shared and adjusted to ensure that the regulatory requirements of all parties are met. The programme build could then be tailored to match supply chain capacity to ensure efficient delivery. Such a collaborative way of working would require cultural change across the industry.

Building an intelligent programme would enable successful delivery

When developing a programme, the key objective is to understand and manage the main opportunities and risks at both project and programme level. For example, projects that require land purchase, significant asset renewal or maintenance, or power or water upgrades could be brought forward in the programme. To support fast track, intelligent, programme build, Stantec has developed GIS mapping capability which automatically highlights issues such as land availability, access, SSIs and ancient monuments. Conversely, projects at sites which have sufficient capacity, are in good general order and have limited risks, could be moved to the end of the programme. This approach may be a step change for some water utilities but one that would help balance expenditure and enable the creation of a smooth programme which levels demand on resources and products.

Developing and adopting industry wide standards will contribute significantly to meeting the AMP7 challenge

The majority of water utilities have preferred standard solutions such as a ferric dosing plant or tertiary treatment. However, the products used in these solutions typically have a bespoke standard for a particular water company, which suppliers need to meet. Such products and standards include control panels, lifting arrangements, walk-ways and safety guards. This approach adds both cost and time to projects.

Industry wide development and adoption of standard solutions and associated standard products could also reduce the need for repetitive feasibility studies and potentially outline design. These cost savings would contribute to the 30% efficiency in delivering WINEP, expected by Ofwat. Standardised production would also reduce construction and commissioning times, through the efficiencies gained from consistent and repeatable practices. In addition, design for manufacture and assembly of standard products would yield quality and safety improvements as well as further programme delivery efficiencies.

Collaboration is key to delivering the largest ever UK environmental programme

I believe that the AMP7 WINEP programme presents a unique opportunity to work together to ensure that as a single water industry we deliver all environmental regulatory commitments across the UK for the benefit of our customers, our communities and our environment.

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