In February 2022 as part of the Rising Stars Programme, we had a visit to Severn Trent, CCW and OFWAT. Here’s what we did and some of the things I learned.
22/02/22 Severn Trent
To kick things off at Severn Trent, we had a session with Shane
Anderson, Director of Strategy and Regulation, who presented on Green Recovery
and Commonwealth Games. Shane spoke with us about the £566 million Severn Trent
are working on investing in environmental projects, with a focus on: bathing
rivers, metering, WINEP, supply pipes, water resources and
non-household customers.
Some interesting facts I learned from Shane’s talk:
- Did you know there’s a 5-6% decrease in water demand that lasts 72h when customers receive a text in the morning and evening about their water use?
- Severn Trent are working with Argos to contact people who have bought padding pools in the last year
- Shaun also spoke about a scheme in Australia, odds and evens. Odd numbered houses could only water their garden on odd dates and vice versa.
We then had a presentation from Declan Barlow, Bioresources
Trading and Biosolids Lead at Severn Trent. Declan spoke with us about the
present bioresources set up and what the future could hold. Bioresources being
defined as the movement of sludge to works to use the solids for fuel. One
thing we discussed was cotreatment, where sludge is comingled with liquid waste
to increase energy production. This is something currently banned by the Environment
Agency but there is hope to review this in future.
Next we spoke with Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent, which
I have written a separate post about.
Then we headed to the Severn Trent Learning Academy, where
there are more than 450 courses available for staff and the community. We were
given a tour by Justin Maggs, Learning and Development Business Lead. The
academy uses VR to deliver a series of training courses including: problem
solving on site, coaching, manual handling and site inspections. They also have
a transient rig where valves can be replaced, leaks identified and a high
pressure environment simulated.
Finally, we ended the day with a site visit to Finham
Sewerage Treatment works led by Georgina Till.
23/02/22 CCW
The Consumer Council for Water is the independent voice for water
consumers in England and Wales. It costs just 24p/year for consumers for this
organisation to exist. We heard from Emma Clancy (Chief Executive), Gemma
Domican (Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People), Nicola Brown (Director
of Consumer Relations) and Stacey Harper. After, we participated in group
projects. Did you know around 75% of complaints are about incorrect bills?
23/02/22 OFWAT
Finally, we met with OFWAT, where we heard from many of the
regulators, including David Black (CEO), Georgina Mills (Director of Business
Retail), Claire Forbes (Senior Director of Customer Insights) and Jeanette
Henderson (Principle: Innovation, Policy and Outcomes). We heard all about price
control/review, business retail, innovation fund and economic regulations. I
thought it was interesting that with businesses, less than 1% customers account
for 40% water use.
And so ended another interesting, although very busy, trip with the Rising Stars!
