The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) President, Sir John Armitt says political unity, bold decisions and commitment will help to lift the cloud of uncertainty over the UK’s infrastructure industry following the outcome of the EU referendum.
The Working Group set up by Ofwat to examine the main design features of the market mechanism is making further progress on developing the building blocks for the upcoming sludge market - the bioresources market could be worth up to £780 million, according to the regulator.
A new report from the Government’s independent Adviser on climate change is warning that flooding is the greatest direct climate change-related risk to UK infrastructure, while severe water supply deficits are set to deepen and extend across the UK by the 2050s.
Water and Floods Minister Rory Stewart has told Parliament that once an incumbent leaves the market and the new entrant enters, the incumbent company would not then be able to come back into that market or an individual non-household customer move back and forth between their previous provider and the new one.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced it will invest up to €10 million euros in AW-Energy, a pioneering start-up company from Finland which developed “WaveRoller” wave energy technology.
Chris Hazzard, Minister for Infrastructure in the Northern Ireland Assembly, has instructed NI Water to cease any further installation of water meters in domestic properties while legislation is brought to the Assembly.
Three-dimensional ‘point cloud’ data is now being made freely available for any use and can help to build highly-detailed models of urban environments. LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) surveys are carried out by the Environment Agency to help with flood modelling and tracking changing coastal habitats.
Ofwat has warned that a post-Brexit scenario which foresees higher inflation, lower interest rates and lower growth, at the same time as their customers become poorer and find it harder to pay their bills, could pose a very significant challenge for the water sector in terms of customer legitimacy.
Innovate UK, the Government’s national innovation agency, is to invest up to £15 million in innovation projects in the infrastructure systems sector.
UK construction output has fallen at its fastest pace since June 2009, while incoming new work has declined at its steepest pace since December 2012, according to the latest data from the Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index®.
The Future Water Association’s annual Networks November event kicked off last week with a Year in Water Review – a recap on the past year and what it means for the sector going forward.
South West Water has hosted the first municipal trial of the Fournier Rotary Press in the UK, assessing its potential to improve sludge dewatering performance and support future biosolids standards.
Uniwater has acquired Hy-Ram Engineering, a specialist in tooling, products and hire for the water sector, based in Mansfield, England.
Enpure Ltd and Clean TeQ Water Ltd have announced a collaboration agreement to bring Clean TeQ Water's Moving Bed Ion Exchange-based nutrient removal technologies to water utilities across the UK.