Regulations under the Town and Country Planning Act that will make water companies statutory consultees for fracking were laid before Parliament last week and are due to come into force in mid-April.
Water UK, the body which represents all the UK’s water and wastewater companies at both national and international level, said that the UK water industry had been successful in securing the measures to protect water resources from the potential risks of shale oil and gas extraction.
Water UK said the three key reasons for having water companies as statutory consultees are:
to ensure that water companies are involved early in the planning process, so they can work with operators to develop solutions that will work for all stakeholders - and satisfy their regulatory duties;
to enhance public confidence by demonstrating that impacts on drinking water and drinking water sources will be fully taken into account; and
that the existing Water UK and UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) Memorandum of Understanding, while a model of good practice, has no legal status and no real consequences if not complied with, and in any event only applies to current members of UKOOG.
Water UK said that whilst its members have consistently taken a neutral stance on the development of shale and other unconventional oil and gas reserves in the UK, they also acknowledge the risks of the country's growing dependence on imported gas and recognise the arguments for government policy on the extraction of unconventional oil and gas.
However, in addition they also acknowledge that there are inherent risks associated with any activity of this type and scale which need to be fully understood, regulated and mitigated.
Near-real-time microbial monitoring of wastewater discharge and bathing waters is now possible thanks to the BactoSense ID solution created by Swiss-based bNovate Technologies.
ABB has launched AquaMaster+™, a digital platform for smart water network management, designed to help water utilities monitor, analyze and manage their water networks, preventing pipeline water losses and optimizing operations.
Craig Nienaber, Business Development Manager for Safe Access Solutions (SAS) at HUBER Technology, explores why the company is seeing a growing level of interest in its safe access solutions for critical infrastructure providers, including their application in wastewater treatment assets.
Albion Water, the first NAV (New Appointment & Variation) to have been established in1999 and now under the ownership of SDS Water Group, has appointed Andy Holland as its new Director of Business Development.
Southern Water has released film and images showing what it’s like to walk inside Hampshire’s expanded Yew Hill underground reservoir for the very last time, before it gets filled with water.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.