WATEF Network Newsletter: November 2018

WatefCon2018:  Thank you!

It was fabulous to see so many of you at our conference in Aveiro.  A massive thank you to all of you who came out to Portugal to contribute to a great couple of days.

We heard some really interesting talks on a range of subjects from good practice and innovation in water supply and treatment to water-energy-food nexus. Check out our conference summary page on our website to view the presentations.

One of the highlights of the conference was our industry session on micro-hydro energy recovery.  This session was livestreamed, and around 200 people joined the session online.  This session is also available to watch via our YouTube channel: follow the link here.

We must say a special thank you to all our guest speakers, our hosts; Carla and Armando from ANQIP, and our sponsors; Adene, Agencia Portuguesa do Ambiente, ANQIP, Heaboo, Helioroma, and OLI.

We are very pleased to announce that our next conference will be in 2020 at University of West of England, so watch this space for more updates closer to the time.

From our WATEF blog

September: Doing the reverse Brexit into Europe and beyond	Our lead, Kemi Adeyeye gives a wry look at how this year's WATEF conference shows that we are still ‘open for business’ even as our new relationship with Europe is being negotiated.
October:  Towards Smart Water Systems	Kourosh Behzadian explores how the Internet of Things offers possibilities to contribute towards the future of Smart Water Systems.
November: Time for a complete data-revolution in Urban Hydraulics	Manuel Herrera responds to October's post by asking what we can do with the huge quantity of data associated with such cyber-physical systems, and how might this data impact into further challenges on water supply management.

Technical Committee Reports

Water Reuse and Surface Water Management

The Committee are in the planning stages for a seminar/ networking event at a major development site to discuss how water efficiency can be successfully integrated into large sites at the planning stages.

Best practice, including information for developers about the value of investment in efficiency interventions, will be featured at this event - a date and place will be announced soon.  

Service Innovation

We are happy to announce that our film of last November's masterclass;  The digital story of retail separation in the water sector is now available. 

This film captures a small proportion of the conversations shared during this masterclass on experiences to date and possible future directions following the opening of the English Water Market. 

Follow this link to watch the film on our YouTube channel.

Publications

We have contributed to two recent publications:

Emerging Realities in the Construction Industry September 2018, Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland. The construction industry is facing a time of unprecedented change. Thanks to external factors such as socio-demographic pressures and advances in technology there’s a host of challenges, and potential opportunities, unfolding for the sector. But which approach or tool is likely to become ‘the new normal’ – and how will it affect our industry?  Read the report here.
Study on cost and benefits of working towards environmental macro objectives in the building sector; Final Report for the European Commission, DG Environment, Rotterdam, 24 October 2017. The European Commission's 2014 Communication on Resource Efficiency Opportunities in the Building Sector identifies the need for a common EU approach to assess the environmental performance of buildings. This study explores the possibility to implement mature and easy-to-implement actions for each of six macro objectives relating to the environment.  Read the report here

Events

News from WIRC/Upcoming Events at University of Bath

6 November 2018: 'Taking waste out of wastewater' by Mark van Loosdrecht 

13 December 2018: 'Science meets Practice: Academic Research for Water Utilities' by Jan Peter van der Hoek

 

Please note that all these events are free and open to all.

Mrs Eleanor Eaton (Network Coordinator)
Dr Kemi Adeyeye (Lead - WATEF Network)