WATEF Network Newsletter: Christmas 2018

Wishing all our members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Here’s a short round up of the year for the Network...

It’s been a year of extremes; we’ve been stranded in the snow at Paris and sweltered in the heatwave summer. Ironically both events have placed our water supplies under stress, but world news has dominated the water agenda as we watched Cape Town struggle to keep the taps on.

Closer to home and despite the political uncertainty it is great to see some progress being made on water – we applaud Waterwise for their success in the first year of their Strategy for Water Efficiency.

 Our Work

March saw the launch of our sister project: REDAWN – Reducing Energy Dependency in Atlantic area Water Networks.  Along with several European partners from around the Atlantic coast, we are contributing to research on micro-hydro power technology in water networks.  Case studies include pilots in Spain, France and Ireland in the irrigation, drinking water, processing and waste water sectors.

September saw our 5th Water Efficiency Conference in Aveiro. 
It was fabulous to see so many of you in Portugal to discuss the Future of Water in Europe.  In particular we enjoyed all your input on our industry sessions, not to mention the live saxophone at the Casa de Cha!  Thank you to you all for taking part.

Our next conference will be in 2020 at University of West of England – more details to follow…

Our Blog

Thanks to all our brilliant bloggers for some fascinating explorations of how we can work with the challenges of increased demand, improve technologies and build more resilience into our systems, plus how we can save water and drink more beer! 

Our January blog on the Bath Abbey project to harvest energy from the famous hot spring is a real treat – look out for it on New Year’s Day.

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

That’s enough reading for now, but we wish everyone a happy and restful holiday, and we’ll see you again in the New Year.

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