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APEM Group - Case Study
Continuous water quality monitoring (CWQM) is a requirement under the Environment Act (2021) and plays a key part of the government ‘Plan for Water’ for England and Wales. CWQM will be a standard requirement for monitoring discharges into water from water company storm overflows and wastewater treatment works provisionally starting in 2025 in England, meaning thousands of discharges from water company assets will need to be monitored and reported.
The project
During planned reconstruction of damage to the outfall pipe at Kendal Wastewater Treatment Works, a temporary outfall was installed. As a condition of the permit, the Environment Agency required continuous water quality monitoring upstream and downstream of the temporary outfall.
The temporary outfall discharged into a slower flowing section of the river compared to the original outfall pipe. This presented an increased risk during construction and was a concern to local stakeholders. The River Kent is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). In the section of the river concerned, there are two protected species: bullhead (Cottus gobio) and white clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes).
APEM Group installed CWQM equipment to ensure continuous data was obtained alongside a reporting and rapid response service.
Delivery
APEM Group partnered with Meteor Communications, a technology-focused company specialising in monitoring systems and services for water quality and infrastructure. APEM Group provided United Utilities with regular water quality reports diagnosing the information from the data and incident notices when any of the pre-set measurement values were exceeded. Meteor Communications was responsible for the installation of instrumentation, calibration, and real-time web-based data provision and alerts.
CWQM with real-time access to data meant that United Utilities, the Environment Agency and local stakeholders (including an angling club) could all rest assured that river water quality was being maintained, and that a rapid response to the site would be available from APEM Group if an alert was issued.
Innovation
CWQM is an innovative approach to addressing the state of our waterways. CWQM is based on the Environment Agency National Water Quality Instrumentation Service (NWQIS) work. The technology used is the basis for the requirements set out in section 82 of the Environment Act 2021 written by the government, building on work carried out by the NWQIS over many years.
Allowing water companies access to the latest technology and innovation in monitoring, combined with specialist expertise in regulations and standards, should lead to better outcomes for all stakeholders. As regulatory experts in water quality data diagnostics, APEM Group leads the industry on CWQM and bringing best practice from other projects and sectors.
Benefits
APEM Group provided United Utilities with regular water quality diagnostic reports from the data and incident notices when any of the pre-set measurement values were exceeded. Real-time access to water quality data reassured United Utilities, the Environment Agency and local stakeholders that river water quality was being maintained, and that a rapid response would be available from APEM if an alert was issued, including a site response to initiate pollution mitigation if required.
The project had a positive impact, giving United Utilities round-the-clock water quality data, and showing that their assets were not causing pollution. This helped address local stakeholder concerns about the SSSI and the protected species therein.
Other benefits include the speed of response to known incidents and a reduction of unknown incidents, leading to better relationships and trust with stakeholders as incidents are addressed and resolved more quickly.
Potential
The project had a positive and meaningful impact for United Utilities to address stakeholder concerns.
The CWQM approach has the potential to be delivered during ad-hoc reconstruction works in the future, as well as being required long-term to meet section 82 regulations and 2030 expectations as a standard requirement for storm overflows and sewage disposal works.
CWQM allows greater clarity on the impacts of water industry discharges. A joint development between Meteor Communications and APEM, this approach can be applied successfully to help water companies investigate pollution impacts from their assets and will allow water companies to plan the delivery of CWQM with a greater level of certainty.
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