The retail water market is deregulating in April. That means firms in England will be able to choose their supplier. But can businesses expect to save much money? The Energyst asked brokers and end users. David Peake, sales and marketing director with The Energy Brokers, says customers have “come around to the view that they Read more…
Ofwat outlines terms – and £5000 fee – for new water companies and business self-suppliers
Water regulator Ofwat is consulting on the applications process for new water retailers and businesses that want to become their own water suppliers. The water retail market opens in April 2017. It means all firms in England will be able to choose their own supplier, as they can in Scotland. Ending regional monopolies is Read more…
Regulator’s wrong sums leading to higher water bills says government watchdog
Miscalculations by regulator Ofwat have led to windfall gains for water companies and customers paying over the odds on water bills, the Public Accounts Committee has found. That is because Ofwat has consistently over-estimated water companies’ financing and tax costs when setting price limits, according to the Committee. It estimates those errors have handed water Read more…
United Utilities to supply water to all Tesco stores in Scotland
United Utilities has won a tender to supply all Tesco stores and distribution centres in Scotland. The utility firm has promised the retailer, which is the largest commercial water user in Scotland, a 20% saving on water bills totalling some £800,000 per annum. The win comes as incumbent utility firms and new entrants prepare for Read more…
Ahead in the cloud
In this sponsored post wastewater technology and services firm Jacopa says it has agreed a deal to implement the IFS Managed Cloud on Microsoft Azure, in order to help the company maximise its business development and efficiency. As part of its separation from previous owner Ovivo when Jacopa was created earlier this year, the company Read more…
Esos for water: Why wait to discover the obvious?
A prominent energy consultant recently floated the idea of creating a water equivalent to the Energy Saving Obligation Scheme (Esos). He called it Wsos. While Esos may be struggling to gain traction, and the Environment Agency may find itself without the budget to enforce the scheme, the principle of auditing water use as part of Read more…
Jacopa ups the tempo for wastewater treatment
In this sponsored post, wastewater treatment solution experts Jacopa details the successful deployment of two advanced Copa CB750 submerged aerated flotation (SAF) systems at the Tempo wastewater treatment works in Northern Ireland as part of a major upgrade. Northern Ireland Water commissioned the £750,000 project, which serves the remote village of Tempo in county Fermanagh, Read more…
Big thanks, colossal tanks: Jacopa gives Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water standard special treatment
In this sponsored post, wastewater expert Jacopa details the completion of a £2.5m design and installation contract for a dissolved air flotation (DAF) solution on behalf of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s landmark Swansea wastewater treatment plant. The solution was provided for client Imtech Process on behalf of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. One of Dŵr Cymru’s Read more…
UK’s water leakage more than consumed by business users
While businesses are reducing water wastage to control operating costs, figures released by a consumer watchdog show that leakage in the public supply is on the rise and remains at least as much as that consumed by business users. Water leakage across supplier network in England and Wales has risen for the two consecutive years, Read more…
Test water competition now to get ahead of the curve
Although water supply competition in April 2017 is still some way off, large businesses in England can benefit now by making savings and better managing risk. Firms should test the market to gain competitive advantage, says Business Stream’s David Seymour. Most people in the UK’s water market will be aware that the non-domestic water market Read more…
Intelligent district heating grid
Kamstrup has won the final round of tenders for 28,000 meters in Aarhus Municipality’s district heating project. With the intelligent reading system, Aarhus Municipality gets the world’s largest remotely read meter park for the monitoring of leaks and district heating operations. At the same time, Aarhus Municipality is supporting its vision of becoming CO2-neutral by Read more…
Water footprint ISO standard
ISO has published a standard for measuring your water footprint. ISO 14046, Environmental management – Water footprint – Principles, requirements and guidelines, will allow organisations the means to measure their ‘water footprint’, or their potential environmental impact of water use and pollution. The standard is based on a life-cycle assessment and can assist in: Assessing Read more…
Flowmeter with SAW technology is cutting edge
Until now flowmeters have come in a wide variety of designs with individual strengths and weaknesses that define their suitability for different applications. This status-quo is about to change however as Bürkert, a company known for producing high quality process control equipment for the hygienic processing sector, has developed FLOWave an innovative solution for liquid Read more…
England’s water market to open to competition
More than a million English businesses will be able to choose their water supplier for the first time after new legislation was passed to bring competition to its £2bn market. The Water Bill was granted Royal Assent on 14 May, providing English non-domestic customers with choice over their water supplier, with the aim of improving Read more…
Entries now open for the Energy Awards 2014
The Energy Awards are back for 2014 and bigger than ever. This year we have revamped the 15 categories and moved to a bigger, central London venue. The awards continue to aim to reward the achievements of companies cutting emissions and leading the way in innovative energy use. So whether you are an end user, Read more…
Power generation needs to consider water shortages
Experts at Newcastle University are warning the Government that its current thinking on future energy generation risks locking the UK into a situation where water availability could put energy security in danger. Now the researchers are calling on policymakers to give greater consideration to the electricity sector’s ‘water footprint’, to minimise the risk of power Read more…
What is Ofwat for?
Energy Managers Association, CEO Lord Redesdale questions why Ofwat isn’t looking more to the long term for its solutions. The Water Bill is inching its way through Parliament at the moment with little or no press comment. It is as though water is an uncontentious irrelevance that has little impact on the lives of those Read more…