Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://read.utilityweek.co.uk/i/283328
14 WET NEWS MARCH 2014 Bristol Water produces more than 70,000 notices a year, greatly increasing its exposure to financial risk Taking the penalties out of street works • When Bristol Water needed a solution to its labour intensive street works information, the answer lay in Bentley Systems' Exor Information Manager. B ristol Water, the water supply company respon- sible for providing water to 1.2 million consumers in and around the Bristol area, needed a way to help it moni- tor its performance and meet increasing challenges present- ed by the UK's Traffic Manage- ment Act (TMA). With the help of Bently, Bristol Water developed an Exor Information Manager- based solution that provides high-level aggregate executive information, monthly perfor- mance reports, and manages noticing and street works activities. This enabled a significant reduction in the administrative burden of reporting, a reduction in street works fines, provided greater visibility of performance, and allowed them to easily meet legislation requirements. Potential fines The TMA required UK utilities to register additional street works, and also changed notices to be based on the length of occupation of the road or highway, thus increas- ing not only the number of notices, but the complexity of noticing requirements. Of PROJECT SPECS • Implement a custom solution for reporting and managing street works, updating data to meet government requirements, and avoid fines • Capture and share comprehensive quality data for street works noticing • Construction of a wastewater treatment works, including a third pumping station • Provide GIS-based information on the internet for viewing street works in the local area ONSITE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT equal concern to Bristol Water and other utilities are the potential fines and penal- ties the TMA introduced. With fixed penalty notices, street works promoters can be fined up to £120 for each breach of noticing require- ments. Given that Bristol Water produces 70,000-plus notices a year, this greatly increased their exposure to financial risk. To overcome these chal- lenges Bristol Water needed a solution that would help improve day-to-day noticing management and provide accurate reporting for internal and external stakeholders, while being flexible enough to accommodate future needs. In early 2008, when the TMA came into effect, Bristol Water's collection of street works information was labour intensive and o'en incom- plete, with much of the requirements generated manu- ally. Street works data was stored in numerous different systems, which made it diffi- cult to extract. As well as being incom- plete, data was o'en out of date, which made accurate reporting a challenge. Lastly, Bristol needed a way to help evaluate business performance as well. Bristol Water's street works and partnership manager, Simon Bennett, explains: "With improved data quality, and better reporting we can hopefully improve our performance." Full visibility Working with Bentley Systems, Bristol Water leveraged the flexibility of Exor Information Manager to streamline the pro- cess. Bennett says: "We sat down with Bentley's Exor team and discussed how we could get full visibility of our assets on the road network and to produce reporting criteria set out by NJUG (the National Joint Utilities Group). It was a sur- prisingly simple process because of the functionality offered by Exor Information Manager." Now, real-time data about notices is captured, updated, and then published internally. "The solution implemented is a live system, continually updating as notices are sent and information comes back. And it's web-based so it's all real-time information. So within seconds the local authority knows we're on site," says Bennett. Core areas From this accurate up-to-date data, Bristol Water can easily access high level executive information that provides a common operating picture, as well as generate 52 monthly performance reports to the National Joint Utilities Group* (NJUG) on core areas of compe- tency and interest. Information is also catego- rised so it can be analysed according to Bristol Water's business units, or by local authority, for better reporting "The solution implemented is a live system, continually updating as notices are sent and information comes back" Simon Bennett, street works and partnership manager, Bristol Water ► Wedeco Spektron UV Wedeco LBX UV Reactors Sanitaire Aeration Grids Hydroejectors & Radial Aerators Flygt Jet Aerators & Mixers Flygt Mixers AVAILABLE FROM XYLEM WATER TREATMENT 24/7 HIRE RAPID BESPOKE DESIGN SOLUTIONS DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER FOR ULTIMATE PEACE OF MIND • Cost effective temporary treatment installations • Plant refurbishments | Repairs | Seasonal Overloads Drought Alleviation • Portable containerised systems available for larger projects • Planned, bespoke and reactive maintenance solutions • PLUS monitoring, control and analytical equipment also available 0845 707 8012 rental@flygt.co.uk | www.xylemwatersolutions.com/uk flygt_sanitaire_wedeco treatmentl advert rev C_Layout 1 28/02/2014 17:10 Page 1 SOLIDS PUMPING… ...WHY PLAY A DICEY GAME? 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