Safe & SuRe: Towards a New Paradigm for Urban Water Management
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Engineering Computer Science and Maths
Abstract
The water sector in the UK has, by many measures, been very successful. In England and Wales, drinking water standards stands at over 99.9%, water pipe leakage is down by a third, sewer flooding reduced by more three quarters in the last 10 years and bathing water standards are at record high levels. This success has been achieved using a 19th century design approach based on the idea of plentiful resources, unrestrained demand and a stable climate. However, a perfect storm of climate change, increasing population, urbanisation, demographic shifts and tighter regulation is brewing! Each one of these challenges is a threat to the water sector and, taken in isolation, existing approaches may be able to cope. Taken together and compounded by the speed, size and uncertainty of change, the system is heading for failure unless something radical is done. The current way of working looks increasingly out of date and out of step with emerging thinking and best practice in some leading nations.
This fellowship aims to meet these emerging challenges and global uncertainties head on by developing a new approach to water management in UK cities. The starting point is a new vision that is: Safe & SuRe. In a sense, our existing water systems are all about safety goals: public health, flood management and environmental protection. These are important and still need to be respected, but they are NOT sufficient to rise to the coming challenges. In the new world of rapid and uncertain change, water systems in cities must also be Sustainable and Resilient. Only a 'Safe & SuRe' system can be moulded, adapted and changed to face the emerging threats and resulting impacts.
In this fellowship. my vision will be developed, tested and championed into practice over a period of 5 years. It will draw from multi-disciplinary collaboration with leading academics inside and outside the field. A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation framework will be developed to test in detail what options or strategies can contribute towards a Safe & SuRe water future, focussing on the challenges of water scarcity, urban flooding and river pollution. Recommendations and best practice guidance will be developed in conjunction with key stakeholders.
This fellowship aims to meet these emerging challenges and global uncertainties head on by developing a new approach to water management in UK cities. The starting point is a new vision that is: Safe & SuRe. In a sense, our existing water systems are all about safety goals: public health, flood management and environmental protection. These are important and still need to be respected, but they are NOT sufficient to rise to the coming challenges. In the new world of rapid and uncertain change, water systems in cities must also be Sustainable and Resilient. Only a 'Safe & SuRe' system can be moulded, adapted and changed to face the emerging threats and resulting impacts.
In this fellowship. my vision will be developed, tested and championed into practice over a period of 5 years. It will draw from multi-disciplinary collaboration with leading academics inside and outside the field. A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation framework will be developed to test in detail what options or strategies can contribute towards a Safe & SuRe water future, focussing on the challenges of water scarcity, urban flooding and river pollution. Recommendations and best practice guidance will be developed in conjunction with key stakeholders.
Planned Impact
The work carried out under this fellowship grant will offer tangible benefits to a wide range of stakeholders in industry, government, and society in general. The key impacts revolve around contributing towards solving the pressing UK challenges surrounding water and its management, and in exploiting the knowhow and technology developed to increase the market share of British businesses in the global economy. The UK water sector is a substantial part of the British economy currently valued at £12 billion per annum. The global market exceeds £250 billion, of which the UK currently has a 13% share.
Most directly, the beneficiaries will be the UK private sector water service providers. The impacting agents will be a clearer vision of change, improved assessment methods, characterisation, processes and technologies, plus a stronger route map to implementation. Key impacts themselves will be improved service provision, more cost-effective approaches and increased competitiveness. There is also scope for influence on the commercial private sector supply chain, in terms of development and enhancement of their product ranges. In addition, British and international consultants will develop their knowhow and expertise to deliver strongly-evidenced Safe & SuRe urban water management plans and designs.
The water sector regulators will benefit from the work, particularly the Environment Agency, but also the Consumer Council for Water and the Water Services Regulation Authority. Policy makers in central government (e.g. Defra) and local government (e.g. planning authorities, building regulations) will also be impacted. The public sector should see improved effectiveness of services and better informed policy decisions, particularly as regards formulation of policies to address the key water challenges of the 21st century. Local government has a re-emerging role in water management and will benefit from advice on flood resiliency measures, sustainable drainage and how to incorporate water scarcity and water pollution prevention aspects into their development plans. The general public will be overall beneficiaries in terms of a more secure water future, enhanced quality of life and more cost-effective Safe & SuRe services.
Urban water management is such an important issue that the practical outcomes of the research are in both the national and global interest. The Grant is funded for 5 years and we would expect the benefits to begin to accrue as the project progresses and then come on stream within the following 5-years.
Developing staff is another key impact of the fellowship. Both the university and the Centre for Water Systems have systems and processes in place to ensure the academics and researchers funded on the grant will not only develop their subject-specific skills, but also gain more general abilities in project management, financial management and 'people' skills. We have a long track record of developing individuals for careers in academia, goverment and industry.
The award of a fellowship will allow me to engage consistently and meaningfully with stakeholders over an extended time frame. This would not be possible in the same way given the length and nature of a standard research grant. I believe that my background, skills and substantial experience make me ideally suited to reaching the aims of the fellowship and in particular to achieving its desired impact.
Most directly, the beneficiaries will be the UK private sector water service providers. The impacting agents will be a clearer vision of change, improved assessment methods, characterisation, processes and technologies, plus a stronger route map to implementation. Key impacts themselves will be improved service provision, more cost-effective approaches and increased competitiveness. There is also scope for influence on the commercial private sector supply chain, in terms of development and enhancement of their product ranges. In addition, British and international consultants will develop their knowhow and expertise to deliver strongly-evidenced Safe & SuRe urban water management plans and designs.
The water sector regulators will benefit from the work, particularly the Environment Agency, but also the Consumer Council for Water and the Water Services Regulation Authority. Policy makers in central government (e.g. Defra) and local government (e.g. planning authorities, building regulations) will also be impacted. The public sector should see improved effectiveness of services and better informed policy decisions, particularly as regards formulation of policies to address the key water challenges of the 21st century. Local government has a re-emerging role in water management and will benefit from advice on flood resiliency measures, sustainable drainage and how to incorporate water scarcity and water pollution prevention aspects into their development plans. The general public will be overall beneficiaries in terms of a more secure water future, enhanced quality of life and more cost-effective Safe & SuRe services.
Urban water management is such an important issue that the practical outcomes of the research are in both the national and global interest. The Grant is funded for 5 years and we would expect the benefits to begin to accrue as the project progresses and then come on stream within the following 5-years.
Developing staff is another key impact of the fellowship. Both the university and the Centre for Water Systems have systems and processes in place to ensure the academics and researchers funded on the grant will not only develop their subject-specific skills, but also gain more general abilities in project management, financial management and 'people' skills. We have a long track record of developing individuals for careers in academia, goverment and industry.
The award of a fellowship will allow me to engage consistently and meaningfully with stakeholders over an extended time frame. This would not be possible in the same way given the length and nature of a standard research grant. I believe that my background, skills and substantial experience make me ideally suited to reaching the aims of the fellowship and in particular to achieving its desired impact.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- University College Dublin (Collaboration)
- Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (Collaboration)
- Northumbrian Water (Collaboration)
- Black & Veatch (Collaboration)
- Water Industry Forum (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- ACO Technologies (Collaboration)
- Arcadis (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- University of the West of England (Collaboration)
- Severn Trent Water (Collaboration)
- Environment Agency (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Scottish Water (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- Arup Group (Collaboration)
- Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Project Partner)
- Tsinghua University (Project Partner)
- University of South Australia (Project Partner)
- University of Saskatchewan (Project Partner)
- Consumer Council for Water (Project Partner)
- Technion - Israel Institue of Technology (Project Partner)
- University of South Florida (Project Partner)
- Universität Innsbruck (Project Partner)
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Project Partner)
- Arup Group (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Severn Trent (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- University of Florida (Project Partner)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Project Partner)
- Environmental Sustainability KTN (Project Partner)
- Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (Project Partner)
- Université Laval (Project Partner)
- University of Melbourne (Project Partner)
- Black & Veatch (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Lund University (Project Partner)
- Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (Project Partner)
- Monash University (Project Partner)
Publications
Diao K
(2014)
Hierarchical Decomposition of Water Distribution Systems for Background Leakage Assessment
in Procedia Engineering
Farmani R
(2017)
Pipe Failure Prediction in Water Distribution Systems Considering Static and Dynamic Factors
in Procedia Engineering
S. Mugume
(2014)
Building resilience in urban water systems for cities of the future
in Proc. IWA - World Water Congress & Exhibition 2014
K. Diao
(2014)
Vulnerability Assessment of Water Distribution Systems Using Directed and Undirected Graph Theory
in Proc. 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics
Atkinson S
(2014)
Reliability Indicators for Water Distribution System Design: Comparison
in Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Diao K
(2016)
Twin-Hierarchy Decomposition for Optimal Design of Water Distribution Systems
in Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Eames M
(2014)
Robust rainwater harvesting: probabilistic tank sizing for climate change adaptation
in Journal of Water and Climate Change
Wang M
(2017)
A framework to support decision making in the selection of sustainable drainage system design alternatives.
in Journal of environmental management
Sweetapple C
(2017)
Reliable, Robust, and Resilient System Design Framework with Application to Wastewater-Treatment Plant Control
in Journal of Environmental Engineering
Description | This fellowship aimed to develop a new water management paradigm for cities. Now that the fellowship has reached its conclusion, we have developed a new vision, a conceptual intervention framework, a quantitative analysis methodology, and have applied them to case studies. We have developed new software to perform resilience analysis which has been made openly available, developed a new community toolkit and worked with several stakeholders applying the conceptual framework. We have made significant methodological advances and new findings concerning the relationship between risk, resilience and sustainability. |
Exploitation Route | We have ben working with Ofwat, water service providers and consulting companies to trail and roll out our methods and approaches and to influence policy. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Environment |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/engineering/research/safesure/ |
Description | Reported in previous submisions. |
First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
Sector | Environment |
Impact Types | Societal Economic |
Description | Environment Agency Water Company Drought Plan Guidelines Consultation |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/emps/engineering/research/safesure/otherpublicreso... |
Description | Lloyd's Register Foundation Resilience Engineering Priorities |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/emps/engineering/research/safesure/otherpublicreso... |
Description | Ofwat Resilience Consultation Response |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/emps/engineering/research/safesure/otherpublicreso... |
Description | Resilience Task and Finish Group Questionnaire - Issued by Severn Trent Water |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/emps/engineering/research/safesure/otherpublicreso... |
Description | Water2020 draft PR19 methodology consultation |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | Urban flood resilience in an uncertain future |
Amount | £304,910 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/P004318/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2016 |
End | 10/2019 |
Title | S&S GRA tool |
Description | Tool to analyse the resilience of water distribution networks based on EPANet output. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | In the UK his tool has been applied by Scottish Water to validate their simplified internal approaches. It has also been applied in Italy on a newly rebuilt post-earthquake network. SO far, we have had 23 licence key request from 11 countries (UK, Iran, Netherlands, France, Spain, Mexico, China, Ethiopia, Japan, Canada and India). |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/engineering/research/cws/resources/gratool/ |
Title | Fast option comparison for surface water management |
Description | Fast and quantitative surface water intervention screening tool to assess flood risk, resilience and cost effectiveness of interventions. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Simulate strategies across a range of events to provide evidence for decision support that could be used by water companies and consultancies |
Title | Global resilience analysis of water distribution systems |
Description | Global resilience analysis (GRA) is designed to assess the whole-system resilience of engineering systems. It evaluates a system's resilience to a possible failure mode regardless of the causal threat(s) (known or unknown, external or internal). |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The method can be used as a comprehensive diagnostic framework to evaluate a range of interventions for improving system resilience |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135416307473 |
Title | Safe & SuRe Framework |
Description | The Safe & SuRe framework supports the development of design and operational strategies for the reliable provision of services while explicitly addressing the need for greater resilience to emerging threats, thus leading to more sustainable solutions. |
Type Of Material | Data handling & control |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The UK Water Act 2014 places a duty on the water and wastewater sectors to "further the resilience objective". It highlights a need for long-term and holistic planning of water, wastewater and service provisions under increasing global threats; something that the sector is struggling to understand and implement. The Resilience framework meets this need and assists to bring clarity to the term resilience and how it can be implemented holistically in a water company. |
URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gch2.1010/abstract |
Description | ACO Technologies |
Organisation | ACO Technologies |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Updating on latest thinking in field. |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership. |
Impact | Helped frame response to public consultation. ACO have used the Safe & SuRe analytical framework to present their products to clients. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Arcadis |
Organisation | Hyder Consulting |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Possible secondment for researcher. |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership |
Impact | Possible joint work with South West Water |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Arup |
Organisation | Arup Group |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Briefing on ongoing research |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership |
Impact | Ongoing research is feeding into Arup's design thinking |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Black and Veatch |
Organisation | Black & Veatch |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Research updating. |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership |
Impact | None so far. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | CIWEM- COVID-19 and the UK water sector |
Organisation | Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Data collection and analysis, time to contribute towards the write up of manuscript, industry insight and connections. |
Collaborator Contribution | Initial idea and project co-ordination. Focus group organisation and facilitation, data analysis, industry connections. |
Impact | Published paper- 10.1111/wej.12649 Second manuscript has been submitted for review. Third manuscript is currently being drafted. Multiple presentations of the research outcomes at industry and academic based webinars and online conferences by other collaborative partners. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | CIWEM- COVID-19 and the UK water sector |
Organisation | University College Dublin |
Country | Ireland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Data collection and analysis, time to contribute towards the write up of manuscript, industry insight and connections. |
Collaborator Contribution | Initial idea and project co-ordination. Focus group organisation and facilitation, data analysis, industry connections. |
Impact | Published paper- 10.1111/wej.12649 Second manuscript has been submitted for review. Third manuscript is currently being drafted. Multiple presentations of the research outcomes at industry and academic based webinars and online conferences by other collaborative partners. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | CIWEM- COVID-19 and the UK water sector |
Organisation | University of the West of England |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Data collection and analysis, time to contribute towards the write up of manuscript, industry insight and connections. |
Collaborator Contribution | Initial idea and project co-ordination. Focus group organisation and facilitation, data analysis, industry connections. |
Impact | Published paper- 10.1111/wej.12649 Second manuscript has been submitted for review. Third manuscript is currently being drafted. Multiple presentations of the research outcomes at industry and academic based webinars and online conferences by other collaborative partners. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Environment Agency |
Organisation | Environment Agency |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Updating on latest research thinking |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership. |
Impact | None so far. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Northumbrian Water |
Organisation | Northumbrian Water |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Research updating. |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership. |
Impact | None so far. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Scottish Water |
Organisation | Scottish Water |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Working with various delivery teams in the planning of wastewater schemes. |
Collaborator Contribution | Support for development work and extensive feedback on tools and models. |
Impact | Both our framework and GRA tool have been customised for use across the company. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Severn Trent Water |
Organisation | Severn Trent Water |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Briefing on ongoing research |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group membership. Sponsorship of a PhD. |
Impact | Ongoing. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Water Industry Forum |
Organisation | Water Industry Forum |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Awareness of research disseminated to water industry. |
Collaborator Contribution | Steering group attendance. |
Impact | We have become a full member of the forum. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Title | A tool for global resilience analysis of water distribution systems |
Description | A simple, user-friendly tool for global resilience analysis of water distribution systems. It is based on the stress-strain concept and can quantify resilience to pipe failure, pump failure, demand increase and contaminant intrusion. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | The water sector is struggling to find ways to quantify resilience in their networks. This tool enables water companies to assess the resilience of their networks and concentrate investment in a strategic and efficient manner. |
Title | Community Tool Kit to improve community and household resilience |
Description | Community tool kit to increase community and household resilience. It enables discussion and informed decision-making about household and community level projects to increase flood and drought resilience. |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Impact | Through the national flood risk management (FRM) policy in England, households and communities are now expected to take ownership of certain non-technical aspects of flood management in their local area. However, since this is not traditionally the role of English households and communities, their participation in flood coping has been minimal. The development of this tool kit will increase flood resilience. |
Title | Resilience App |
Description | An app designed and created for operational staff to increase understanding of resilience and help with identification of resilience based interventions. |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | Tool to help water sector operational employees to develop understanding of resilience and associated resilience based actions. Aiding the operationalisation of resilience in the UK water sector. |
Company Name | Over the Air Analytics |
Description | Over the Air Analytics develops technology systems designed to provide utilities and water management services, through the use of data driven software. |
Year Established | 2015 |
Impact | The company has been co-produced through collaboration with a range of industrial partners such as Severn Trent Water, South West Water and a range of small to medium enterprises and approaches regarding potential collaborative projects are always welcome. |
Company Name | Rainshare Ltd |
Description | |
Year Established | 2015 |
Impact | RainShare has received funding and support from social enterprise specialists UnLtd to install a pilot scheme in Exeter, business mentoring from start-up specialists Canopy and most recently, a comprehensive package from InnovateUK's Women in Innovation scheme. |
Description | Resilience in the Round: operationalizing global water infrastructure resilience |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This session took place during the World Water Congress and showcased the latest research and practice focusing on operationalizing water infrastructure resilience. Although there is a range of frameworks to assess and diagnose resilience, few have reached the stage of trialling or assessing interventions or addressing gaps in such frameworks. This workshop showcased projects that have reached this stage, therefore providing participants with an opportunity to trial water infrastructure system-focused optioneering and modelling tools and to interrogate other frameworks and best practice examples from across the globe. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://worldwatercongress.org/destination/ |
Description | Saving our water: innovations in urban water management: Networking & Showcasing Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | In November 2017, the Centre for Water System's Safe and SuRe team collaborated with the Global Advancement team (alumni team at the University of Exeter) to host a networking event in London's Angel Islington, showcasing their research in finding ways to deliver safe, sustainable and resilient water systems in the face of global challenges. The evening included an informal welcome by Professor David Butler to an audience made up of over 50 alumni and industry contacts, outlining the key aims of team, who were set up at various stations throughout the room, presenting their research in dynamic, fun and engaging ways. The evening was a great success, working with the Global Advancement Team enabled the Safe&SuRe team to reach out and engage with a wider audience. From this event, a follow-on event is being organised with Ofwat and the Water Industry Forum. There has also been interest in the Safe & SuRe team conducting workshops on resilience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqQxzZixmU |
Description | The Water Report article |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | An article on the Safe & SuRe fellowship was published in the Water Report which is a monthly publication launched in 2014 in response to UK water market reform. It is available in print and/or as a pdf. It focuses on the UK water and sewerage industry, providing thorough reports and in-depth research and features on topical issues. The article will raise awareness of the Safe & SuRe framework that is used for the analysis of resilience inherent in a system and of the workshops that the team provide to water companies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Workshops with Water Companies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The Safe & SuRe team have conducted workshops with water companies to engage research findings from the fellowship. In particular, the team has developed a set of definitions and concepts through a framework that enables water problems to be addressed in a holistic manner - these ideas were shared in the workshops - and have been used in preparation for Ofwat 2019 Price Review. To date, water companies involved include Scottish Water and Southern Water. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
URL | http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/engineering/research/cws/news-events/news/title_604359_en.html |