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Informing best practice and enhancing business performance in the water sector

Summary of the impact

Exeter Engineering's Centre for Water Systems (CWS) undertakes internationally leading fundamental and applied research in the $500bn global water sector. EPSRC-funded research has underpinned impacts with both reach and significance in the areas of practitioner and professional services and economic impact. CWS staff have co-authored authoritative best practice guides with highly respected practitioner publishers: the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and Spon Press. These have been widely used in the water sector, and construction and built environment sector. CWS software and knowhow have been used extensively by water service providers (such as Scottish Water) and their consultants (including SEAMS, originally an Exeter spinout) to enhance business performance by identifying efficiencies, saving costs and improving operation. Optimisation software has been made freely available and has hundreds of users worldwide including consultants and financial organisations.

Submitting Institution

University of Exeter

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Environmental Engineering
Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Saving Water through Optimal Energy and Leakage Management in Water Distribution Systems

Summary of the impact

Water distribution systems (WDS) are highly complex, spatially distributed networks comprising thousands of different components which deliver drinking water to customers. The impact described here has been achieved in areas of energy management, pressure control and burst detection in WDS. Some developed solutions, such as the model reduction method, model of pump stations and pressure control algorithms, have been widely accepted by the water research community and then filter down to industrial applications or implemented in a widely available shareware. Direct economical and environmental impacts have been achieved by projects for the UK companies with measurable benefits in pounds through reducing water losses and energy consumption as described in Section 4. These include South Staffordshire Water, Aquavent and Scottish Water in the pressure control area and Affinity Water (former Veolia) in the energy management and burst detection areas.

Submitting Institution

De Montfort University

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Numerical and Computational Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics

Low energy production of fresh water from the sea by Forward Osmosis

Summary of the impact

University of Surrey has a strong legacy of research into membrane separation and osmosis, culminating the commercialisation of Surrey's spin-out company Modern Water plc. Modern Water plc. was floated on AIM (London Stock Exchange) in June 2007 raising £30m cash with a market value of £70m.

The research itself is having direct impact via the operating desalination plants in Gibraltar and Oman producing high quality drinking water typically using 30% less energy than conventional desalination plants. In Oman, because of the poor quality of the feed water the forward osmosis process uses 42% less energy per litre of water produced when compared to convential equipment. The two plants currently operating in Oman serve 600 people in Al-Khuluf and 800 people in Naghdah.

Submitting Institution

University of Surrey

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Materials Engineering

Influencing international policy on improving access to water and sanitation services in the developing world

Summary of the impact

This case study describes a series of research projects undertaken by Professor Hulya Dagdeviren from 2004 to 2012 on issues related to the commercialisation and privatisation of water and sanitation services, which involved changes in the control and management of former public utilities. In particular, it focuses on the findings and impacts of the studies in relation to the access and affordability of these services for poor households in the developing countries. The results of these studies influenced the policy directions of international institutions, especially the UN agencies, which play an important role in funding projects and policy advocacy that ultimately shape the national policies of the developing countries.

Submitting Institution

University of Hertfordshire

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics

Influencing international health policy to reduce acute waterborne diarrhoeal disease

Summary of the impact

Diarrhoeal disease is the world's second most common cause of death in children under five years old, killing 760,000 children each year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Microbial contamination of drinking water is one of the most important causes. In England and Wales acute diarrhoeal disease is estimated to cost the country £1.5 billion annually. UEA epidemiologists have shown the important role of water supply systems in spreading diarrhoeal disease in developed and developing countries; led WHO research projects on small scale drinking water systems; and influenced WHO policy on small scale drinking water systems in developed and developing countries. Methodological research on epidemiological methods for monitoring and regulating bathing water quality has led to changes in WHO guidance on bathing water quality standards and influenced US Environmental Protection Agency criteria. Hunter's participation in international expert panels facilitated the impact of this research on policy.

Submitting Institution

University of East Anglia

Unit of Assessment

Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

From source to tap: management of natural organic matter during drinking water production

Summary of the impact

New characterisation tools for natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water are now used as standard practice within water companies such as Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water. The tools inform decisions, and help develop strategic plans on catchment management, source selection, treatment optimisation, and disinfection practice. Water companies experienced difficulties in treating high levels of NOM. Cranfield created a novel characterisation toolkit to measure NOM for its electrical charge and hydrophobicity. Also, new techniques for measuring aggregate properties and emerging disinfection by-products have provided a comprehensive analysis. Two novel treatment technologies are currently marketed. These technologies have raised international interest, resulting in industrial development in Australia.

Submitting Institution

Cranfield University

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry, Other Chemical Sciences
Engineering: Chemical Engineering

Improved access to urban water services for over a million people in Uganda and other developing countries

Summary of the impact

Over a million urban dwellers in several developing countries are accessing water services as a result of research undertaken at Loughborough University. National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), Uganda's main urban water utility, applied the research findings to improve service quality, and extend piped water supply to the previously un-served. During 2008-2011, over 500,000 additional urban residents accessed piped water supply of improved bacteriological and physico-chemical quality — resulting in significant enhancement of health and quality of life (particularly of children). Furthermore, the research benefits were transferred to other countries, through the work of NWSC's External Services Department, extending the reach to other countries including Kenya, Tanzania, India and Zambia.

Submitting Institution

Loughborough University

Unit of Assessment

Civil and Construction Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Virtual Water: the conceptual transformation of public and private sector water policy and metrics

Summary of the impact

The virtual water concept is used to identify and quantify water use which is hidden, or embedded within the production and supply of food and other commodities. Its primary application has been to demonstrate that the majority of water consumed globally is used within the production and trade of food. Introduced and developed by Allan, virtual water research has transformed public and private sector water policy and its metrics in the UK and internationally. Instantiated through conceptual work published in 1993 and 1994 and developed through empirical studies thereafter, virtual water was widely adopted by 2000. The idea is now accepted as an essential element in the framing of policy on water security and its economic systems. Virtual water has been increasingly deployed by advisers to governments, corporations and NGOs, below we provide evidence from the U.S. State department, Coca Cola, WWF and the World Economic Forum, this is by no means a complete list. In 2011 the UK House of Lords and UK government's official response urged the EU Commission to incorporate virtual water in EU Policy. In recognition of the global conceptual impact of virtual water, Tony Allan was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, 2008. In 2013, in recognition of impact made in preceding years through his virtual water concept and research Allan was also awarded the Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco Water Award and the International Environmentalist Award of the Florence-based Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron.

Submitting Institution

King's College London

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Challenging Domination and Promoting Cooperation in Israeli-Palestinian Water Politics

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict within the context of the Oslo peace process. It documents four areas of impact, the underpinning research and associated engagement and dissemination activity having: (1) [text removed for publication] (2) significantly enhanced public and policy understanding of, and debate on, the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict, within Israel, the Palestinian territories and internationally; (3) [text removed for publication] and (4) contributed to the emergence of influential critiques of international policy on water `cooperation'.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Improving UK Regulation of Agricultural Irrigation

Summary of the impact

Research at Cranfield has underpinned national policies for managing and allocating the UK's agricultural water resources over the past 20 years. It has supported major reforms in water policy, abstraction legislation and drought management. It has done this by modelling spatial and temporal variations in demand for irrigation, linking this to the financial impacts of water stress on crop yield and quality, projecting future demand, and assessing climate change impacts and potential adaptations. It has also significantly impacted the agri-food sector, helping agribusinesses assess the viability of irrigation and reservoir investment, encouraging collaboration, and reducing risks in the food supply chain.

Submitting Institution

Cranfield University

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Engineering: Environmental Engineering
Economics: Applied Economics

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