The Urbanista & Global Water Intelligence

In this first episode we are joined by Tallulah Lutkin, Utility Performance Editor at GWI to look at the following stories:

 

‘Polluter Pays’ Clause Amended

The European Parliament has voted in favour of an amendment to the Urban Water Treatment Directive, which reduces the ‘polluter pays’ responsibility for micropollutant clean-up costs from 100% to 80%. Although the Council of the European Union is still in favour of maintaining the 100% responsibility, Global Water Intelligence sources think that this is unlikely to happen. The remaining 20% of the costs would be paid from national budgets.
 

Swedish and Australian companies inaugurated into Leading Utilities of the World

 
NSVA (Malmo, Sweden) and Barwon Water (Victoria, Australia) have both been inaugurated into the Leading Utilities of the World Network after presenting outstanding innovation in circular technologies and stakeholder engagement. NSVA has developed a new sewage system that separates food waste, greywater and blackwater meaning that the wastewater treatment plant can now produce more recycled water, biogas and nutrients. Barwon Energy, on the other hand, are looking to use co-location to produce hydrogen with green electricity and recycled water.
 
 

Wastewater greenhouses and swimming in the Seine

 
Highlights at this year’s International Water Week in Amsterdam include a project from Australian company Barwon Water who are planning to build greenhouses using heat, fertiliser and water produced from their wastewater plants. And in France, there is a drive to improve the quality of urban water, even holding Olympic events on the Seine River. There were also discussions regarding falling water demand and the effects of heatwaves and droughts.
 
 

Tariffs increase globally 8.2%

GWI has published the results of its annual Tariff survey which saw a sharp average increase of 8.2% globally. The rise is credited to a variety of factors including inflation and many places coming out of ‘tariff hibernation’ after a period of stagnation. In North America, capital costs were a big factor whereas in Europe the main reason for the increase was the rise in operational costs, energy, chemicals and labour.