A presentation will be given at the meeting by Affinity Water.
Minutes:
Jake Rigg from Affinity Water gave a presentation to members in response to the stakeholder bulletins on drought and water usage.
Councillor Matthews arrived at 7.35pm
Affinity Water has published a 60 year Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) this week which sets out the key challenges and solutions to the water problem. The WRMP uses population growth data to track future demand which is currently increasing. By making the process more sustainable, it is hoped this will reduce demand. This has produced a preferred plan and two alternatives.
Councillor Birnie arrived at 7.40pm
The government is putting pressure on water companies to reduce demand and bills. Water companies must reduce demand despite major developments being built. Affinity Water is confident they can meet this demand but not in the same way it has done before.
One idea is to begin water trading with other companies and to find policy solutions to unlock the barriers to work together. A lot of people ask about installing water meters but these are more complicated to install than energy smart meters. There has been a roll out programme in Folkestone which has produced a 16% decrease in water usage.
Drought is also a problem. There have been two consecutive dry winters and the winter rain is the most important. Rain in the summer doesn’t get into water stores as it evaporates or is absorbed by the plants. There has been wet December and March but it will be difficult if there was a hot summer this year.
Affinity Water has been working with Hubbub who are an environmental NGO to spread the message.
The South East of England has less rainfall per head than Sub Saharan Africa.
Councillor Timmis said she felt it was the wrong way round that houses were planned and built and then the water had to be supplied afterwards. She said Affinity Water sounded positive that they could cope with demand but water is a finite supply and said she was sceptical about delivery.
J Rigg said the question for the water companies was ‘Where is the breaking point?’ of the system. By working with more partners, it is hoped there will be a solution to the water demand issue. He said he was confident that demand could be met and the next thing to look at is the spatial distribution of housing and the reconfiguring of the network when planning phased developments.
Councillor S Hearn asked about the transfer of water using the Grand Union canal. He noted that in the summer, a boat will use a lock of water to transfer from A to B and this is fed by a reservoir. Leisure activities on the canal were causing enormous water wastage.
J Rigg said there are modelled options in the plan looking at the canal. There would need to be a highly complex treatment plan before the canal water was safe to be used. Water companies cannot control legislation but one big option being looked at is creating a water grid with the canals but this comes with huge technical and policy problems.
Councillor Hicks asked about localised issues getting water to places.
J Rigg said other water companies have increased their percentage of water from ground water. The challenge is to trade water effectively between companies. The main issue is that it does not rain enough in Hertfordshire but we have been working with the Met Office to try and better predict rainfall.
Councillor Anderson noted that the opportunity to use reservoirs to store water locally was constrained in that most of the area was located on chalk.
Councillor Birnie asked if J Rigg could give an indication of Affinity Water’s profits and what percentage of these profits were invested in research.
J Rigg said he was not sure but would get back to him after the meeting.
Councillor Matthews asked if there was a strategy for grey water recovery at a domestic level.
J Rigg said it depended on a number of challenges – do housing developers want to do it and who will pay for it? There is a pressure to keep water bills down but it is being looked at seriously.
Councillor Anderson asked if Affinity Water were aware of DBC’s Issues and Options consultation for the new Local Plan and asked if they had participated.
J Rigg said they were aware and they did submit a response as part of their stakeholder engagement work.
Councillor G Sutton said hundreds of thousands of new homes would be built in the coming years and one effect of Brexit is that the country might be expected to produce more food. He said that countries like Morocco do not seem to suffer with water shortages because they use desalination plants for farming.
J Rigg said water companies do consider using them but they are filtered out for economic modelling based on cost. They drive bills up but countries like Morocco don’t have any other choice. There is one on the Thames Estuary.
Councillor Birnie said he rarely ever heard from the water company and asked if any information was publicised on how to save money.
J Rigg said the water company was working with customers on how to save money. They are also working with the NHS and vulnerable people.
Councillor Anderson said the monthly information emails were having an affect.
J Doe said there has been a 2-3-year county wide water study and a key finding was that investment in infrastructure was needed.
J Rigg said Affinity Water had participated in the Herts County study. We do participate in debates through think tanks and submit evidence to reviews in housing growth.
Outcome
The committee thanked J Rigg for his presentation and they note the progress made and supports the efforts made in the future to conserve water supply.
The Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee approved the report.