All large businesses have a big effect on the environment, but utility companies have a greater impact than most. That's why Wessex Water have spent time and effort making sure they have a long term plan to become the most sustainable company of its type in the country.
It started with steps to make their new headquarters as green as possible but will continue over the next 25 years with work to control leakage and manage demand for water, protect the water environment and wildlife, minimise greenhouse gas emissions and landfilling of waste and ensure the sludge from treated sewage is used productively on the land and as an energy source.
On the face of it, running a water company should be fairly straightforward - rain falls from the sky, it's collected, cleaned and piped to customers. But in fact, the industry is arguably more regulated than any other to ensure maximum standards and minimum environmental impact.
From its earliest days, Wessex Water opted not only to meet the letter of the law but embrace its spirit and decided to go very much further when it became the first water company to commit itself to becoming a fully sustainable organisation and the best water and sewerage company in the UK.
Its headquarters is testament to that ambition. During construction, almost three quarters of waste was recycled. The building faces the prevailing south westerly wind which helps with natural ventilation and the position of each office wing allows the building to warm-up naturally from the winter sun in the mornings. A range of techniques has been employed to reduce energy, such as motion-controlled lighting, efficient equipment, solar water heating panels and rainwater collection for flushing toilets. No wonder the Operations Centre has won a number of prestigious environmental and building awards.
Making sure the building was a fine example of sustainable thinking was an important signal to both staff, stakeholders and the general public. However, there was also a need to map out a long term vision if the company was to fulfill its ambitions. Sustainablity Planning Manager, Dan Green, said the approach was agreed as a result of extensive discussions between water managers, external specialists from government, regulators, non-governmental organisations, consultancies, business, academia and Forum for the Future.
"As a company, we cannot become sustainable on our own, so we set out to work closely with a wide range of stakeholders. And when we talk about sustainable development, we mean activities that are socially responsible, environmentally beneficial and economically sound. Those three elements stand at the core of our approach."
Wessex Water ensured that all the workforce are clear about their role in the company and understand the environmental ethos and sustainability objectives, targets and actions are allocated to specific managers.
"Our interest in the environment comes into virtually every aspect of the business. We have worked with others to ensure that abstraction from all our water resources is maintained within sustainable yields; we have also been investing to restrict leakage," said Dan.
Wessex also take steps to manage water consumption, working with customers to help them manage their use of water.
"We educate customers and local communities on water issues and raise awareness of the need to manage consumption, by providing information in different forms and through a range of approaches such as classroom education, community talks and the company website. We are also trialling ‘smart meters' that give customers a more interactive view of how much water they are using.
Combined, all these measures mean that the amount of water we supply for public use is less now than at any point in the last 18 years," he added.
The company also does a great deal of work at the end of the line, improving sewage treatment works and working with local industry to ensure that effluent standards are achieved, which in turn helps rivers, estuaries and bathing waters. The sewage sludge byproduct is then treated so it can be safely returned to the land for productive use.
"We are putting effort into running our sewage treatment processes as efficiently as possible, generating renewable energy using the gas produced by sewage sludge digesters and investing to improve the productivity of the technology. We also hope to build four wind turbines at Avonmouth - our largest sewage treatment works - which would become completely self-sufficient for energy as a result," Dan explained.