The global climate crisis has led to a wealth of calls for businesses of all shapes and sizes to take action and reduce their environmental impact – including the water industry. Indeed, a few short years ago, companies across England agreed to a number of pledges as part of the Public Interest Commitment.

As sector experts will recall, firms across the industry agreed to ensure that they are working with the wider public interest at heart – championing measures to showcase that they are being ‘socially-responsible’ businesses.

As part of the Public Interest Commitment, water companies agreed to work together towards five challenging goals:

• Triple the rate of leakage reduction across the sector by 2030
• Make bills affordable as a minimum for all households with water and sewerage bills more than 5% of their disposable income by 2030 and develop a strategy to end water poverty
• Achieve net zero carbon emissions for the sector by 2030
• Prevent the equivalent of 4 billion plastic bottles ending up as waste by 2030
• Be the first sector to achieve 100% commitment to the Social Mobility Pledge

Firms facing greater scrutiny

While the targets set in place as part of this pledge have been largely welcomed, firms are finding themselves under increasing scrutiny. Indeed, earlier this month, Ofwat revealed that it has opened enforcement cases into five water firms following an analysis the companies had submitted on the requirements in their environmental permits.

According to Ofwat interim Chief Executive, David Black, the information from a number of businesses raised concerns, though five were singled out as requiring further action: “We have identified shortcomings in most water and wastewater companies and are continuing to investigate. But we have already seen enough in five companies to cause serious concern and warrant us taking further action.”

“We will now dig deeper into what these five companies have been doing, with the prospect of formal enforcement against them if we find they are failing on obligations Ofwat enforces. We will have further questions for all companies on this. In the meantime, we expect them to make quick progress in addressing any potential non-compliance they might have, whilst strengthening how they manage their environmental obligations as a whole.”

These enforcement cases are not the only signs that Ofwat is taking a stringent approach to driving improvements in water waste treatment plants. Earlier this year, the water services regulation authority called for water companies to link CEO pay with environment performance in order to incentivise leaders to take greater steps in reducing their environmental impact.

But what does this mean for the UK’s water industry and, perhaps more importantly, the people needed?

Increased demand

It’s perhaps safe to say that we’ll see an increase in demand for skilled professionals, from wastewater modellers through to process engineers, as water companies strive to meet the targets of the Public Interest Commitments. And with Ofwat taking a stringent stance on monitoring progress, competition for the best talent will certainly be rife.

However, when we couple the challenge of multiple employers seeking the same resources at the same time, with the skills shortages being felt across the UK, there’s no doubt that recruitment will be tough.

Despite this challenge, the opportunities for innovation are incredible. Those firms that are able to demonstrate how they’re delivering creative solutions to meet these environmental targets will be the ones that become more attractive to potential new recruits.

Indeed, just last week, United Utilities announced that it had completed work on a £164 million rebuild of a wastewater treatment plant in Lancashire. The project included the installation of advanced treatment technology – Nereda – and is believed to be the largest purpose-built plant utilising this tech. Projects like this will not only help meet the targets set out in the Public Interest Commitment, but also encourage more engineers to work on innovative new wastewater treatment solutions.

This does, of course, also raise concerns around the ever-evolving skills requirements in the industry. With new technology being utilised, there will be an increasing need to both attract individuals with these skills and retrain existing staff to implement and maintain this tech.

The water industry is certainly facing a number of challenges as businesses continue to face pressure to reduce their environmental impact. However, it is also an exciting time for the specialism, with innovation set to drive improvements and efficiencies across wastewater treatment.

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