Watertalk

Message in a bottleHow Refill Bristol is changing our drinking habits… for good

Southern Resilience SchemeThe £27m project that’s future- proofing your water supply

Issue #13 Bristol Water’s magazine

facts & fIguRes Page 2

customeR focus Page 6

festIval of natuRe Page 10

Summer is approaching and this is the season we appreciate water the most; to keep our gardens green, for paddling and playing in, and to keep us all hydrated and healthy.

Refill is the buzzword in Bristol in 2016 – that’s why this campaign (and its champion, Natalie Fee) is our cover feature. Refill Bristol is all about improving access to free water while on the go. It’s a great community initiative and we are delighted to be partners with City to Sea, helping to get the message out there. It’s such a simple idea that could have a dramatic impact on the amount of plastic waste entering landfill and oceans. Read all about it on page 8 and get involved.

Bristol Water is proud of the quality of service we provide to our 1.2 million customers. Every day we supply 264 million litres of water through 7,000 kilometres of mains. We have an ongoing programme of renovation aimed at minimising bursts and other water quality issues. When customers are affected we work hard to get things back to normal as quickly as we can – there’s more about this on page 14.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Watertalk, especially the mind-boggling puzzle on page 15 that we hope will encourage family interaction and an interest in science. Good for a rainy day! I know we don’t want too many of those over the summer, but we do need to keep our reservoirs topped up so we can all enjoy the benefits of a sufficient supply. Just remember to use water wisely!

Luis García, Chief Executive

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welcome out and about

Treat yourself to a Refill Bristol bottle (pictured right) and top up on the go – visit www.refillbristol.org.uk for details of where to buy.

Tap into Bristol Our drinking fountain outside At-Bristol in Millennium Square is back in action. The free water supply encourages families, cyclists, runners and tourists to save money and help the environment by topping up with tap water.

Festival seasonFind us at the Festival of Nature on 11-12 June (see page 10). And keep your eyes peeled for the Refill Bristol water bars popping up at events across the city this summer.

Lap up the lakesFor a lovely day out this summer, take a trip to Chew Valley and Blagdon Lakes. There are nature trails and beautiful views to enjoy. Pack your sarnies for a picnic, enjoy lunch at one of the many lakeside village pubs or enjoy some of the best fish and chips at Salt & Malt.

The cost of waterWhat you get for 1p

92% of people prefer tap

water to bottled water at home

48% prefer bottled to tap

when they are out and about

Why? 28% blame lack of access to tap water as the reason – Refill Bristol is the solution, see page 8.

Bristol Waterstraight from the tap costs less than 0.15p per litre

Convenience store bottled wateris 1,000 times more expensive than Bristol Water, costing up to 75p for a 500ml bottle

Branded bottled wateris 300 times more expensive than Bristol Water, costing 45p for a 500ml bottle

Supermarket bottled wateris 53 times more expensive than Bristol Water, costing around 8p per litre

0.02 litres

0.007 litres

0.13 litres

Tap water vs bottled

Drink 1.6 litres of f luids a day (roughly 8 glasses) to avoid dehydration. It will cost less than £1 a year if you top up with tap water

7 litres

visit www.bristolwater.co.uk @bristolwater

Looking for leadSmall traces of lead can sometimes make its way into your water supply – take the following steps to check if you’re affected

We put your water through some of the most stringent testing in the world, carrying

out rigorous daily inspections to make sure it’s of the highest quality. However, if the pipes that run into your home are made of lead, then small traces can be found in your drinking water, which can potentially be harmful to young children and pregnant women.

The installation of lead pipes was banned in the late 1960s so if your home was built after 1970, or has undergone extensive refurbishments, then it is unlikely to have lead pipes. If you are unsure, you or your plumber can carry out the following checks.

Inside your homeFind the point where your water service pipe enters your property (usually under your kitchen sink or near the front door). Unpainted lead pipes appear dull grey in colour and the surface can be scraped to reveal shiny silver-coloured metal beneath.

Other common pipe materials are copper (bright, dull brown/orange), iron (dark, very hard, perhaps rusty) or plastic (light blue, black or grey).

Outside your homeOpen the flap of the stop tap or water meter box outside your property and, if possible, examine the pipe. Again, use the guide above to determine the type of pipe.

Test your waterWe treat the water in order to minimise the amount of lead that will dissolve into the supply, but if you find lead pipes and are concerned, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will test the level of lead in your water supply for free. You can also read about our Lead Replacement Scheme at www.bristolwater.co.uk/lead

Run the tapIn the meantime, if you are worried about lead in your water supply, run the tap for two minutes before taking water for drinking or cooking (and don’t waste the unused water: use it to feed your houseplants or water your garden).

For further information or to arrange a free water test, contact Customer Services on 0345 702 3797, email customer.services@bristolwater.co.uk or visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/lead

Message received

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Water quality see page 14➔

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Following the success of last year’s fundraising event, intrepid employees at Bristol Water will once again take

the Glastonbury Challenge and walk 30 miles in support of WaterAid, the charity dedicated to improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation across the globe.

Last year’s trek from our head office in Bedminster Down to Glastonbury Tor raised £13,000. As well as individual donations, we were grateful to receive sponsorship from the business community.

In September we’ll be doing the route in reverse, setting off from the Tor at sunrise and walking back to Bristol. The challenge highlights the daily plight of millions of people who are forced to walk long distances each day to collect water.

If you would like to support us, please visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/glastonburychallenge

Thanks to these businesses for their support in 2016: GTM, Wipro, Doosan Empire, Aqualogy UK, Wessex Water, PwC, Gregg Latchams, Primayer, Workscape, Aztech Building Services Ltd, Baringa, SLR Consulting, Enterprise Pipework Services (EPS), Combined Building & Electrical Services (CBES), Cam Engineering, P&A Groundworks & Construction Services, Sky High Ingenuity, Jon Sealey & Sons, Tercon Ltd, Optima, Pipeline Services, Advanced Pipe Inspection, Crowder, Sensus Metering, Groundforce, Cla-Val, HSBC BANK, Lloyds Commercial, Frontier Economics, IFM Electronics, Halma Water Management, Our Pool Wrington, DragonPSR, Prism & The Group of Seven.

We’re always looking to improve the ways we contact you about emergencies or planned works that affect your water supply. After a water main burst in Kingswood, customers told us that they would like to receive text messages to help keep them updated with the incident. We responded to this feedback with a pilot messaging scheme, and this was used to great

effect when we had a burst main in Keynsham. Following the success of the pilot, we will be rolling out the voicemail and text message service over the next 12 months, keeping customers informed about incidents, planned works andscheduled appointments.

For more information, visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/text

news

Glastonbury revisited

Hook, line & sinker

Improve your knowledge, sharpen your skills and compete against fellow anglers in Bristol Water Fisheries’ Evening Boat League. Launched earlier this spring, the series of friendly, laid-back events gives anglers a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and improve their fishing.Entry is £10 and events take place on 8 June, 21 June, 6 July, 20 July, 3 August and 17 August at either Blagdon Lake or Chew Valley Lake. After, competitors are invited to go for a bite to eat and a drink at the Stoke Inn.

For further information about the Evening Boat League, visit www.bristolwaterfisheries.co.uk or follow us on Facebook.com/BristolWaterFisheries for updates about fishing permits, catch and release practices and more.

Spawn to be Wild Bristol schoolchildren are once again taking part in the award-winning Spawn to be Wild project, which sees critically endangered eels released into Blagdon and Chew Valley Lakes. The project is run by Avon Wildlife Trust and funded by Bristol Water.

@bristolwater visit www.bristolwater.co.uk

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Centre of our world

Bristol water customers are at the heart of everything we do. Here are some of the ways we are working to

improve our customer care

Extra support when you need itwe know that circumstances can change and customers can find themselves in vulnerable situations from time to time. It’s vitally important to us that we quickly identify and help those who are struggling to pay their water bills, offering a range of lower tariffs and support for customers in water debt.

our brand new Pension Credit scheme gives a 20 per cent discount on water bills to Bristol water customers who live in a household where all members over the age of 18 are in receipt of Pension Credit. If you are entitled to the discount, we’ll send you a form to complete and return to us and then contact you to let you know whether you have been accepted.

If you or anyone you know would like any further information, don’t hesitate to contact us on 0345 600 3 600 or by emailing customer.services@bwbsl.co.uk

Customer Care Plus has been created to help those who need extra assistance. If you are elderly, disabled, undergo home dialysis or have priority needs, you may wish to be included in our Customer Care Plus register, which gives you access to a range of special services free of charge.

You can register online or by filling out a form, which we will send to you, and all information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence. Please call 0345 600 3 600 or visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/ccp

finally, from october 2016 we will be starting to install meters on all properties that that are currently unmetered at change of occupancy. for more information about our compulsory metering policy please visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/metering

Helping you save waterwe offer free water-saving equipment and kits to help you save water and save money. tap inserts, shower regulators, save-a-flush devices and shower timers can help you save over £160 on your utility bills if you are on a water meter. If you’re not on a water meter, the devices will help reduce the amount of hot water you use, so you’ll need less fuel to heat it. It only takes a few minutes to order your free pack – visit www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk

Helping us to improvePeaches Golding oBe has been appointed as Independent Chair of Bristol water’s Challenge Panel. Customer Challenge Groups hold water companies to account on performance and are used to influence business planning and provide ongoing assurance to the industry regulator, ofwat.

Mrs Golding is a trusted and respected business and community leader with an array of experience in representing customer groups. As Chair, she will ensure Bristol water customers’ views are at the heart of decision-making. She says: “I am delighted to be able to take on the role of customer champion. As a Bristol water customer I feel well placed to understand and represent the views of the people the business serves. this is a time of major change for the water industry and the Challenge Panel will play an important part in shaping the future of Bristol water.”

we value your opinion and are introducing lots of new ways to get feedback from customers about our wide range of services, so don’t be surprised if you

hear from us to ask your views. one example of this is our new online customer

panel. Members of the panel complete a short survey once every quarter and the information they share helps us provide you with a better service, both now and in the future. If you are interested in taking part, please visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/onlinepanel

Southville resident liz newton and her daughters emily and lottie

visit www.bristolwater.co.uk @bristolwater

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drop in the oceanEvery year millions of tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans. Refill Bristol is a campaign that aims to cut this waste by encouraging us to top up with tap water

L aunched last summer, Refill Bristol is the first major campaign from City to Sea, a collective of local organisations, practitioners, scientists, marine biologists and campaigners who want to stem the tide of plastic pollution flowing from

Bristol into the Severn Estuary.The idea is a simple one: get local cafés, bars,

restaurants, banks, galleries, museums and local businesses to invite thirsty passers-by to come in and fill up their water bottles for free.

Refill Bristol, which is supported by Bristol Water, already has more than 200 Refill Stations ready and waiting across the city, encouraging local citizens to stop buying bottled water and fill up their flasks with tap water instead.

Why? Aside from the financial savings, you’ll also be doing our oceans a favour too. Each year, at least eight million tonnes of plastic waste enters the sea from land (that’s like dumping the contents of one rubbish truck into the ocean every minute) and, at this moment, there’s an estimated 600 square kilometres of marine litter covering the seabed in the North Sea (around the same size as Exmoor). But that’s not the half of it. Take a look at our graphics opposite to see the real impact of plastic on our world’s oceans.

“We launched in September – so quite late in our year as European Green Capital – but during those first three months we had an amazing response from businesses saying they’d love to embrace Refill Bristol,” says Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea. “But moving forwards we need to get the people of Bristol to remember to take their bottles out with them. So we’re working with Bristol Water in 2016 to help continue the work we started during our year as European Green Capital.”

As part of this partnership, Refill Bristol and Bristol Water have launched a web-based app that will help citizens locate their nearest Refill Station, sign up for updates on the Refill revolution and access information about the campaign, including special events.

Log on to the app, zoom into the map and find a tap. And don’t forget your bottle: pick up a lovely, shiny Refill water bottle, keep yourself hydrated and help us spread the word! Visit www.refillbristol.org.uk

plastic waste: the killer facts

8mtonnes of plastic waste enters the sea from land each year

100k marine mammals and reptiles die each year because of plastic rubbish

2050estimated year that plastics out number fish in the sea

600 square kilometres of marine litter covers the seabed in the North Sea

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@bristolwater

Nature’s finestThis summer, the Festival of Nature dips its toe into Bristol’s maritime heritage and takes visitors on a voyage of discovery along the River Avon from Bristol to Bath

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Grand finale! Catch the spectacular last day of the festival in Bath on Saturday 25 June as the procession winds its way to the main event in Royal Victoria Park. Join Fine Chisel theatre company for their family-friendly show Flit, Flap & Fly inside a giant nest, explore the natural world with interactive activities and try mouth-watering local food and refreshments. Full details at www.festivalofnature.org.uk

It’s the UK’s biggest free natural history event offering visitors a chance to explore a packed programme of hands-on, wildlife-filled fun all around the Harbourside. Now, for the

first time in its 14-year history, the Festival of Nature has taken the plunge and included Bristol’s rivers and waterways in its programme, offering wildlife lovers of all ages an opportunity to discover the city’s rich maritime wonders.

The two-week celebration kicks off on Bristol Harbourside on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June when visitors can journey through wild woodlands, urban jungles and wonderful wetlands as they follow a river from source to sea without leaving the city centre. Along the way, there will be interactive exhibits and activities from the giants of the natural history world including the BBC, National Trust, Bristol Zoo and the RSPB.

Then, on Sunday 12 June, the festival will set sail from the Harbourside and begin its journey along the River Avon. Events, workshops and a nature poetry trail will spring up on the riverbanks all the way to the festival’s next stop in Keynsham on Sunday 19 June, where visitors can dip, dive, create, investigate and marvel at the wonders of the Avon.

The festival then lands in Bath for its finale – a day of hands-on activities, innovative arts, events and entertainment at Bath’s Royal Victoria Park on Saturday 25 June.

Look out for additional events across June celebrating the legacy of Bristol’s year as European Green Capital and check out the Festival of Nature website to find out all the brilliant ways you can take action for nature.

A full programme and action guide can be found at www.festivalofnature.org.uk or follow the festival on Twitter @FestofNature. All events are free of charge, but some will require pre-booking via the website above.

visit www.bristolwater.co.uk

OPEN wATERFrom April 2017, businesses and other non-household customers will be able to choose their supplier of water and waste water services. we asked John Vinson from water2Business to explain the changes

What is Water2Business?water2Business is the new name for the commercial team that looks after Bristol water’s business customers. Bristol water and wessex water have come together to rebrand the dedicated business services divisions as one entity: water2Business. Our principles have remained the same but our scope has increased. we can now take this service to a wider audience and negotiate price and service on an individual level. Our existing customers will continue to benefit from the individual knowledge of the two parents in the joint venture, but will additionally profit from the valued-added service that a specialist division can provide.

I’m a business customer, what do I need to do?If you do nothing you will be automatically switched to water2Business, but there are several things as a business you can do now to get ready for the opportunities the new market will present. Gather data about your meters and usage, identify what your company wants from its water and waste service, and use that information to decide on your retailer when the market opens. Will my household account be affected?No, there is no change for household customers. What will be the benefits for business customers?You will be able to choose the retailer that best fits your company’s objectives – be that price, service or both. How can the water companies operate as a wholesaler and retailer at the same time?There are very strict rules on how water companies can operate in the new market to ensure the market is fair for everyone. Some companies will choose to remain as one company while others, like us, will form separate companies that will act and operate independently of the wholesale part of the business. So Bristol Water will still be in charge of the water supply. What will the retailers do?Yes, Bristol water will still be responsible for treating the water and distributing it to customers. we will also remain responsible for the water quality, the network of pipes and managing bursts and leaks up to the customer’s meter or site boundary. Retailers will be responsible for billing the customer and answering enquiries about their bill. Some, like us, will also offer a range of additional services, such as smart metering, efficiency and recycling measures, contingency planning and a single bill for multiple sites. For more information, visit www.open-water.org.uk

Q&A

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visit www.bristolwater.co.uk

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In the meantime, you can stay updated with this and other work by using our interactive map that shows the areas in which work is currently taking place and where work is planned. There are links to further information about large schemes and details on roadworks that may affect your journey.

Visit the website www.bristolwater.co.uk/work-in-your-area, like our dedicated Facebook page www.facebook.com/SouthernResilienceScheme or connect with us on Twitter @BristolWater for more information.

Southern Resilience SchemeWe’re investing £27 million to make sure thousands of customers across Somerset will have a better, more reliable water supply now and in the future

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Improving biodiversity

We always aim to leave a site in a better environmental condition than when we started, and our £27 million Southern Resilience Scheme is no exception. The areas in which we are working are home a rich selection of flora and fauna and it is our responsibility to ensure that we minimise the impact of work on wildlife.

To help us meet our environmental aims, we have developed an

innovative approach called the Biodiversity Index,

where we create an overall numeric score for

an area by combining ecological walkover results (appraising a site for potential issues) with habitat value assessments.

From this, we can identify the biodiversity features

lost during works and then quantify the amount of environmental enhancement needed at a site to offset this.

This summer we will begin work on our Southern Resilience Scheme (SRS), a major infrastructure project that will help us improve water supply to over 280,000 customers in our area.

At the heart of the scheme is our aim to provide customers from Weston-super-Mare to the southern parts of Bristol and across Somerset with a more secure water supply. We will do this by installing 30 km of new water main between Barrow Gurney and Cheddar via Banwell and carrying out upgrades to the pumping station at Cheddar and building a new reservoir at Hutton.

This means we can get water to areas including Cheddar, Banwell, Burnham, Weston-super-Mare and Glastonbury through more than one route, and allows us to move water from our northern sources into our southern region – or vice versa – when needed. Put simply, if there is a fault with one of our pipes, we’ll get your water supply back up and running much quicker than before.

With the population of Somerset expected to increase by over 100,000 people by 2030, the new main will also help us to keep residents and businesses in water, both now and in the future.

The impact of the schemeThe new route has been chosen from a shortlist of eight feasible options (narrowed down from a longlist of 50)

and the design team has had to consider the impact of every part of the SRS on the environment, communities, customers and major traffic routes.

The designers are using a blend of old and new engineering solutions to overcome challenges and avoid landmarks, including the airport, ancient woodlands and the Mendip Hills. One of the biggest engineering accomplishments of the SRS is the ability to use gravity, rather than pumping, to get water all the way from Barrow Gurney to Cheddar. This not only reduces energy usage, meaning the pumping station in Barrow Gurney does not need to be upgraded, but also results in lower running costs once the main is in operation.

Last, but by no means least, the final design will take into consideration the rich biodiversity of the area. The area is home to dormice, great-crested newts and various species of bat and plant life, and it is our aim to leave all sites affected by the project in a better environmental position than at the start (see right).

Grand scaleA project of this scale and size will inevitably cause some disruption. We have already begun sending letters out to homes affected by the work and will be sending representatives from Bristol Water to local markets closer to the start of construction to answer any questions you may have.

“This is our biggest challenge yet, improving biodiversity not just on company sites, but on sites not company owned. We are up for the challenge of creating meaningful environmental enhancement”Sophie Edwards, Environment Strategy Manager

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@bristolwater

visit www.bristolwater.co.uk

Watertalk / 15

Can you solve our science conundrumFollow the instructions below to create this amazing octagonal brain-teaser then see if you can solve the mystery of how it works

Step 1: Cut out the two octagons above – ask a grown-up to help you if it’s too tricky

Step 2: Rotate the green octagon so the fish is pointing to the left, then turn it over

Step 3: Place the orange octagon on top of the green one so the fish is pointing straight down

Step 4: Stick the two octagons together using glue or tape – ask a

grown-up to help if needed

Step 5: Turn the octagon around so the green side is facing you, with the fish pointing to the left. Hold the octagon between your fingers at points 1 and 5 and rotate it. Are the fish pointing the same way or in a different direction?

Step 6: Now, with your fish still pointing to the left, hold the octagon on points 2 and 6 and spin – what’s happened to the fish?

Inspiring engineers

We worked with Professor Joe Quarini to bring you our amazing spinning octagon. A professor of process engineering at the University of Bristol, Professor Quarini is the inventor of ice pigging, an award-winning method that has transformed the way drinking water pipes are cleaned and maintained. His passion is to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering and maths in children and young people; his recent project students have put together some engineering challenges and simple demonstrations, which you can find at www.et4u.org/index.php

?1

5

28

46

37

puzzle

Can you solve the mystery of the spinning fish? Visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/watertalk to get more help and find out how it works!

water quality

As set out in the Bristol Water Bond, we are committed to providing you with water that is not only safe to drink, meeting UK and EU legal water quality standards, but also good to drink. Our highly trained staff use new and advanced treatment processes to make sure the water that reaches you is of the highest quality

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Water pressure

Water pressure to your home or business can vary from time to time. Typically,

water pressure is at its highest at night, when very little is being used, and at its lowest during breakfast, lunch and dinner times.

When we carry out or complete work, customers can sometimes experience a drop in their water pressure. This is quite normal and we aim to keep water flowing, albeit at a potentially lower rate, to as many properties as possible. Unplanned or emergency incidents, like a burst main, will also affect your water pressure.

If maintenance work has taken place, we will often ‘flush’ our pipes, which means moving water through the pipes in order to remove any residue that has built up and maintain good water quality.

If you are affected by any of the issues above, visit www.bristolwater.co.uk/your-home/water-quality or call Customer Services on 0345 702 3797. You can view the Bristol Water Bond at www.bristolwater.co.uk/bond

The water from your tapshould be clear and bright,but occasionally can appeardiscoloured or cloudy. The main causes are burst mains, work we are carrying out on the network, building work in yourproperty or if we ‘flush’ thepipes following maintenanceworks (see panel, right). These issues are usually easily resolved if you follow some simple steps.

Cloudy or milky water is normally caused by air – if you leave a glass of cloudy water to stand it will clear within a few minutes.

The majority of our water mains are made of iron and over time rust particles can settle in the pipes. Brown or orange water is caused when these particles become dislodged by sudden changes

in water pressure. If this happens, run your downstairs cold tap or the tap closest to the inlet until it clears.

Occasionally, customers will notice that their water has a blue, green or turquoise appearance. This normally occurs when the water from the main comes into contact with new copper pipes in your home and will disappear in a few days.

Appearance

Tap water tastes even better chilled! Keep a jug of fresh water in the fridge for a perfect thirst-quencher.

@bristolwater

visit www.bristolwater.co.uk

Billing enquiries

Telephone 0345 600 3600 (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm)

Minicom 0345 605 6585 (for minicom equipment users only)

Email customer.services@bwbsl.co.uk (please quote your customer number)

Letter BWBSL 1 Clevedon Walk Nailsea Bristol BS48 1WA

Water supply enquiries

Telephone 0345 702 3797 (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm) (Emergency service at all other times)

Minicom 0800 917 0737 (for minicom equipment users only)

Email customer.services@bristolwater.co.uk

Letter Customer Services Bristol Water plc Bridgwater Road Bristol BS13 7AT

Hold a glass of water in front of the message below to read it...