Water & Wastewater Asia May/June 2019

FROM THE GROUND | 31
In Houston, where Hurricane Harvey besieged
residents in 2017, officials announced a
feasibility study to determine whether a largescale
tunneling system could help it cope with
future storms.
More broadly, some U.S. cities which had once
tacked strategic resilience planning onto the
job description for broader managerial roles
are now devoting new positions to resilience
alone that are focused on water supply and
management. In South Florida, multiple
jurisdictions have begun appointing “Chief
Resilience Officers” to take leadership roles
in managing long-term resilience-focused
water infrastructure strategy.
The city of Miami, Miami Beach, Broward
County, Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach
County all have CROs. After Superstorm
Sandy battered New York City in 2012, the city
created the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and
Resiliency, which has aggressively pursued
projects aimed at shielding Manhattan from
the effects of major storms and climate
change.
PRESERVING QUALITY OF LIFE
The safe disposal of municipal wastewater
is vital to preserving the environment and
protecting the health of communities. As
previously discussed, wastewater can be
treated and safely reused for potable and
non-potable applications. But are there other
ways in which we can turn wastewater from a
“waste” into a valuable, renewable, resource?
Yorkshire Water is one of many UK water
utilities making investments to unlock
wastewater’s power generation potential. At
Knostrop Wastewater Treatment Works, in
the northern city of Leeds, Yorkshire Water is
spending £72 million on an upgrade project
that will enable the works to meet 55 per cent
of its own electricity needs — equivalent of
providing power to 8,000 homes — through
advanced wastewater treatment.
Sludge, a bi-product of the sewage treatment
process, is the main source of biogas. At
Knostrop a new state-of the-art sludge
treatment and anaerobic digestion facility are
at the heart of the drive to unlock what the
utility refers to as, “poo-power.”
The new treatment process will have other
environmental benefits, in addition to
generating renewable energy. The site’s
carbon emissions will be reduced by
15 per cent, and 94 per cent of Leeds’
sewage sludge will be safely recycled.
Looking ahead, the design of the new
treatment process has used the limited
space available efficiently to allow for future
expansion. In the present, the efficient
design also ensures that the operation and
maintenance of the new equipment is not
compromised. This has been enabled, in
part, by the innovative use of new digital
technologies to create intelligent piping and
instrumentation diagrams - iP&IDs. Knostrop
is one of the first water projects to benefit
from iP&IDs.
THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF
SUSTAINABILITY
Securing our water supply is a high calling
on its own, but what happens when we draw
new connections?
Let’s start at the intersection of water and
energy: Black & Veatch recently began
exploring the feasibility of large-scale
implementation of floating solar farms at
Hong Kong’s 17 impounding reservoirs
under a feasibility study being carried out for
the Water Supplies Department of the Hong
Kong SAR. In addition to generating power
from renewable resources, engineers are
studying whether large-scale floating
solar farms could help Hong Kong reduce
water loss and improve water quality by
suppressing algae growth. Preliminary results
indicate water loss through evaporation from
the surface area covered by floating
solar farms can be reduced by as much
as 70 per cent, a critical benefit in water
scarce regions relying on surface water
reservoirs.
Water can return the favor: A 2018 report by
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) concluded that solar projects placed
at reservoirs in the United States would have
the potential to meet as much as 10 per cent
of the nation’s energy supply while saving
millions of acres of land.
Thinking holistically — how water, power and
all resources are connected — can unlock a
wealth of engineering innovation, provided
we are open to the possibilities.
ACCOUNTING FOR THE HUMAN
ELEMENT
The water industry is at a turning point.
Utilities recognise the power in making their
operations more efficient, through strategies
that maximize data, manage assets and more
effectively engage with customers — all while
doing more with less. A new water economy
is encouraging modern tools and efficient
technologies to address old problems of
resource and cost.
But something else is stirring.
The human element, which has always been
at the centre of the engineering solutions
that safeguard our water supply, is coming
into even sharper focus. Solutions account
not just for the hard work of moving and
treating water itself, but also for human
impact and benefit. How do these solutions
integrate, supplement — and whenever
possible, complement — our communities
and way of life?
That is the mandate of World Water Day, and
indeed, every day. WWA
Cindy Wallis-Lage is President of Black & Veatch’s
water business, leading the company’s efforts to
address billions of dollars in water infrastructure
needs around the world. Wallis-Lage joined the
company in 1986 and has provided leadership and
project expertise to more than 100 municipal and
industrial facilities throughout North America, South
America, the United Kingdom, Asia Pacific and India.
Wallis-Lage joined the Black & Veatch Board of
Directors in 2012. A licensed professional engineer,
she earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
from Kansas State University in 1985 and her Master
of Science in Environmental Health Engineering from
the University of Kansas.
Water & Wastewater Asia • May / June 2019