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Matt Wheeldon

General Manager - Waste Strategy Wessex Water

Flooding

CCWater meeting 5th November 2015

Agenda

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• Introduction – roles & responsibilities • Main causes of sewer flooding • Flood risk strategy • Partnership working with other flood risk management

authorities • Resilience • SUDs

Drainage responsibilities in the UK are ridiculously complicated

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Take one raindrop: • Rainwater downpipe and drain • Shared surface water sewer • Sustainable Urban Drainage

system • Public surface water sewer • Ordinary watercourse • Another ordinary watercourse • Main river • Sea

Possible responsibility: • Private individual • Sewerage company • Local authority

t • Sewerage company • Local authority • Internal Drainage Board • Environment Agency • Environment Agency

Roles and responsibilities

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• Sewerage companies are responsible for: • flooding from sewers

• Local Authorities are responsible for: • surface water flooding e.g. from highway or land run-off • groundwater flooding • fluvial flooding from ordinary watercourses (though

maintenance lies with riparian owners) • The Environment Agency are responsible for:

• fluvial flooding from main rivers • coastal flooding

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Roles and responsibilities

Strategic Overview

UPPER TIER LOCAL AUTHORITIES Lead Local Flood Authority

Lower Tier Local

Authorities

Regional EA

Water and Sewerage

Companies

Internal Drainage Boards

Other orgs e.g. Canal & Rivers Trust

Network Rail

Other Asset Owners

e.g. riparian, private drain

owners

Duty to co-operate and share information

Pitt Review June 2008

Responsibilities

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• Flooding events can occur quickly and disappear quickly • Understanding source and pathway of water can be hard to

pinpoint – so consequential responses can sometimes leave customers between numerous organisations all looking at one another

Sewage flooding incidents – context

‘OTHER CAUSES’ Sewer misuse or insufficient maintenance leading to:

• Blockages from

inappropriate sewer use, insufficient cleansing of silt, root infestation, partial or full collapses,

• Equipment failures

OVERLOADED SEWERS Insufficient capacity due to an increase in flows:

• Lack of investment to counter known new development

• Urban creep • Severe rainfall

92% ‘other causes’ 8% inadequate capacity

…often a combination of the two ‘14/15 flooding incident stats for Wessex Water

…in a wet year the ratio is 82:18

Wessex Water’s flood risk strategy

• Invest at such a rate and in such a way so as to counteract increasing flood risk – due to:

• infill development, • urban creep and • climate change,

• so as to demonstrate that flood risk is being maintained at a stable level.

Pressures and solutions

Factors that increase risk • Urban creep • New development • Climate change

– Leading to more frequent high intensity storms and

– Higher groundwater levels

Solutions that reduce risk • Surface water separation • Local attenuation • Infiltration sealing • Increasing capacity • Redirection of flows

AMP6 (2015-202) target: ‘stable’ flood risk

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Flooding Risk Matrix:Number of Very Low Very High

Fiel

ds (S

urfa

ce w

ater

)

Min

or G

arde

n (s

/w)

Road

s (S

urfa

ce w

ater

)

Maj

or G

arde

n (S

urfa

ce)

Fi

elds

(Co

mbi

ned)

Roa

d (C

ombi

ned)

M

inor

Gar

den

(Com

bine

d)

Maj

or G

arde

n (C

ombi

ned)

Inte

rnal

Nr o

f Pro

perti

es /a

reas

ab

ove

the

line

of

acce

ptab

le ri

sk

Tota

l Ris

k Sc

ore

2 3 5 6 10 45803Very High 5 15 32 221 145 45 458 12755

2:10yr

4 16 275 129 53 473 10908

1:10yr

3 18 8 345 371 10764

1:20yr

2 63 452 515 9796

1:30yr

1 158 158 1580

Very Low 1:50yr

Impact

Prob

abili

ty

Properties / areas (excludes S105A)

Risk of flooding from public sewers due to hydraulic inadequacy

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Partnership approach with other Flood Risk Management Authorities

• Flooding mechanisms can be complicated • Even more complex when multiple Flood Risk Management

Authorities involved

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• Partnership working means sharing of asset data, hydraulic models, incident info and investment plans

Consequences are – more meetings! – improved relationships, – better understanding between RMAs, – greater flood risk reduction investment

Partnership project example 1 Weston-super-Mare superpond extension

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• £210k contribution to N.Somerset to extend surface water attenuation pond by 4,000m3

• Reason: to enable the removal of land drainage from combined sewers

superpond extension

Partnership project example 2 Wrington flood alleviation scheme 2014-15

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• Description: stream attenuation and surface water culvert upsize

• Reason: to prevent surface and fluvial inundation of combined sewers

• £150k Wessex Water contribution to North Somerset LLFA towards c£700k Govnt. funded scheme

Partnership project example 3 Cannington flood alleviation scheme 2015

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• £100k contribution to Environment Agency towards £3.6m scheme

• Description: new flood alleviation channel

• Reason: to reduce risk of fluvial inundation of combined sewers

Partnership project example 4 Leybourne Avenue flood alleviation scheme 2014

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• Surface water flooding of gardens from surface water sewer • Bund constructed in park. Land provided FOC by Bournemouth

Borough Council. Wessex Water paid for construction plus commuted sum to BBC for future maintenance Before

After

Resilience

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• Key future threats that we need to provide resilience against: – Groundwater induced sewer flooding – Fluvial inundation of sewers and sewage works – Extreme convective rainfall events

2013/14 Groundwater inundation areas

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Fluvial inundation impact on sewerage services

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Fluvial inundation impact on sewerage services

Extreme convective rainfall

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SUDs

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• Sustainable urban drainage systems are an incredibly sensible idea for new developments but there are major problems:

– The Govnt. has enshrined delivery of them in the planning

approval process rather than a local authority approval body – The Govnt. is making housing development a much higher priority

that sustainably drained housing development – It has failed to address the issue of ownership and maintenance

of SUDs

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SUD construction in Bristol

Any questions?

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Downstream Thinking

South West Water’s Collaborative

Approach

Richard Behan – Flood Risk Manager Steve Rosser - Wastewater Strategic Planning Manager

Presentation Outline

• Drivers for change

• Customer outcomes

• Our changing role

• Partnership and collaboration

• Promoting innovation • Future vision

Drivers for Change

Our 25-year WaterFuture vision is to;

“prevent sewer flooding of homes, businesses, public spaces and roads”

However, there are significant challenges to overcome;

“The strategic approach to flood management needs to be reinforced, combining flood defence with holistic management of fluvial and surface water risk, and upstream catchment measures to improve resilience”.

ICE The State of the Nation Infrastructure Report -2014

Drivers for Change

Flooding • Too much water drains from

developed sites too quickly

• Water ends up in sewers, highway drains and rivers too quickly

Water Quality • Surface runoff is polluted

Environmental Problems • Loss of habitat, biodiversity

and green space

+ 40% flow to 2080

Downstream Thinking Overview

New programme of work focusing on holistic wastewater catchment management and collaborative working. A critical element of SWW’s strategy and key principles of good practice.

• Long-term planning partnerships

• Greater information-sharing and communication

• Fresh approach to flood risk improvements and resilience

• Ensures best value from expenditure

• Supports our long term vision

WaterFuture – SWW AMP6 Business Plan

• Taking on board the views of our Customers about what matters most, SWW published 8 priority areas or ‘Outcomes’ for investment:

Active Network

Control

RTC

EDM Hawkeye

Flow & Load

Management

Separation Infiltration

Misconnection

Paid

Ecosystem

Services

Sustainable

Drainage

Wetlands

Partnership

Working

SuDS retrofit

Source Control

TE

control

Stakeholder

Engagement

Options Toolkit

• Existing and innovative technology

• Novel applications of technology

• New ways of delivery working

• Greater information and communication

• Optimum use of network capacity

New ideas

Our Changing Role

Upstream and Downstream Thinking offer a unique opportunity to act as a catalyst for collaboration.

Drivers • Integrated drainage • Shared costs and benefits • Problem complexity • New approaches • Deliver more for less

Aligning Programmes • Opportunities to collaborate sought

• Developing flood risk management strategies with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs)

Partnership Funding to do More for Less

Source: Natural Capital Leaders Platform Water Planning Advice Note, June 2014

Colebrook - A Truly Tripartite Flood Alleviation Scheme

• Flooding dating back to 1960s, multiple properties and causes

• In Dec 2012, village flooded for 6th time in a year affecting more than 30 properties

• Significant public attention, regional and national news

• Complex flood mechanisms include surface water, foul sewer, culverted watercourse and Main River

• Local MP was actively involved in seeking flood risk improvements

• SWW promoted jointly funded scheme with financial contributions from PCC and the EA

• Customers protected from flooding and good outcomes achieved for all parties

Exploring Innovation

Alternative to a downpipe disconnection or soakaway

SWW

Customer

Rainwater harvesting with source control trial

Benefits shared

NPV to be determined

• Reduced Flooding

• Reduced Tariff from water reuse so lower Bills

• Increase system Resilience

DST Implications – Tested in 9 Pilots in AMP6 • Pilot Schemes will be

carried out in collaboration with a range of partner organisations and agencies to deliver multiple benefits

North Cornwall Catchments

Regional SuDS Control

Legend:

Combined sewer Surface water sewer Foul sewer

Roofs to be disconnected from the combined system to soakaway Roofs to be disconnected which could be discharged into the highway Highway area to be treated by regional SuDS control in playing fields New surface water sewer Existing gulley reconnected to surface water sewer

Traffic control structure to manage exceedence and reroute flows

WaterShed Truro – Stormwater Separation Pilot

Benefits of Downstream Thinking

• Tackles the root cause

• Recreating headroom

• Reducing sewer flooding

• Reducing CSO operation

• Improving energy efficiency

• Reducing risk from other sources of flooding

• Earning the trust of our customers

• Providing Resilience for climate change, urban creep and growth

Our Future Vision

A Water Sensitive South West • Unique water sensitive partnership

• Key regional stakeholders

• Integrated water cycle management

• At the heart of future planning & development

Downstream Thinking South West Water’s Collaborative

Approach

The Customer Experience

Customer First Team

Listening to Customers • SIM Water Score • What Could Company have done better?

• Keep me informed • Update me • Let me know what’s going on

Customer First Team • Embedded a Retail Customer Service Team

within Operations Department • Outbound team focusing on operational

issues • Customer Service mentality • Updating customers on:

• Leak status • Meter installations • Planned work

Leak Report Process

Customer Reports Leak

Technician job raised

Customer informed of result. Notification of whether the leak is confirmed and future actions by us

Repair job raised

Customer informed of date of repair or cancellation or sample result etc

Update if requiredd

Job completed

Customer informed and asked if resolved and satisfied

Customers like it………. • Water Score Improving

• 2013/14 Ranked 13th for water overall • 2014/15 Ranked 2nd for water overall

……and it works Sent: 23 October 2015 10:26 To: Bournemouth Water - Customer Service Subject: Water leak

Good morning,

I am just writing to say what a wonderful service I have received off Bournemouth water.

Last week, I was on holiday, staying with my aunt, at her home in Bournemouth. Whilst walking around the area where my aunt lives, I noticed a water leak in one of the roads. On returning to her home, I found your telephone number, and contacted the appropriate number that was given. I was quickly, efficiently and politely dealt with by one of your employees.

On returning home this week, to Worcestershire, I received two further calls from yourselves, one to keep me up to date with the progress of my enquiry, and later in the week to say that the leak had been resolved.

Well done Bournemouth water!

Kind regards,

Helen Baker

Thank you/Any questions? Final slide, 28pt, Arial Bold

Thank you / Any questions?

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SHOWCASE BEN NEWBY, DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SERVICES, BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AND IT SUE CLARKE, CONSUMER EXPERIENCE MANAGER

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Case study: Fisher Road, Kingswood

“Christmas away from home was so hard, we didn’t enjoy that”

“It was such a shock on the day, I’ve got four little dogs who were shut in the

kitchen. Luckily, there was an arm chair they could jump up onto, otherwise I

think they would have drowned in water. The fire brigade rescued them.

Customer research said: “…Not

everybody listens to local radio or knows

where to find it. If they sent a text message with the frequency

on it, that would be an effective way of communicating”

5000% increase in unwanted

calls

2802% increase in customer

minutes lost

Burst main in Sep 2014 resulting in 30,000 properties without water for an average of 37 hours (c100,000 residents) and flooding to properties near the burst

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Case study: Fisher Road, Kingswood

"I had only just had the house renovated and everything was new. But I have to give credit to Bristol Water, because they have let us choose all the new furniture and decorations to go into the house. Bristol Water made the best out of a difficult situation.”

The houses have been rebuilt from the bottom up. They were stripped

back to the brick and the drying took several months. Everything in the

ground floors is new.

“The flooding was terrible, it was devastating to lose all our possessions, but Bristol Water has been really good, both at the time of the burst and looking after us while our home as being repaired.” Fred Smith

8% of website traffic was via social media

Continual contact until

the job is complete – 8

months Informed our customer

communication strategy

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Customer experience strategy – focus areas and projects

Customer communication Embracing technology to provide the right

information for customers through the communication channel that they prefer

–

Proactive customer texts

Live chat, Twitter @Bristol Website improvements

External communications strategy

Customer satisfaction Making continuous improvements to ensure we can adapt to the changing

needs of our customers.

Steering groups that challenge our performance Data that drives improvement Fast response to customer issues Process improvements Evolving social policy

Consumer insight The insight from our customers will

influence business decisions to enhance customer satisfaction in the future

Review of PR14 Customer Challenge Group Online Panels Continuous consumer feedback Stakeholder engagement Customer journey

Customer centric organisation Our focus is to improve the culture of the organisation by putting the customer at the heart of every decision

Performance measures

SIM Top 5

Customer satisfaction

>93%

Value for Money >72%

Easy to contact >96.5%

Negative billing contacts <2,170

Customers in water poverty <1.8%

Reaching out to customers Sally Mills Head of Customer Experience

Sewer Flooding case study 1

• Four out of seven properties in a terrace suffering from sewer flooding • Two events in one week • Increasing severity • Both internal and external

• SWW attend site to clean up

• Customer Service Representative assigned to liaise with customers and keep them apprised of investigation

• Initial inspection suggests hydraulic overload as cause

• Further investigation indicates that hydraulic overload results from blocked culvert causing water to rise higher than the Combined Sewer Overflow preventing release of storm water

Sewer Flooding case study 1 cont..

• Culvert is not responsibility of SWW but owned and maintained by third parties

• SWW coordinate with County Council • identify responsibility for the culvert • notify the relevant third party of their duty to maintain the culvert • support initial clean up of culvert

• SWW act as intermediary between our customers and third parties • providing affected residents with a single point of contact throughout

the process

• SWW will remain proactively involved on behalf of our customers through to resolution

• Customers remain at risk of flooding during remedial works undertaken by third parties innovative flood defence kits provided enabling customers to protect their properties

Sewer Flooding case study 2

• Customer advises Meter reader during routine visit that she has a problem with her waste water facilities and that they hadn’t been working for three days

• Customer is elderly, confused and very distressed

• Meter reader calls for help and stays with customer

• Customer had previously phoned in and been advised that the problem was private based on the information that was given during the call.

• Customer Support Representative (CSR) arrives on site and rings Age Concern as worried about customers well being

• Customer known to Age Concern

• Waste Water team arrive on site to find cause

• Manhole in customers garden blocked and further investigation identified neighbouring manholes also blocked

• A previously unknown shared sewer identified– vactored until line clear

• CSR remained on site while work carried out to liaise with residents and mitigate noise complaints. Team left site at 10pm

• CSR returned to customers house the next day to check that she was okay and also to talk to residents re ‘love your loo’

Sewer flooding case study 2 cont..

• Demonstrates

• that customers individual needs are considered and additional support provided, when needed

• We stayed with the customer until we resolved the issue • Action taken

• Liaison with third party organisation gave us insight into the customer we didn’t have originally but when known we were able to support her and could ease her distress

• Customer now on priority services register • Learning point

• Improve the way in which we identify customers with additional needs/vulnerable and how we recognise when a customer is not able to provide the necessary information upon calling to prompt the right initial response from us..

Overall approach to affordability

• Watercare+ Programme • Restart • Freshstart • WaterCare Tariff • WaterSure Tariff

Financial support

• Restart • Freshstart • Watercare+ Programme

Changing habits

• CABx – Water Debt Gateway • Age UK/Carer Organisations • Social Housing Providers • Community groups • DWP

Access

A customer can benefit from one or more of the measures in order to get the right level of help at the right time

Customer feedback

• Positive about the experience

• Positive about the outcomes of the engagement

• Increased perception of both organisations

• Door knocking best way to engage

• Greater awareness of help available and where to go for it

Customer success stories

“I didn’t know any of this was available and I have to use the

bath several times a day”.

“SWW are easy and helpful. The door

knocking was effective as a method of informing

about the event, I wouldn’t have gone if they hadn’t knocked”

2015

March 2015 • Social landlord with c3,600 properties • Attended four resident engagement events

May 2015 •Affordability Awareness training to c30 staff •Our ‘Advice on Tap’ article was included in their monthly tenant E-magazine (distribution c1,500)

Aug 2015 • SWW hosted an Information and Advice day on an Estate in Newton Abbot (c500 properties), supported by Teign Housing, local Foodbank and Childrens Centre

September 2015 • Using their database (identifying tenants on housing benefit), joint letter distributed to c1,200 residents to promote our social tariff, application form and envelope included - c150 applications already received

Growing the partnerships

July 2015 •Drop-in sessions - Teign housing rent shop

November 2015 •Drop-in sessions - Teign Housing rent shop To come: •Revisit of estate in Newton Abbot •unmetered properties targeting

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

2000 2006 2007 2010 2011 2013 2015

Individual affordability schemes processed

2000 Vulnerable groups tariff - Watersure

2006 CAB

Sponsorship

2007 WaterCare Programme

2010 Freshstart

fund

2011 WaterCare

expanded to WaterCare+

2013 WaterCare

Tariff

2015 Partnership

working

Satisfaction with service

2010/11 2014/15

80%

90%

Customer satisfaction has increased by 10%

Value for money has increased by 13%

2010/11 2014/15

45%

58%

Customer benefits

Value for money

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SHOWCASE

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Sue Lindsay Wessex Water

CUSTOMER SERVICE VISION

1. Achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction

2. Make it as easy as possible for customers to interact with us

3. Build customer trust and loyalty

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• Very strong track-record in the water sector

• Strong embedded customer culture and dedicated staff

• Growing customer expectations

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

• Sums up the Wessex Water approach to customers

• GEM incorporated into: – Staff recruitment and training – Rewards and recognition schemes

• We ask our staff to:

– Look for opportunities to go the extra mile – Put themselves in the customer’s shoes and “imagine it was you” – Remember it is often the little things that make all the difference

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CUSTOMER INITIATIVES

• Growing choice of alternative contact channels

• Customer photographs

• Customer Care Team

• Multi channel customer feedback including Net Promoter Score

• Enhanced customer guarantees and Simply Thank You

• “Conversation on a page”

• Bill redesign

• Affordability action plan and new social tariff due to launch in April

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WATER SUPPLY – CUSTOMER SIDE LEAK IN MARLBOROUGH

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• Customer reported a possible leak on his own supply pipe - meter spinning when no water being used

• Within 2 hours, appointment made and Customer Care Team confirmed via text

• Inspector phoned customer when on his way

• Leak identified on PSP and inspector arranged for a repair under our free leak repair policy

• Customer Care Team confirmed repair date with customer by phone

• Team attended within 5 working days and leak successfully fixed for free

• Leak allowance applied to metered account

Message from Wessex Water: Appointment ref 027468561001 has been booked for 20 September at 2pm. Thank you.

Pls do not reply.

FEEDBACK FROM THE CUSTOMER

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“After suffering a failed boiler and discovering a leaking water service pipe one weekend I was dreading the hassle of getting this sorted out.” “”Customer service in this country is all too often pretty poor and it’s such a nice change to deal with a company that not only takes it seriously but one where every stage of the process is of the very highest standards.” From the initial call to completion every member of the team was positive, organised and delivered as promised.” “This ranks as one of the best I have ever dealt with.” “Pass on my congratulations to the team.”

WASTE WATER – INTERNAL FLOODING IN WEYMOUTH

• Customer called Christmas Eve with internal flooding

• Sewerage team called customer while on their way to reassure her – arrived within an hour

• Sewage coming through ceiling from blocked toilet. Manhole difficult to access

• Blockage identified in customer’s private stack pipe due to build up of rags

• Team called the customer’s landlord for her and explained the repairs we were going to do

• Blockage cleared after five hours on site and customer’s back yard cleaned – team left at 10.50pm

• One of the team returned in the New Year to meet the landlord and discuss remedial repairs he needed to do

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FEEDBACK FROM THE CUSTOMER

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GEM - OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER CARE

"We both wanted to get home but we knew it was an important day for the customer and stayed to get the job done," said Shaun. "The customer was very grateful and thanked us for our time and work," added Marcus.

IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

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