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By Andrew Thornton, Head of Project Development (Northern Europe), Hach Ltd. Pacific Way, Salford, Manchester M50 1DL.

With the soaring cost of energy and chemicals and ever increasing pressure to find sustainable solutions, the water industry is in the same dilemma as many other large power and chemical hungry entities within the UK and further afield. The operation of existing infrastructure is associated with significant increases in operating costs, which are only going to rise further in the foreseeable future. Coupled with this is the ever increasing pressure to operate in a sustainable fashion and in the modern industrial world this has become a significant driver. However, unlike many other industries, the scope to find low cost, sustainable solutions is constrained by the fact that running alongside ever increasing costs are even more stringent discharge consent conditions. The development and implementation of innovative processes will go some way towards resolving this dilemma; however, without a large investment and capital outlay, it is difficult to foresee a short-term resolution. One can only assume that over the decades to come, much more sustainable capital projects will be implemented to counteract these issues. Still, the short term goal must be to find innovative ways of utilising existing infrastructure more efficiently.

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