Water Services - Advantages of Service Level Agreement (LAs)

Transcription

1 Irish Water Asset Operations Plan Interim Price Control Submission Document No: IW-IPC-005

2 Contents 1 Executive Summary 4 2 Introduction 5 3 Background Overview Legislative Background European Directives Key Stakeholders Department of Environment Community and Local Government Environmental Protection Agency Health Service Executive Group Schemes and Private Water Supplies Local Government Efficiency Review Approach to Water Loss Management Data Deficit 12 4 Approach to Operations and Maintenance 13 5 Service Level Agreements Service Level Agreements Annual Service Plan Local Authority Capabilities and Protocols Transformation of Water Services Delivery via SLAs 16 6 Operation and Maintenance of Water Services Introduction Irish Water Utility Model Asset Operations & Maintenance Function Asset Operations & Maintenance Delivery Data Collection Work and Asset Management Transition of Key Operational Capabilities 22 7 Operational Improvements and Efficiency Initiatives Introduction 24 2

3 7.2 Operational Improvements Water & Wastewater Incident Response Plan Information Flow / EPA reporting Water Safety Plans Standard Operating Procedures Plant Performance Improvement SCADA/Telemetry Geographical Information System Water Loss Management Licensing of Trade Effluent Discharges to Sewers Operational Efficiencies Transforming Service Delivery Standardisation of Drinking Water and Waste water Operations Procurement & Optimisation Initiatives Reduction in spend under Irish Water s DBO contracts Summary 35 8 Operational Expenditure Summary Explanation of Movement from Materials Plant Hire (Repairs & Maintenance) Contractor Costs Labour Energy Central Overheads Budget Totals Approach to Management and Control of Costs 42 9 Constraints and Risks 44 3

4 1 Executive Summary The delivery of water services in Ireland has suffered from a severe lack of adequate investment for several decades. The existing infrastructure and network are in a perilous state, at high risk of failure, and not fit for purpose for Ireland s future needs. To date, a myriad of systems, processes and work practices have operated across the 34 Local Authorities (LAs). The approach to service delivery has relied significantly on personal knowledge and commitment of staff in individual LAs across the country. Management of water services delivery has suffered from incomplete or very poor data collection, inconsistent and inadequate asset analysis, varied local application of policy and standards, ad-hoc investment planning and limited application of risk management. This is not a sustainable approach to achieve effective and efficient service delivery. The establishment of Irish Water (IW) and the transfer of functions and assets, previously undertaken by the LAs, is a significant development for the State and an opportunity to deliver a more effective and efficient service. IW s main priority, during the transfer of functions and assets, is to ensure that there is continuity of service and no negative impact on customers at this time. The focus from 2014 will be to continue with the work of the Irish Water Programme (IWP) in establishing the people, processes and systems required to deliver water and wastewater services across Ireland. IW will, during the Interim Price Control period, identify areas where opportunities for improvement and efficiencies exist and deliver them for customers. This is against a backdrop of increased pressure on operational costs due to growth in the services delivered, in particular compliance driven growth. The key challenge for IW will be to transition processes and systems from the 34 LAs, circa 1,000 Water Supply Zones (WSZs) and circa 1,100 waste water agglomerations to a single set of processes and systems in a High Performance Utility Model. Central to this will be a concerted effort to collect data on the existing assets and operations and convert it to information and knowledge that can be used to deliver affordable services to meet the needs and expectations of IW s 1.8m customers. The Operations & Maintenance function in IW will play a key role in the delivery of safe, affordable and environmentally compliant water services to all customers. To this end, IW will require sufficient funding and resources to meet its vision, objectives and obligations. The absence of adequate funding would severely constrain the level to which services can be improved, economic growth supported and environmental compliance achieved. 4

5 2 Introduction This document sets out the framework, systems and processes for operation and maintenance of water services following the transfer of assets from the 34 LAs to a single national utility, Irish Water. The objectives of this submission are: To provide an overview of operations and maintenance activities associated with the delivery of public water services prior to transfer of responsibility to Irish Water on 1st January, 2014; To outline IW s plans to integrate water services delivery from 34 LAs into a single public utility to improve the asset operations and maintenance function; To outline the roadmap for improved service delivery; To outline the measures that IW will take to improve efficiencies in the delivery of water services and highlight the impact these efficiency measures; and, To set out the budget for Operations & Maintenance. The scope of this document includes the following: The operation and maintenance of public water supplies from source to tap, including the abstraction, treatment, storage and distribution of drinking water and treatment and disposal of all wastes and residues; The operation and maintenance of all public waste water services, including the collection, transfer, treatment and disposal of wastewater and the treatment and disposal of all wastes and residues. A glossary of terms and abbreviations used in this document is included in Appendix No. 1. 5

6 3 Background Prior to 1 st January, 2014, public water and waste water services in Ireland were managed by 34 Water Services Authorities (WSAs. 3.1 Overview The IW Operations & Maintenance function will be responsible for assets which are used in the provision of water and wastewater services. They include: The above ground assets for water supply (abstraction works, treatment plants, pumping stations and storage reservoirs) and below ground assets (trunk and distribution mains) used in the provision of drinking water for public water supplies; and The above ground assets (wastewater treatment, sludge treatment, pumping stations) and below ground assets (foul and combined sewers, sewage rising mains and outfall pipelines) used in the provision of public wastewater services. There are 1,027 Water Supply Zones (WSZs) and 1,069 Wastewater Agglomerations, spread across the State. There is a considerable difference in the scale of these WSZs and Waste water Agglomerations as shown in Tables 1 and 2 below. Category Throughput (m3/day) No. of Water Supply Zones E > 20, D 10,000 to 20, C 5,000 to 10, B 1,000 to 5, A <1, Total for Water 1,027 Table 1: Water Supply Zones Population Equivalent (p.e.) No. of Agglomerations >10, > 2,000-10, ,001-2, < Total for Wastewater 1,069 Table 2: Wastewater Agglomerations 1 1 Best available information on plant size; based on EPA Data 6

7 The operation and maintenance of waste water treatment plants (WWTP) serving the majority of the larger cities and larger towns in Ireland have been contracted by LAs under operational agreements to private service providers, under Design, Build and Operate (DBO) contracts or in a small number of cases operations and maintenance (O&M) contracts. There are c. 163 WWTP, serving approximately 75% of the total wastewater load, currently being operated by private service providers; a full listing is included in Appendix 4. The DBO model has not been used to the same extent for water treatment works (WTW); there are circa 36 WTW currently operated by private service providers; a full listing is included in Appendix Legislative Background Prior to the enactment of the Water Services (No. 2) Act, 2013, LAs were defined under the Water Services Act 2007 as the WSAs and were responsible for the provision of water services in their respective areas. Prior to the introduction of the Act in 2007, the LAs provided the service in their role as Sanitary Authority, based on a suite of legislation, dating back to the Public Health (Ireland), Act, European Directives The European Union has been responsible for introducing a number of Directives that impact directly or indirectly on the delivery of water and wastewater services in Ireland as they are transposed into Irish legislation. These Directives together with the Water Services Act 2007, were the key legislative instruments governing water services provision and operation in Ireland Key Stakeholders Previous model Department of Environment Community and Local Government The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) controlled the water service capital expenditure programme. Investment by the LAs in water services was guided by the policies and procedures of the DECLG. The DECLG provided capital expenditure funding under two programmes, namely the Water Services Investment Programme (WSIP) and the Rural Water Programme (RWP). Each LA applied to the DECLG for funding under the WSIP by completing and submitting an assessment of needs. On review, and subject to funding availability, a prioritised list of schemes was selected to form the Department s rolling three year WSIP. The process involved a considerable number of steps from the Assessment of Needs to the preparation 2 Following the enactment of the Water Services (No. 2) Act, 2013, Irish Water takes over the role of the local authorities und er these legislative instruments in relation to public water and wastewater services. 7

8 of a Preliminary Report, various approvals and on to obtaining approval of tenders. The RWP was an annual programme under which funds were allocated to WSAs for smaller public water schemes Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for technical/environmental regulation in Ireland and is responsible for setting out and enforcing standards as provided for under national regulations. Some of the EPA s main functions with respect to water and wastewater services include: Licensing and permitting of wastewater discharges (under S.I. 684 of 2007) Supervisory Authority for public water supplies (under S.I. No. 278 of 2007) Monitoring and inspecting treatment plants National environmental enforcement Preparation of reports on the provision and quality of drinking water and urban wastewater discharges Publication of guidance documents Co-ordinating research on environmental issues A significant amount of work has been carried out by LAs in recent years when submitting applications for Waste Water Discharge Licences and Certificate of Authorisations to the EPA. The EPA is required to report on the performance of urban wastewater treatment plants on a bi-annual basis. The most recent Focus on Urban Waste Water Discharges in Ireland report 3 was published by the EPA in February The report includes a review of the operation of waste water treatment plants at all urban areas that are subject to the waste water discharge licencing regime, mainly covering data for 2008 and Recommendations from this report can be found in Appendix 2 and include a number of recommendations that impact directly on operations and maintenance. As part of its supervisory role under the Regulations, the EPA maintains a list of public water supplies where remedial action or management action is required to ensure compliance. The EPA uses its RAL to focus attention on resolving any deficiencies in public water supplies and to ensure that WSAs prepare and implement an action programme for each public water supply on the list. 3 Focus on Urban Waste Water Discharges in Ireland report, published by the EPA in February

9 The EPA also publishes an annual report on the Quality of Drinking Water Supplies in Ireland. The most recent report for the year was published in December The report noted that the general improvement in quality of public water supplies over previous years was impacted by poor weather conditions in the summer of 2012, with an increase in the number of non-compliances for some chemical parameters. Extracts from the Report, including a paragraph on IW and key findings and recommendations for public water supplies are included in Appendix Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for the control of infectious diseases under Health Legislation and has a role in drinking water quality under the European Communities (Drinking Water) (No. 2) Regulations of The HSE has a key role in determining whether a supply of water intended for human consumption constitutes a potential danger to human health, deciding when Boil Water Notices should be issued and subsequently when they can be lifted Group Schemes and Private Water Supplies Approximately 80% of the population receive their drinking water from public water supplies. Group Water Schemes (GWSs), as voluntary cooperatives, provide potable water to rural communities in a number of counties and are represented by the National Federation of Group Water Schemes. It is estimated 5 that there are 632 Public GWSs (serving 2.3% of the population) and 433 Private GWSs (serving 4.3% of the population). LAs have statutory responsibilities under the Drinking Water Regulations 2007 in their role as Supervisory Authority for group water schemes. There group schemes can be divided into two categories as referenced above: Public Group Water Schemes are schemes where the water is provided by the WSA but responsibility for distribution of the water rests with the group scheme. In some cases, there is no longer a management structure in place to operate these schemes and LAs, in some cases, are de facto operating these schemes. Private Group Water Schemes are schemes where the owners of the scheme (usually representatives of the local community) source and distribute their own water. From 2014 Public GWSs will receive their water from IW and will consequently become customers of IW. 4 The Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland - A Report for the Year The Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland - A Report for the Year These figures are somewhat at variance with data from Census 2011 which indicates 8.8% of households are supplied by Public Group Schemes and 2.8% of households are supplied by Private Group Schemes. 9

10 Small private supplies and private wells provide drinking water to over 10% of the population. 3.4 Local Government Efficiency Review A Local Government Efficiency Review (LGER) was initiated following the downturn in the Irish economy in Some of the main achievements in the local authority sector resulting from the Local Government Efficiency Review are outlined below 6 : The achievement of gross savings of 839m in the period The sector has reduced staffing levels by 24%, or 8,899 from June 2008 The saving of 109m through procurement between 2010 and As water services account for approximately 20% of local authority budgets, the water services function would also have been impacted by the reform, including reductions in staff and cutbacks in expenditure. Typically budgets and staff were cut without any changes to systems and processes and impacting on maintenance of the asset base. It is generally accepted that there has been deterioration in the asset base during this period. One of the outcomes is that there is not an understanding of what the cost base for maintenance should be in order to achieve an optimal approach in the management of water services assets. 3.5 Approach to Water Loss Management A number of water conservation initiatives have been advanced over the last decade by LAs with support from DECLG under the Department s Water Conservation Programme. The National Water Conservation Programme divided water conservation works into three distinct phases: Stage 1 Network Management Systems; Stage 2 Active Leakage Control Programme; Stage 3 Mains Rehabilitation. The majority of LAs have completed Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the programme and have progressed to Mains Rehabilitation, in some cases cutting back on Stage 2 work. However, Stage 2 should be viewed as an on-going activity as part of an optimised water loss management strategy. 6 Summary document of CCMA submission to Local Government Efficiency Review Implementation Group County & City Managers Association (CCMA), July

11 Unaccounted for Water 7 (UFW) is one of two Service Level Indicators currently reported on by LAs through the LGMA 8.Notwithstanding the work undertaken over the last decade under the National Water Conservation Programme, UFW still remains above 40% on average across all of the LAs. There are a number of shortcomings in the current approach to water loss management: While there has been an improvement in the infrastructure to support water loss management over the last decade, there has been limited deployment of networ k management systems to assist operational staff detect leaks; Poor maintenance of field equipment, such as flow meters and data loggers; and, Variations in approaches to calculation of Non-Revenue Water, or UFW, across the LAs. The most recent data on UFW is for the year 2011 and there is a concern that UFW has increased since then due to cutbacks on active leakage control 7 The term "unaccounted f or water has been replaced by Non-rev enue Water as the term f or Water Loss. 8 Serv ice Indicators in Local Authorities 2011, Eighth Annual Report to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government by the Local Gov ernment Management Agency, April

12 3.6 Data Deficit At the core of asset management is a requirement for good quality data, which presents a major challenge to IW due to the limited asset data records and inconsistency of approach across LAs to date. There is reasonable information on the water supply networks; however, in many instances the data has not been updated in recent years. The waste water network has very limited information, with poor or fragmented mapping and although manhole and CCTV surveys were carried out occasionally, they are not centrally stored and lack referencing for confident integration to IW databases. The collection of data will be an on-going programme for IW as the business records information on several thousand above ground assets on operational sites and the water and waste water pipeline network. Data capture for the waste water collection network will be particularly challenging as this will require physical surveying for asset location, type and size and a CCTV survey for asset condition, where reliable data is not available. 12

13 4 Approach to Operations and Maintenance IW s approach to operations and maintenance is framed by organisation s vision and values. The IW vision is to provide a world class water infrastructure that ensures secure and sustainable water services for communities, the economy and the environment. The Operations & Maintenance values can be divided into four key themes: Responsibility; Expertise; Efficiency; Integrity. IW has been established to develop a progressive and efficient asset management operating model. IW has developed a roadmap transitioning asset operations and maintenance to a unified and integrated model which will deliver benefits for our customers. Key steps for the transition include: Establishing the people, systems and processes that are required to deliver the Operations & Maintenance functions in IW. This phased approach is reflected in the arrangements with LAs under Service Level Agreements (SLAs); Ensuring that there is continuity of service as responsibility for water services delivery and assets transfer to IW; Gathering data and building knowledge on water services assets and their operational performance; and, Working with partners, and in particular LAs, through SLAs and Annual Service Plans (ASPs) to improve on the effectiveness and efficiency in water services delivery. IW plans to achieve significant improvements in the delivery of water services that will in turn significantly improve service quality for customers, while improving efficiency. The improvements that are linked to the Operations & Maintenance function include: Fewer water supply restrictions Better pressure management Reduce unplanned interruptions Improve drinking water quality compliance Service request experience Water consumption and customer side leakage Network water loss/leakage Sewer flooding Wastewater discharge compliance 13

14 Energy efficiency and greenhouse gases emissions The challenges facing IW are great. Water services and infrastructure have suffered from decades of underinvestment while consumption, compliance obligations and customer/stakeholder expectations have increased substantially. The Operations & Maintenance function in IW has a key role to play in meeting these challenges. Data collection and harnessing the information and knowledge of LAs is a key priority for establishing a baseline for current service delivery and making improvements on a planned and phased basis. This will also allow IW to establish appropriate KPIs, baseline and target quantitative metrics in the coming years. 14

15 5 Service Level Agreements 5.1 Service Level Agreements The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 allows for the performance of functions by LAs on behalf of IW through SLAs and are subject to certain provisions under the Act. The SLAs put in place with each LA provide for continuity of service to customers, security for staff and LA revenues. At the same time, SLAs accommodate a degree of flexibility to deliver operational improvements and efficiencies from year to year, through Annual Service Plans (ASPs), in line with the strategic priorities of the business. SLAs are put in place for a period of 12 years and cover a range of topics from finance and communication to support services and technical and customer service. IW oversee SLAs through central and regional management to develop centres of excellence, to identify and implement best practice across the LAs, and coordinate all investment and maintenance planning. Improvements and efficiencies will be driven by: Procurement - driving quality and value in procured goods and services; Capital investment to save operational cost (energy, chemicals, storm flows and sludge reductions); Reducing demand at source (lower water consumption and reduced trade waste loads to sewers through enhanced license implementation and monitoring); Reduced waste in leakage from water mains and into/out of sewers; Extending automated asset monitoring systems across the asset base to central and regional control; Planned maintenance of critical plants; Integrated workflow management to optimise work on asset operations and customer response; and, Shared resources at regional level. 5.2 Annual Service Plan Each year IW and each LA will work together to prepare an Annual Service Plan (ASP) to articulate the operational objectives and initiatives for the following year. The ASP sets out the longer term goals and actions agreed to advance a 5 Year Plan. The ASPs will cover business transformation and change management, continuous improvement plans, transition from reactive to planned maintenance cycles and cost management. 15

16 5.3 Local Authority Capabilities and Protocols From 1 st January, 2014 LAs will generally continue to deliver services as they did prior to the transfer of assets and functions to IW, albeit operating under new protocols and procedures. Changes will be introduced on a phased basis, transitioning from the initial operating state to an enduring state. Water services have been divided into different capabilities each with its own protocols under the SLA. These protocols are the agreed ways of working between IW and LAs and are supported by a process flow map and process description. The capabilities include reporting, incident management, HSQE, procurement and customer contact. 5.4 Transformation of Water Services Delivery via SLAs The SLAs will minimise any risk to the continuity of service during the period of the transfer of assets and responsibilities to IW. Newly established regional offices will play a pivotal role in spearheading the transition of responsibilities and services from the LAs. The SLA will help promote collaboration between the LAs and IW and will achieve efficiencies and value for money. There is explicit recognition within the SLAs that efficiencies must be delivered, and that IW and the LAs will work together to define and deliver these efficiencies and other initiatives. A number of mechanisms built into SLAs will help manage performance and deliver efficiencies, including: Performance Management Frameworks to set baselines for current performance standards of the assets as operated by LAs; Annual Service Plan sets targets for improvement and identifies initiatives to help achieve these targets; Five Year Plan will capture long term transformation initiatives, capital programmes and re-organisation plans; and, SLA Reviews will be carried out by both parties at intervals to review commercial and operational performance. Achieving operational improvements and efficiencies through SLAs will require appropriate capital investment from IW. It will also take time to embed standardised processes and gather a comprehensive data set to help IW identify and prioritise improvements in assets and service delivery. 16

17 6 Operation and Maintenance of Water Services 6.1 Introduction This section outlines how the IW Asset Operations & Maintenance function will deliver water services over the period and details the framework and approach that will be adopted by IW across a range of functions. 6.2 Irish Water Utility Model Asset management is the best practice approach for water utilities in managing and operating water services infrastructure. The LAs capital investment, operations and maintenance functions have typically been operated as separate silos with poor or limited information available on the existing infrastructure and operations and no focus on the total lifecycle costs of owning and operating the assets. Part of the Government rationale to establishment of IW within BGÉ was to draw on the experience the networks business and their approach to asset management. This included experience from the Networks Transformation Programme which created a new Networks Operating Model to centralise the Asset Management function and optimise the use of Asset Management capabilities across the organisation. The Irish Water Programme (IWP), in conjunction with its service providers, has created an asset management system based on a high performance utility model for IW. The IWP has developed systems, processes and undertaken recruitment to implement the operating model for IW outlined in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Irish Water Operating Model. 17

18 While the establishment of an asset management approach for the delivery of water services in Ireland is a major undertaking and will take time to fully implement, it is expected that the systems and processes put in place will deliver significant benefits to IW and its customers over time including: Integrated delivery of public water services in Ireland, optimally positioned to meet the challenges of the changing environment; High Performing Business Processes and supporting information systems, to ensure on going operational efficiencies and better customer service; An enhanced approach to supply chain management resulting in significant savings over time; Asset optimisation to reduce operating costs while improving outputs; Improved control and management of risk; A 360 o view of assets through a centralised business solution; and, Improved data quality and ability to capture data in the field. 6.3 Asset Operations & Maintenance Function The high level Organisation Chart for the Asset Operations & Maintenance function is shown in Figure 2 below. Operations & Maintenance Regional Operations Operations Support Services Operational Planning & Control Centre Workflow Management Figure 2: Asset Operations & Maintenance Organisation Chart The team roles are as follows: Regional Operations: o Responsible for managing service provision via SLAs, DBOs, or other contractors; o Manage water conservation and connections; o Plan and oversee water and wastewater operations; o Oversee SCADA Alarm responses. 18

19 Operations Support Services: o Responsible for managing water and wastewater process analysis and optimisation; o Provision of sampling services for water and wastewater to ensure compliance. Operational Planning and Control: o Review and maintain contingency plans and coordination across LAs ; o Manage the short-term water production requirements for IW; o Manage contract delivery and vendor performance across operational contracts; o Manage alarms and events including 24/7 control of asset base. Workflow Management: o Oversee the initiation of service requests; o Identify bundling opportunities; o Identify work pre-requisites; o Create work orders to be progressed to LAs, service providers and IW s own Scheduling & Dispatch team. Given that there are over 1,000 WSZs and over 1,100 wastewater agglomerations spread across the country, the IW Operations & Maintenance function has been divided into 3 regions with 8 regional offices as follows: 1. Eastern and Midlands a. Dublin b. Mullingar 2. Southern a. Mallow b. Limerick c. Kilkenny 3. Connaught and Ulster a. Castlebar b. Cavan c. Donegal 6.4 Asset Operations & Maintenance Delivery A fundamental objective for the Operations & Maintenance function is to ensure that there is continuity of service to customers and that contingency arrangements are in place to deal with any issues that may arise during the transfer of responsibility. IW has identified a 19

20 number of key deliverables for the Operations & Maintenance function over the period 2014 to 2016: Implement SLAs and protocols; Improvements to water supply and wastewater treatment plants most at risk of noncompliance with regulations; Improve service delivery through efficient use of resources and levels of service; Rationalise Laboratory Facilities; Implement new workflow management process and systems; and, Identify opportunities for load management and plan efficiency improvements. Activities that will be undertaken by the Operations & Maintenance function in the period include: Management of 34 SLAs, including over 40 protocols, annual service plans and 5- year plan for each LA; Central approach to incident management; Improved compliance monitoring and reporting; and, Implementation of new workflow management and process on a phased basis. 6.5 Data Collection The creation of a robust baseline of data and information will enable IW to make correct and informed decisions for the future benefit of all of its stakeholders. The Interim Price Control period provides IW with an opportunity to address the existing data deficit. This will be achieved through greater engagement with water services personnel in LAs, suppliers and other stakeholders and will provide greater visibility of water services assets, operations, systems and skills. This will result in some improvements in 2014 but more importantly will be invaluable in establishing the operating regimes for 2015 and beyond. Significant gaps in data to be addressed include: Operational costs at a more granular level; The operation of the DBO contracts and the payment charges for the various contracts; Personnel engaged in various elements of water services delivery; Water supply and wastewater above ground assets; Water supply and wastewater linear assets to feed into an integrated GIS for IW; SCADA and Telemetry systems and reports on water loss/ufw at LA, WSZ and DMA level; Sampling, testing and reporting, in particular the arrangements in place in the various LAs for laboratory analysis; and, 20

21 Liaison with and reporting to the EPA on water supply and wastewater. As discussed in Section 4, data collection is a key priority for establishing a baseline for current service delivery and KPIs. The data collection exercise is significant and further work will be required in the next regulatory period in order to establish the level of data, information and knowledge required to support an effective and efficient asset management model for the delivery of water services. 6.6 Work and Asset Management IW will be responsible for the provision and management of a national Work and Asset Management (WAM) system as part of an integrated systems architecture that includes the following: Utility management systems; Procurement; Workflow management; Field staff management; Maintenance management systems; Stock control; Geographic information systems (GIS); Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Telemetry systems etc. The system is based on the software systems Maximo, Syclo and Click which, between them support the core processes of work and asset management (WAM) in addition to providing the back office support to field staff. The system will include the deployment of field force mobility (FM), or mobile technology, in the operation and maintenance of water services assets. It will involve the use by field operatives of portable hand-held devices which are integrated with the WAM/FM solution as follows: Maximo determines what work needs to be done based on maintenance schedules, reported incidents, customer orders, and certain categories of project work a nd passes the workload to Click; Click determines the optimal scheduling of that work to field crews by reference to business rules and its knowledge, received from hand-held devices, of the available resources in the area. The information is then passed back to Maximo which relays it onward to Syclo; and, Syclo is responsible for communication with the hand-held devices and sends work instructions to the field staff. It is also used to receive job information back from field staff via the hand-held devices to the core WAM/FM solution. 21

22 The WAM/FM solution facilitates the effective management by: Tracking costs associated with operating the assets; Analysing maintenance costs of all water services assets; Managing asset risk; Creating a repository and register for assets and associated information; Providing a more effective and efficient response to customer service requests; and, Reporting of all assets in the organisation. While the deployment of the WAM/FM solution is a fundamental part of the IW strategy to provide an integrated and consistent service delivery across the state, it will involve a significant change for field staff working with the various local authorities. The significance of this change has been taken into account in the design and deployment of the system which involves a number of stages as follows: Design Build Testing in a number of phases Impact Assessments Training Deployment, initially on a pilot basis in a number of local authority areas Post-Go-Live support 6.7 Transition of Key Operational Capabilities IW has identified a number of key objectives as it takes control of the Operation & Maintenance of water services via SLAs with LAs: Customer services should not suffer as a result of changes implemented at the time of the transfer of water services IW; Designing and implementing change at an operational level in treatment plants and networks will be done on a phased approach to avoid risks to service; and, IW s regional structure will support access to key operational data and new reporting and control lines. The transformation journey from the existing operational landscape to IW s enduring vision for the organisation will, in practice, be completed in a series of steps or operating states. IW and each LA will journey through a series of, up to three operating states for each of the ten functional capabilities outlined previously. Progression through the operating states will be contingent on both IW s and each LAs capability. IW s proposal for asset operations and maintenance during the Interim Price Control period will be centred on the management of 22

23 the aforementioned capabilities and their progression from Operations State 1 to the Enduring State. 23

24 7 Operational Improvements and Efficiency Initiatives 7.1 Introduction IW and LAs will work together to drive improvements in service delivery and meet cost efficiency requirements. IW will support and incentivise LAs to identify and deliver such initiatives. SLAs will facilitate the adoption of changes to operating procedures and the introduction of new technology to the water sector in Ireland. Anticipated benefits include: Savings arising from an optimal regional structure; Supply chain synergies from purchasing against centralised contracts; and, Performance improvements from increased preventative maintenance, improved asset management and adoption of modern technologies to manage activity in networks and plants. Although operations are traditionally thought of as field-based activities, there are a number of operational responsibilities and efficiency initiatives that are best undertaken and coordinated at a national level to drive consistency and efficiency and promote compliance with regulatory standards. IW has identified a number of structural, process and plant and network improvements and efficiency initiatives which over time will deliver tangible benefits to its customers. These initiatives are described in the following sections. 7.2 Operational Improvements Water & Wastewater Incident Response Plan LAs have an excellent reputation of being able to mobilise to deal with water and wastewater emergencies and protecting citizens and the environment. IW will manage emergency situations through SLAs and benefit, on behalf of customers, from LA experience and competency in this area. IW will also augment systems and processes to address incident response for both water and wastewater emergencies to ensure that there is a consistency in approach and national coverage. Drinking Water Incident Response: The Drinking Water Incident Response Plan (DWIRP) is a strategy and set of protocols for responding to contamination incidents or other incidents impacting the potable water supply. Each LA should have a DWIRP in place, in accordance with national guidelines, for its functional area. While the majority of LAs have already developed a DWIRP, IW will develop the policy, systems and processes to ensure that national coverage is in place. IW will review the existing DWIRP landscape and prepare an overarching plan to include information specific to each LA. 24

25 IW will provide management and technical support at both central and local levels in the event of an incident. It is anticipated that revised incident management protocols will benefit from the aggregation of both technical and physical resources that are currently available within the existing LAs, and ensure that national resources are available to overcome local incidents. Waste water Incident Response: Under the Waste water Discharge Licences (WWDL), the EPA stipulates that an Emergency Response Procedure (ERP) is required for each waste water agglomeration. Broad guidelines are provided by the EPA on the formulation of an ERP, however, a standardised document dealing with waste water incidents and suitable approaches to deal with the different stages of an incident (similar to the DWIRP) does not currently exist. IW has developed a Wastewater Incident Response Plan template that will be rolled out to all LAs between Information Flow / EPA reporting There has been an increase in the frequency and standard of reporting required under the Waste Water Discharge Authorisation Regulations, 2007, particularly relating to EPA licence applications. The establishment of IW provides an opportunity to have a more streamlined approach to meeting these requirements. IW will undertake a number of initiatives to support these reporting requirements including: A more streamlined and integrated approach to the compliance monitoring of drinking water and waste water discharges, including sampling, transporting, testing, analysis and reporting; An effective and efficient laboratory service to meet the various monitoring needs of drinking water and wastewater. This will require that compliance monitoring is undertaken in accredited laboratories by the end of 2015, in order to meet EPA requirements; and, Robust processes for monitoring from point of sampling to report outputs Water Safety Plans The EPA and the World Health Organisation (WHO) promote and encourage producers of potable water to adopt the concept of Water Safety Plans (WSPs). These plans ensure the safety of a drinking water supply through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approaches that encompass all the steps in the water supply process from catchment to consumer. Work has commenced on the preparation of WSPs for 45 WSZs and three WSPs have been completed. It is clear to IW that considerable work will be required to complete WSPs for all WSZs. IW will learn from the work undertaken to date and 25

26 engage with LAs that have built up a knowledge base in the preparation of WSPs in order to complete the remaining WSPs to be rolled out to other WSZs on a prioritised basis. The plans are considered to be an effective means of monitoring and mitigating operational risks and ensuring that potable water supply is both safe and secure. The benefits of WSPs to IW and its customers include the following: Increased compliance levels Integrated management tools to facilitate a safe and secure water supply; A structured approach to rationalising and documenting existing operational procedures, leading to gains on efficiency, improvement of performance and quicker response to incidents; Better targeted capital investments based on risk assessment; Improved management of existing staff knowledge and identification of critical gaps in skills for staff; and, Improved stakeholder relationships Standard Operating Procedures Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are used to maintain quality control and assurance processes and, above all, ensure compliance with regulatory/legal requirements. Operational work practices in the areas of water and wastewater treatment and network management differ greatly as each LA employs its own work practices and procedures. SOPs do not currently exist in all LAs therefore operations are often carried out using tacit knowledge. IW will develop a unified set of SOPs that will detail the organisation s expectations and standards for all operational field work. The SOPs will be developed with LAs and document the way activities are to be performed to create a consistent approach to product quality and system performance. They can be used to support the collection of good quality performance data. In the first instance, IW will rollout minimum standards which will be improved as LAs mature through the Operating States defined in the SLAs. The procedures will provide IW with a mechanism to carry out the following necessary operational tasks: Share best practice operating processes between regions through the exchange of documented knowledge; Carry out quality audits at a regional level; Understand the root causes of differences in performance between the existing LAs and use as a basis to improve performance across the asset base; and, Carry out continuous efficiency improvements and thereby minimise whole life costs of business operation. 26

27 Over time, and as the organisations operating model develops, IW will be better able to use the SOPs to minimise variation and promote quality through consistent implementation of processes across the organisation. The SOPs can be used to indicate compliance with organisational requirements Plant Performance Improvement IW is developing the policy, systems and processes for both water and waste water treatment plants in order to identify improvement and efficiency opportunities. WSPs will identify water treatment plants that will benefit from a plant performance improvement review. Similarly, the preparation of an Annual Environmental Report for each waste water agglomeration will identify waste water treatment plants that could benefit from a similar review. The plant process review for both water and waste water plants will be used to identify measures that, when rolled out on a wider scale, will produce quick gains for IW in delivering effective and efficient services SCADA/Telemetry IW has taken responsibility for a very significant asset base that provides essential services across the country. With this responsibility comes a need to develop a robust framework for managing infrastructure. To accommodate this IW will need an asset management regime that is driven by: An understanding of the risk of failure due to asset deterioration and/or capacity constraints; An understanding of the impact of increasing (or decreasing) levels of service on the remaining useful life of the assets; An understanding of the risk of asset failure as a result of external events that threaten their resilience (such as floods or fire); and, Whole-of-life cost optimisation where the assets will be operated, maintained and renewed as appropriate to support IW s level of service obligations. Crucially, each of these drivers can only be fully understood if reliable data is available in a timely manner to inform both short term and long term decision making. To that end, a Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system occupies a prominent position within the suite of tools and systems available to IW for collection, communication and analysis of data. While SCADA has been installed in the majority of larger water and waste water treatment plants constructed in the last 20 to 25 years, there has been no consistent approach to the deployment of the technology. The establishment of IW provides an opportunity to take a more integrated approach and deliver a roadmap which will maximise 27

28 the use of existing equipment and provide the right information in a timely manner and deliver significant benefits in terms of effective service delivery and efficiency. The inconsistent approach to deployment of SCADA poses a number of risks and issue, namely: Lack of software and security patch update policies; Security issues particularly the control element arising from the undefined communications, access control and software management Poor access control; Widespread use of unsecured low powered radio; Poor backup and disaster recovery systems. Imminent regulation of low powered radios by ComReg; Cyber security concerns; Extent of visibility of DBO plants via SCADA; Availability; Data compatibility; Cost including duplication of systems. IW is developing a strategy for SCADA/Telemetry that will be implemented on a phased and prioritised basis over this and the next regulatory cycle. In addition to meeting the needs of its stakeholders, it is envisaged that SCADA will play a significant role in achieving efficiencies for IW by: Providing visibility of water and waste water supply and assets at local, regional and central level; Building robust and secure communications infrastructure that takes account of the varying requirements at each site and geographical constraints; Reducing unnecessary visits to smaller plants and reducing need for 24/7 on site cover for larger plants; Supporting regulatory requirements on control, monitoring and alarms for chlorine disinfection and general compliance; Optimising active leakage control and pressure management; Supporting energy management and cost reduction activities; and, Moving, on a phased basis, toward a Central Operations Control Centre with regional, district and local access. The main benefits of investing in SCADA & Telemetry for IW include: Early intervention to resolve plant issues; Reduced operating costs; 28

29 Improved customer service; Mitigated risk of failure; and, Exploiting existing capacity Geographical Information System A Geographical Information System (GIS) is a critical tool in the management of linear assets such as water distribution and wastewater networks. This tool will used by IW to capture underground assets. An integrated GIS system for all IW assets will deliver significant benefits in managing linear assets, including improved response to customer queries and providing an essential tool for water loss management. It is expected that the system will be functional by the end of 2014, however the data capture exercise will take a number of years to complete and will run into the next regulatory cycle Water Loss Management Leakage or water loss management is a critical part of water services delivery and impacts both operational expenditures and capital investment plans. While the list of drivers for a leakage control strategy is extensive, the following drivers are considered most pertinent: Postponing infrastructure upgrades and optimising capex - focusing on areas where reduced leakage will postpone need for treatment plant expansion; Improving plant performance - some existing assets are operating at over 100% capacity, presenting compliance and operational issues; Sustainable water resource management; Reducing variable costs - leakage reduction will reduce energy and chemical demand and combined with pressure management, can significantly reduce unplanned burst repair costs; and, Stakeholder requirements - customers will rightly demand value for money and a quality of service. Revenue collection activities may suffer in the absence of demonstrable leakage reduction. Leakage management is integral to, and has dependencies on, almost all IW functions. Figure 3 illustrates the leakage management pillars including active monitoring and detection, speed and quality of leak repairs, pressure management and pipeline rehabilitation. All four pillars need to be considered to achieve optimum results from a Leakage Strategy. 29