
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
In the past 20 years Black & Veatch have undertaken over
50 research projects for organisations such as UKWIR, CIRIA
and DEFRA and has a long history of providing specialist advice
to the UK water industry. More recently Black & Veatch
has also undertaken projects for the US water industry through
AwwaRF and WERF.
One recently completed project for UKWIR identified the causes
of discolouration events within distribution and developed
a risk based assessment process for identifying vulnerable
areas. The process is structured such that it can be readily
incorporated into company analysis and reporting procedures
using data from existing company databases. The assessment
process is already being used as the basis for the ‘proactive
investigations’ in one water company’s DOMS. The
project included a review of the benefits and limitations of
various technologies and control methods for reducing the risk
of discolouration.
Table summarising research contracts undertaken since 2000