Saving Water in Lincolnshire with the Environment Agency

For Water Saving Week, we’re celebrating some the fantastic projects that our fast-paced Water team have been seconded to work on.

Area Manager, Amrik Randhawa, is currently seconded to the Environment Agency as a Senior Project Manager in the East Midlands within the Water Resources team. We caught up with him again on his secondment and how the work he’s doing is, in his words, “writing the future”.

Amrik’s work with the Environment Agency in Lincolnshire falls into two areas; asset management and improvement and strategic planning for the future. The main sources of water here are the River Trent, River Witham and River Ancholme, which is where Amrik focuses his expertise. But what exactly does his work entail?

Asset Management

Water resource assets can include everything from reservoirs, to pumping stations and pipelines – essentially the means in which we abstract water for us to use. Amrik and his team at the Environment Agency work to make sure these assets are maintained effectively and used correctly to deliver the appropriate level of service for customers. Maintaining these assets helps them to last longer, saves money and also ensures minimal disturbance to the surrounding eco-system and ultimately less disruption to wildlife.

Strategic Planning

The water cycle is incredibly complex and numerous steps occur before water reaches our tap. Believe it or not, water isn’t an endless resource that can be over-consumed and therefore must be carefully distributed for domestic/commerical, industrial, and agricultural use. In the last few decades, water has been running thinner in the UK and across the globe due to an increased demand and climate change – resulting in more frequent drought-like conditions. However, it’s not all doom and gloom! Amrik and his team are taking a proactive approach – planning interventions to ensure that water is abundant for everyone, without draining the planet. This approach will enable water supply in Lincolnshire to be more resilient to climate change, whilst reducing carbon emissions by using renewable energy sources where possible.

So, is the future bright?

Amrik’s expert work with the Environment Agency should ensure resilience and secure water availability to customers over the next few decades. Despite the changing climate, the collaboration between industry-bodies and stakeholders, along with our efforts to reduce and think more about consumption at home should guarantee a bright and water-rich future for everyone. It’s time to work with climate change, rather than against it.