Student Welfare Protected by a Tailored Water Contingency Plan

As a campus university, a reliable water supply is essential 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Accommodation blocks, catering buildings and welfare facilities are in constant use, meaning that any disruption to the university’s water supply could leave thousands of students with no other option but to leave campus and return home, leading to missed seminars and potential impacted academic performance. Something as simple as a burst water mains pipe in a nearby village could trigger a series of disruptive events, culminating in a decrease in feepaying student satisfaction ratings that may be negative to the university’s award-winning ranking.

Prepare for the worst scenario, ensure the best outcome

Issues with water supply were not unknown to the university. A burst pipe in a neighbouring village had previously left the university without
a water supply, which caused major disruption for students, faculties and staff. Without a water contingency plan, the university had to make the
difficult decision to cut its services while the leak was repaired. This disruption led the university to appoint Water Direct to complete an extensive risk assessment and continuity plan.

Protecting the education sector

An interruption to the water supply can take  days or even weeks to repair, which for a campus accommodating around 10,000 students each year,
is an unacceptable risk. A WaterTight contingency plan from Water Direct carefully considers the risks and consequences involved in unexpected
water supply interruption and provides advice on mitigation measures to help minimise the impact.

In the case of the university, its site-specific emergency plan includes bottled water for staff and students, static tanks for an alternative supply,
and assured delivery by one of our 30,000 litre water tankers to fill tanks that can be plumbed directly into the mains supply using predefined
water pressures. WaterTight doesn’t just help organisations prepare for total loss of water, but also covers most negative water scenarios, which can include low pressure and contamination.

As a business, your water supply is not the responsibility of your water utility company

Only one third of businesses are aware that it’s their responsibility to organise an alternative water supply during an outage, meaning two thirds of UK businesses are leaving their water supply to chance. Water Direct developed WaterTight to help businesses build robust, fit for purpose continuity plans. WaterTight is designed to leave nothing to chance, providing an extensive site, operational and infrastructural audit to help us complete a thorough risk analysis.

24/7 Support, 365 days a year

Over a typical 12-month period, the Water Direct team delivers hundreds of millions of water to private and public sector organisations across the UK; with uncontrollable elements like extreme weather conditions and ageing water infrastructure, having a proper contingency plan in place should be a top priority.