18 Wetland Futures Report 2013: The Value of Healthy Wetlands
Constructed wetlands: a water company perspective
Dr Gabriela Dotro, Waste Water Research and Development, Severn Trent Water
The International Water Stewardship Standard
Claire Bramley, Water Stewardship Manager, WWF
Gaby gave an overview of how a water company uses
wetlands in its treatment process. Severn Trent Water first
used a reed bed in its processing in 1997 and now has
over 600 in 330 sites. Reed beds are used as part of
the treatment process for a number of reasons including
low to no energy demand, low CO2 emissions and lower
cost than alternatives such as sand filters as well as reed
beds effectively filtering out a high percentage of total
suspended solids.
Gaby highlighted a project which is being carried out
in partnership with Cranfield University looking into
constructed wetlands in the agricultural landscape and
WWF’s work on water stewardship helps governments,
companies, investors and others understand their water
footprints and become better water stewards. Beyond
water footprints and reducing the impact of individual water
users, WWF urges companies to look outside their own
operations. We are helping redefine the role of the private
sector in advocating, supporting and promoting better basin
governance, for the benefit of people and nature.
The
Alliance for Water Stewardship
(AWS) is a
collaboration amongst some of the world’s leading
advocates for water stewardship who are committed to
driving collective responses to shared water risk through
a stakeholder-endorsed International Water Stewardship
Standard. AWS regional initiatives are active in Australia,
Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North
America, with additional outreach to many other parts
of the world. While the AWS Standard is international in
scope, its application will be based around successful
how, amongst other things, they can help decrease
pesticide runoff from reaching water courses.
Gaby is also involved in
Wetpol 2015
, the International
Symposium on Wetland Pollutant Dynamics and Control,
a platform to discuss the issues of human caused
pollution in wetlands, and to the importance of wetlands
in controlling that pollution.
local partnerships through which decision-making on
watershed-level actions are developed by all those with
a stake in water management. This combination of
international and local partnerships aims to generate
a positive cycle of learning and innovation through
which lessons learned in one location or sector can be
replicated, applied and further developed in other settings.
The standard is still in the development stage and has
yet to be tested in the UK context. However, it has the
potential to provide a framework which supports wider
engagement in water management and therefore wetland
conservation.
