In the spotlight... Adam Jones

Can you tell us a little bit about your role at Welsh Water?

I’m a technician within the Water Regulations team, and as a team we are responsible for protecting our water supply from contamination. Our team is split into two parts; on one side we have the technical side, where I sit, which is more of a ‘back office’ function and on the other side, we have the water regulation officers who are our ‘boots on the ground’.

Part of my role involves making our customers aware of The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 and the legal requirement for customers to comply to these regulations. The regulations are in place to prevent the waste, misuse, undue consumption, erroneous measurement and more importantly contamination of the water we supply to our customers. It’s not as scary as it sounds, as these regulations are in place to protect our water and to keep the customer’s supply safe!

The regulations apply to all properties that we supply. However, we have a specific focus on those installations which pose the highest risk to our network and our customers. These include the likes of properties in the healthcare sector such as hospitals and care homes, but also those in the agricultural, industrial, and manufacturing sectors!

As an example, if a hospital were planning to extend or alter their supply, we need to make sure that the design for their new installation complies with the regulations. My role would be to contact the hospital to make them aware of the requirements before they begin any alterations. What we’ve found is that customers aren’t always aware of the regulations and can start building an extension that wouldn’t be legally compliant. So, my job is to make sure they have all the information at design stage so that the building process goes as smoothly as possible.

Once the work is complete, we’ll arrange for a Water Regulations Officer to inspect the work and give it the all OK!

What does an average day in your role involve?

What I love about my job is that no two days are the same. The water regs apply to every single premises that we supply, so one day I could be working with a local school, and the next at a huge manufacturing site. I’ve also been giving presentations to companies to make them aware of their requirements. So far, I’ve delivered 55 presentations to organisations including the NHS and Local Authorities to help them understand the regulations and what this might mean for any new design projects or extensions they have in the pipeline (excuse the pun!).

Last year I was also part of the team that worked with the temporary COVID-19 hospital buildings across Wales.

Most importantly, my role is to make sure that if any of our customers have any queries or concerns then I make sure that we let them know that we are here to help. If when we head down to inspect, there is an issue that needs solving, we would help to recommend a WaterSafe plumber to correct the problem.

Can you tell us more about why we work with WaterSafe plumbers?

In short, for a plumber to join the WaterSafe scheme, they must meet the three pre-requisites: they must have an appropriate plumbing qualification, they must have relevant levels of insurance to complete their works, and they then must also have a qualification in the water regulations. These three things combined gives our customers peace of mind that they are using a plumber that is competent.

At Welsh Water we’re currently offering a one-day training course for qualified plumbers to obtain a qualification in Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, completely free of charge.

One of the major blockers we experience when promoting WaterSafe is that plumbers would have to pay for their own water regulations training which can cost over £200! So, we’ve developed our own course, which has been certified by the wider Water Industry, and we’ve been offering this for free to eligible plumbers.

So far, we’ve delivered this training to 25 candidates over five sessions and have another 18 signed up for upcoming sessions.

We want as many qualified and eligible plumbers as possible to join WaterSafe, so if you’re interested, please register interest by following the link here.

Finally, as we look forward to spring and more sunshine (hopefully!) – what are you most looking forward to?

I’ve got a couple of events and breaks booked in for the coming months, so covid restrictions pending, I’m looking forward to those!