Building a Reliable and Clean Water Supply Infrastructure for Music Festivals.

Any large-scale music festivals taking place on a remote greenfield site requires implementation of a reliable clean water supply and refill service. Water suppliers must comply with numerous regulations and organisers must take into account the various uses needed. What steps should be considered when planning for festival site water supplies and infrastructure.

Building a reliable water supply infrastructure on a festival site can more complex than just ordering water tankers to turn up. Festival-goers expect ‘always-on’ fresh drinking water along with water for washing, and, vendors will have similar expectations to cover their needs when operating any food and beverage services. Organisers also need to consider how water is distributed on a site and how wastewater is managed.

Essential Water Uses.
A large festival with thousands of festival-goers can have substantial needs for fresh water, especially during the hot weather typically experienced at summer events. A typical festival-goer needs up to 5 litres of fresh drinking water every day for hydration but this can increase to 10 litres in extreme heat. Toilets and showers can consume vast quantities of water, but organisers are moving towards dry composting toilets to reduce overall usage. Other uses are handwashing stations which must supply clean water to meet strict hygiene and sanitation requirements. Food and beverage vendors need fresh water for food preparation, handwashing and dishwashing. Organisers will also be responsible for wastewater management which includes the correct disposal of black water. In some cases, treated grey wastewater can be used as festival site dust suppression spraying during hot and dry seasons.

Regulatory Compliance.
Festival organisers usually appoint a contractor to supply and manage their on-site water supplies and refill services. It is essential that the chosen supplier complies with any prevailing regulatory requirements specific to the location of the festival. This can include compliance with backflow prevention (BS 8551:2026) where all plumbing connections must have double check valves and must be PFAS-Free (manufactured without polyfluoroalkyl substances containing no fluorinated polymers). The water used by vendors for dishwashing should meet hygiene codes to achieve thermal rinse temperatures of 71°C. Contractors will also be responsible for creating water monitor logs to meet the health and safety requirements for turbidity and pH levels of water supplies.

Contractor Selection.
The water contractors selected for a festival site should ideally have substantial experience of the operational management of all water needs on a remote site. Organisers need to specify the number of festival-goers and likely water volume requirements, contracts are likely to indicate a guaranteed volume of quality water without going into specific technical details. Contractors will also be obliged to meet regulatory requirements and ensure that there is a circular loop where wastewater is collected and if appropriate (grey water) is filtered and reused for dust suppression for example. In some cases, organisers will request that chosen suppliers implement smart water grids for comprehensive metering and monitoring which can improve safety and contribute towards more sustainable water use.

Logistics and Installation.
It is essential to maintain a constant supply of fresh clean water and the use of smart water grids can ensure that water pressure and quality is constantly monitored in real time. The use of digital metering enables the transmission of real time data that tracks peak usage times allowing water pump speeds to be adjusted to meet demand. Other monitoring essentials include water pressure management where variable frequency drive pumps ramp up power when sensors detect a drop in pressure. The real time monitoring of water usage enables suppliers to determine when on-site tanker supplies will need to be replenished and is an essential part of the refill strategy to ensure that no drinking station ever runs dry. It is common for festival sites to install High-Flow Manifold systems that allow more than 10 people to fill bottles simultaneously, for example. In addition, the use of Inline Heat Exchangers or "Ice-Jacketed" pipes for the final 50 meters of the water supply system to drinking stations helps to keep water below 15°C.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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