Summer internship with United Utilities
Andrew Harris (BSc Environmental Science Graduate) recently completed a three-month summer internship with United Utilities at their head office in Warrington.
After graduating from Lancaster in Summer 2018, I began my internship at United Utilities, which is the largest UK water company that provides water and wastewater services in the North West. I became interested in the water industry after completing the 3rd year module LEC.373, “Water Resources Management”, a very interesting course that provided me with a comprehensive technical background in waste water treatment processes. After applying through the Faculty of Science and Technology Internships website, I had a successful phone interview with United Utilities. I believe that completing a piece of coursework for LEC.373 involving a water quality review of a Sewage Treatment Works made me stand out as an ideal candidate for the internship.
I worked within the Environment Policy and Regulation Team, which involved the management of environmental permits for wastewater discharges from assets around the North West. I took responsibility for reviewing a number of these permits, ensuring that the correct information was always supplied to the Environment Agency, who ensure water companies are environmentally compliant with European legislation such as the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. Alongside working in environmental permitting, I also delivered my own project called the “Stakeholder Account Management Plan”. Managing my own project was a challenge, but was a great experience that has encouraged me to pursue a future career in Environmental Management. The team I worked with at United Utilities were wonderful and constantly supported me throughout my internship.
Working at United Utilities was a fantastic experience, and has put me in a strong position to enter the graduate job market. I highly recommend students look out for the next summer internship scheme.
