HYDROFLO ADDS TO ITS

WATER PORTFOLIO

HydroFlo Inc of Raleigh,North Carolina, USA, hasformed a new companycalled Ultra Choice WaterInc (UCW), which will pro-vide water treatment systemsto commercial and residen-tial customers for a lowmonthly fee.

The systems use a waterpurification medium, suppliedby HydroFlo’s subsidiary Met-als & Arsenic Removal Tech-nology Inc (MARTI), whichhas been shown to significant-ly reduce bacteria, includingColiform, E. coli and Staphy-lococcus aureus, according tothe company. It also removescontaminants, such as arsenic,copper, zinc and lead fromdrinking water.

The company’s commer-cial customers have access to apoint-of-use water cooler,which provides purified waterwhen connected to a standardwater line, and does notrequire water bottles.

HydroFlo is offering itsresidential customers ‘UnderCounter and Whole HouseUnits’, which are attached to ahousehold’s water system orsink, and produce clean,arsenic-free, bacteria-con-trolled water.

NEW RESEARCH:“SOLAR

ENERGY FOR DESALINATION”

In Australia, the Common-wealth Scientific & Industri-al Research Organisation(CSIRO) has formed analliance with thermal desali-nation specialist Aqua Dyneto conduct research intowater purification and waterremediation, which will ini-tially focus on the use of solarenergy for water desalina-tion.

The first step will involvethe relocation of Aqua Dyne’spilot plant from Staplyton –between Brisbane and theGold Coast – to CSIRO’sQueensland Centre forAdvanced Technology in Bris-bane. The plant is expected tostart operating in June, withthe solar research projectscheduled to be completedtowards the end of 2005.

CSIRO’s division of explo-ration and mining will beresponsible for the researchactivities, and Commonwealthfunding will be applied for ona project-by-project basis.CSIRO says that this solarenergy project will have enor-mous potential for remote min-ing areas and more widely forremote townships in coastaland inland Australia andthroughout the world.

According to CSIROresearch scientist Pat Glynn,the combination of knownsolar technology and AquaDyne’s thermal desalinationtechnology overcomes thegreenhouse gas issue; thisoften causes concern whenelectricity or diesel is used topower desalination processes.

Glynn says: “Our initialresearch indicates that we willneed solar collecting panels of1000 m2 in area to produce 0.5million litres of desalinatedwater per day. This size willalso produce surplus steamwith the potential to run a gen-erator capable of producingelectricity for use in a mine, ortownship, or which could besold to the grid.”

Furthermore, claims thereport, technology arisingfrom the solar project has thepotential to slash the price ofthe desalinated water by 50-60% to only 15-30 cents perkilolitre, compared with 70-80cents currently charged byQueensland Councils for waterderived from rainwater storesin dams.• Aqua Dyne’s JetWater sys-

tem can be used for a widerange of desalination

applications covering seawater, brackish groundwaterand remediation of industri-al wastewater.

SEVERN TRENT JV BEGINS UK MOD DEFENCE

PROJECT Coast to Coast Water Ltd(C2C), a joint venturebetween Severn Trent Ser-vices and engineering andconstruction group Costain,has begun providing waterand wastewater services toaround 1500 of the UK’sMinistry of Defence (MOD)sites in south-eastern, east-ern and northern England.

The work, known as Pro-ject Aquatrine, was awarded toC2C during 2004, followingthe signing of a US$1.9-billioncontract, which is set to last for25 years.

According to the compa-nies, the project is the firstmajor public-private partner-ship (PPP) in the UK watersector in which water andwastewater services will beavailable for a diverse andwidely dispersed area outsideof the regulated water industry.The contract calls for the trans-fer of responsibility for themaintenance and operation ofthe MOD’s water and waste-water assets to the private sec-tor, while the MOD concen-trates on its core defenceactivities.

Severn Trent Services, aleading supplier of water andwastewater treatment systemsand services is based in FortWashington, Pennsylvania,USA. It is a member of theUK’s Severn Trent Plc groupof companies.

JBIC’SROMANIAN POLLUTION

PROJECT The Japan Bank for International Cooperation

April 2005N

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Filtration Industry Analyst

Filtration Company Index

AEWT 3

Alfa Laval AB 9

C2C 2

Ceco Env Corp 10

Clarcor Inc 11

CSIRO 2

Davey Products Pty Inc 4

Donalson Co 1

Dorr-Oliver Eimco 1

Entegris Inc 5

Fibermark Inc 3

Fleetguard Inc 4

Frost & Sullivan 3

Gartner Inc 4

General Electric Co 11

GE Healthcare 13

GE Infrastructure 4

GL&V Inc 12

Groupe Laperrière &

Verreault Inc 1

Hydroflo 2

JBIC 2

Jones & Attwood Ltd 1

Kurita Water 13

Mann+Hummel 13

McIlvaine Company 6-7

Metals and Arsenic Removal

Technology Inc 13

MTR 13

Mykrolis Corp 5

NV Bekaert SA 10

Pall Corp 13

Pentair Inc 8

Perma Pure Lle 13

Polymer Group Inc 13

Sartorius BBI Systems Inc 13

US Filter 13

The Weir Group plc 12