wwi 2012 oct-noi

October/November 2012 - Vol. 27, Issue 5

www.wwinternational.com

• Veolia Water CEO Jean-Michel Herrewyn on the record • Water Quality Trading in the US

• UV Ballast Treatment Market • Israel’s Smart Bubble Aeration • Technology Round-up: Pumps

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Cover image courtesy Istockphoto

ContentsOctober/November 2012 Vol. 27 Issue 5

$67 Single copies US & Int’l, $44 Digital (worldwide)To receive this magazine in a digital format, go to wwi.omeda.com

23 34 38

Technology Roundup

Editorial FocusGREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

20 The Aqaviva project in France claims to be the world’s first carbon

neutral wastewater treatment facility. Now that it’s operating, do these

claims still stand up? A look into the facility operation details and whether

the model can be replicated globally.

UV, OZONE & ADVANCED OXIDATION NEEDS

24 Smart bubbles: with wastewater oxidation leading to high utility

energy bills, aeration manufacturers are competing to offer the most energy

efficient solutions. Israeli firm Diffusaire claims its solution can cut aeration

energy requirements in half.

GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT & FLOW MODELLING

43 A new report from the USGS has documented data on dissolved

methane concentrations in groundwater across New York.

Are increasing gas fracking operations from shale formations having an

impact on this?

4 Perspective

6 News

48 Technology Roundup: Pumps, Motors & Drive Systems

50 Product Review: Ion Exchange & Filtration Systems

52 Ad Index/Web Promo/Diary

WATER LEADER FOCUS

12 Veolia Environnment is increasing its industrial water solution activity,

yet sold off its UK regulated business earlier this year. CEO Jean-Michel

Herrewyn speaks exclusively to WWI about how and why.

CREATIVE FINANCE

16 The latest report from industry analysts Frost & Sullivan investigates

the developing water industry in the GCC. Growing confidence in mem-

brane desalination and wastewater reuse is helping investment.

Regulars Regional SpotlightAMERICA/CARIBBEAN

28 Ballast Backlash? With IMO Convention ratification delayed, US states

such as New York and California have set their own requirements. How will

these regional and national regulation tie in together and affect manufacturers?

34 Is Water Quality Trading the new American dream to bring utilities and

the agricultural sectors together? Would upstream thinking prevent costs

downstream? NACWA addresses these questions after urging the EPA to

reconsider its policy.

38 Whole Lotta Lead: By early 2014 news rules will affect the use of lead

in water meters being used in contact with drinking water across the US.

Now is the time for utilities to plan for the Reduction of Lead in Drinking

Water Act.

40 PepsiCo’s Casa Grande facility in Arizona has achieved almost com-

plete wastewater reuse, thanks to a UF/MBR and UV combination. A look

at the facility set up and Q&A interview with director of water stewardship,

Liese Dallbauman.

48 Portable drum pump to handle acids and caustics; centrifugal pumps

part of £1.25 wastewater facility refurbishment; multi-vane Contrablock Plus

pump impellers from Sulzer; Grundfos launches S-tube impeller across the

Pond to the US market; patent awarded to Blue-White for its peristaltic

pump safety switch; global mine dewatering pump expansion for Xylem;

a 630 series pump now available for sodium hypochlorite from Watson-

Marlow and EZstrip pump range expansion for NOV Mono.

Product Review50 Hybrid deionization system launched by Pentair; stainless steel separator-

filter from TLV; microfiber pile cloth media; GE boosts UF, MBR, RO and elec-

trodialysis ranges and sensor technology to help optimize water filter backwash

monitoring.

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3www.wwinternational.com October/November | 2012

SUBSCRIBER SERVICE: P.O.Box 3264 Northbrook, IL USA 60065-3264, Tel: (847) 559-7501 Fax: (847) 291-4816 E-mail: [email protected], Water & Wastewater International is published six times a year. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or

personal use is granted by Water & Wastewater International. No part of Water & Wastewater International may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher. The statements made or opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect

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PETER S. CARTWRIGHT President Cartwright Consulting Co. [Oegstgeest, The Netherlands]

FRÉDÉRICK COUSIN, PRODUCT MANAGER Degrémont Technologies [Paris, France]

BEATRIZ LÓPEZ LINARES Environmental Superintendent DaimlerChrysler [Toluca, Mexico]

IAN LOMAX Global Marketing Manager - Desalination Dow Water Solutions [Rheinmuester, Germany]

PAUL OVERBECKExecutive Director International Ozone Association-PAG and International Ultraviolet Association [Phoenix, USA]

ANDREW WARNESSenior Product Manager - Systems Pentair Residential Filtration - A Joint Venture of GE & Pentair [Chicago, USA]

EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

PUBLISHER Timm Dower

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Editorial OfficesPennWell Corporation1421 South Sheridan RoadTulsa, Oklahoma 74112-6600 USAT: 918-831-9176

ISSN: 1069-4994


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Perspective

4 www.wwinternational.comOctober/November | 2012

Water and power are like an old mar-

ried couple. They’ve been dependent

on each other for years but don’t re-

ally like to admit it. They can act inde-

pendently but secretly, deep down, they know they

rely on each other for getting by in the world.

The marriage analogy has also been translated

into a buzz-word, namely the water-energy nexus.

Usually I’m not a big fan of buzzwords. They are

over and wrongly used by many. For once, I agree

that this buzzword can justify all of the hype.

I was invited to speak on this very issue at the

recent Independent Powers Producers Forum

retreat in Bangkok, right after PennWell’s Power-

Gen Asia event.

Water and power have been intrinsically linked

since the dawn of man. By its very nature water is

heavy and requires

a lot of energy to

transport it from

source to tap. After

all, 10% of global

electricity demand

is taken by water

pumping alone.

And of course,

water is a neces-

sity for power plant

operations. Cool-

ing, cleaning and

steam production

all rely upon this

natural element.

Yet the million

dollar question is

whether there are

indeed market

opportunities for

either industry looking to cross over? If the prog-

ress of Veolia Environnement’s efforts are any-

thing to go by then I would say yes.

As you can read from the exclusive interview

with Veolia Water CEO Jean-Michel Herrewyn

starting on page 12, the f rm’s technology sup-

plier subsidiary has seen a 35% increase in its

industrial activity over the last three years alone.

This is an exemplary tale of a company experi-

enced in providing water as a service, consolidat-

ing this activity in markets such as the UK, and

really seeing the benef ts of increasing its technol-

ogy arsenal for industrial clients.

We’ve already seen how water companies are

offering the service of power production to help

secure projects. Take Hyf ux’s bid for Singapore’s

second desalination facility – Tuaspring – it plans

to build its own 400MW+ power plant alongside

the water plant and sell excess power to the grid.

Globally, the challenge of providing enough

water to generate power which can then be used

to transport water (I know, it gets confusing) is

upon us. Estimates from the World Energy Coun-

cil suggest that water needed for power pro-

duction is expected to double over the next 40

years. By 2050, total power demand for water is

expected to increase by 100 billion m3.

As can be seen in the Creative Finance article

on the GCC’s water sector development on page

16, Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) technologies are

predicted to gain more traction in the Middle East

and globally.

Brine leftover from wastewater processing by

membranes is treated by evaporation and crys-

tallation leaving only salt crystals or dry cake,

which can be disposed of. As in the name, no

liquid is left to discharge – particularly useful for

areas where it’s environmentally, or politically, dif-

f cult to simply discharge treated eff uent.

Food and drink manufacturers are also a key

target for major technology suppliers. On page

40 you can read how Pepsico is reusing 75% of

its water onsite at a crisp production facility in Ari-

zona using Ultraf ltration and Membrane Bioreac-

tor technology. This facility has been touted as a

f agship project in the company’s journey of con-

serving nearly 16 million cubic meters of water in

2011, from a 2006 baseline.

It’s clear that the water industry's role is chang-

ing. Whereas in the past water and power utilities

could be accused of silo-thinking, acting and of-

fering separate businesses; these times are over.

And just like with the elderly couple mentioned

earlier, I’m hoping it’s a marriage that ends up

happily ever after. Enjoy the issue. WWi

Water & Power: Kick-starting the Old Marriage

“Estimates from the World Energy Council sug-

gest that water needed for power production is

expected to double over the next 40 years”

Tom Freyberg

Chief Editor

In a pincer like movement increasing environmental standards and

potential cost savings are forcing the power sector to upgrade

and invest in advanced water technologies. Will the water-energy

nexus become even more promiment in future years?

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6 October/November | 2012 www.wwinternational.com

Worldwide News Europe

The municipal water and wastewater treatment chemicals market in Western Europe

is growing, driven by the increasing demand for cost-effective chemicals and rising envi-

ronmental concerns. Stricter regulations at both national and regional levels are further

propelling market expansion.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan - Analysis of the Municipal Water and Wastewater

Treatment Chemicals Market in Western Europe - f nds that the market earned €2.6

billion in 2011 and estimates this to reach €3.1 billion in 2018.

“Water and wastewater treatment chemicals used throughout Western Europe

need to comply with strict standards related to safety, hygiene and quality,” explained

Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Anna Jarosik. “Such regulations are anticipated to

fuel water and wastewater treatment chemical development, leading to overall im-

provements in water and wastewater quality.”

‘Green’ legislation will compel municipal water and wastewater treatment chemicals

manufacturers to continuously improve their chemical solutions and treatment process-

es through the development of cost-effective and energy-saving solutions.

“There is a real need for innovative, sustainable, and economically viable water and

wastewater treatment solutions,” added Jarosik. “Chemicals that offer a competitive

price-performance ratio, have value-added features and that can be made readily avail-

able in customized volumes will also experience strong demand.”

EU regulations and environmentally-friendly policies strongly determine the direction

of the municipal water and wastewater treatment chemicals market. Directives and

regulations, typically national, specify water quality and even def ne the chemicals that

can be used for treatment.

Following operating experience

from a 500 m3/day pilot plant in El

Gouna in Egypt, a low temperature

distillation process has been launched

which claims to produce water using

less than 1.0 kilowatt hour per cubic

meter (kWh/m3).

Called the Watersolutions low

temperature distillation (LTD) sys-

tem, the process is based on the

principle of low temperature distil-

lation and claims an operating cost

of between one third and half of

existing processes, according to

the company.

LTD condenses water at low

temperature and pressure, using

waste heat (50 - 110° C) from ther-

mal processes including renewable

energy sources such as solar energy

or geothermal energy.

Signif cant amounts of low

grade waste heat (6 - 30 MW) are

required that have to be generated

from sources including thermal

power plants, district cooling sys-

tems, general industry, mining and

waste incineration.

Watersolutions said the LTD sys-

tem with one cascade can produce

pure water at less than 1.0 kilowatt

hour per cubic meter (kWh/m3) in

contrast to SWRO which typically

uses 3.5 – 4.5 kWh/m3 of water

production.

The company said that 1.5 m3

of seawater is needed to produce

1.0 m3 of clean water (< 10 ppm of

dissolved solids).

Units are available in two sizes

– a large module that produces

1000-2000 m3/d (pending the

amount of waste heat available and

number of cascades) and a me-

dium module with capacity of 500-

1000 m3/d.

According to the f rm, LTD

works eff ciently over a broad range

of salinity. “Because the process is

very tolerant to the salinity of the

feedwater, it can even handle brine

concentrate from RO.

“As a result, retrof tting an ex-

isting RO plant with an LTD sys-

tem would be an eff cient way to

increase the plant’s capacity,” said

Watersolutions.

“Our LTD system is ideally posi-

tioned to capture growth both in the

desalination market and for treating

industrial wastewater including pro-

duced water from oil and gas explo-

ration,” said CEO Espen Mansfeldt.

LTD thermal process claims 1 kWh/cubic meter energy use

The city of Veresegyház, a suburb of

Hungarian capital city Budapest, has se-

lected GE’s ZeeWeed 500D ultraf ltration

membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology

to increase water reuse at its existing wa-

ter treatment plant.

In 2010, the water authority issued a

permit that allowed the municipality to re-

use the water treated by GE’s MBR tech-

nology. This helps ensure the region has

increased access to fresh water.

Under the contract, GE will supply the

city of Veresegyház with MBR technology

and equipment featuring ZeeWeed 500D

reinforced, hollow-f ber membranes.

The upgrade of the plant’s waste-

water treatment processes with the GE

MBR technology features four ZeeWeed

500D trains, eight cassettes and 288

modules.

This will expand the plant’s treatment

capacity to 5,000 m3/day. The project is

f nanced by the EU Cohesion Fund and

is expected to be completed by the end

of 2012.

“Water reuse and providing our com-

munity with high-quality water is essential

as our fresh water supply persistently

dwindles. The upgraded wastewater

treatment plant will give us access to

more water for both industrial and resi-

dential use,” said Pasztor Bela, mayor of

the city of Veresegyház.

First Milk, is to become the f rst busi-

ness customer to switch water supplier

since the Department for Environment

Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) altered the

regulations in England and Wales to allow

more businesses to be able to choose

their water supplier.

Until recently only businesses that

used more than 50,000 m3 of water a

year, could switch from their existing

water supplier to a new one. The thresh-

old has now been reduced to just 5,000

m3, which has substantially increased

the number of businesses that are able

to choose their water supplier from just

2,200 to 26,000 businesses.

Severn Trent Costain, a joint ven-

ture between Severn Trent Services and

Costain has signed up First Milk, in a deal

that will see STC supply, manage and

monitor their water across six major sites

in England, Wales and Scotland involving

over 600,000 m3 of water per year.

As part of the contract, STC will be

installing monitoring equipment at all of

the six First Milk sites.

The aim is to help First Milk to develop

a detailed understanding of their water

usage, as well as options for how it can

become more eff cient.

Business switches suppliers under new ruling in England

Budapest suburb boosts wastewater reuse with membrane bioreactor

Municipal water and wastewater treatment chemicals market growing in Western Europe

Field Notes

Romania targeted with

Hydro International

Hydro has partnered with distributor C & V Water to supply its water and wastewater treatment solutions in Ro-mania. It is expected that opportuni-ties will focus initially on Hydro’s Grit King hydrodynamic vortex separator. Hydro said that effective grit removal is expected to be of value for water and wastewater treatment in Romania because it helps to avoid machinery breakdown and high maintenance costs by protecting plant and equip-ment from the damaging wear and tear of grit particles.

Sardinia drinking water

plant awarded to Acciona

Italy public sector company Ab-banoa S.p.a has contracted Spanish f rm Acciona Agua a 9 million Euro design and build partnership for the Siniscola drinking water treatment plant. The drinking water facility will treat surface water from the Mac-cheronis Dam in Torpe and will have a treatment capacity of 0.4 m3 per second. Work will be carried out in a temporary joint venture involving Ital-ian SCADA company CEIF.

Thames warns to keep

wipes out of their pipes

UK water utility giant Thames Water said that the increasing use of wet wipes from families is adding to its already annual £12 million is spends on clearing 80,000 blockages a year across its 108,000 km network across London.

The utility said that the wet wipe market is growing at faster than 15% per year and as they don’t break down like toilet paper, they are resulting in blocked sewers.

Thames Water said: “Wet wipes’ main partner in “sewer abuse” crime is food fat. It slips down the sink eas-ily when warm but sets into hard “fat-bergs” when it cools in the sewers.

7October/November | 2012www.wwinternational.com

Worldwide NewsEurope/Middle East

Research underway in Saudi Arabia to look at how solar

power can be harnessed for desalination processes is paying

off as the country looks set to increase capacity.

Reports from Arab News suggest that the Saline Water Con-

version Corporation (SWCC) will establish three new solar-

powered desalination plants to reduce dependence on oil.

Abdul Rahman Al-Ibrahim, governor of the corporation,

was quoted as saying that two solar-powered desalination

plants are currently operating in Al-Khafji and Jubail, and

SWCC is planning to establish three more plants in Haqel,

Dhuba and Farasan.

Al-Ibrahim conf rmed progress on the desalination plant

being constructed in Ras Al-Khair, adding it would be ready

within two years.

“Electricity production at the Ras Al-Khair plant will start in

April 2013, while desalination water production in 2014,” the

governor reportedly said. About 55% of work on the project

has been completed.

Saudi’s solar desalination vision gets brighter

Águas de Portugal (AdP) Group has

selected Bentley Systems’ water soft-

ware technology in a bid to streamline the

operation and management of its water

and wastewater systems.

AdP Group’s water and wastewater

collection and treatment systems and wa-

ter supply networks serve 80% of Portu-

gal’s population.

In addition to producing an accurate

combined-system overf ow and estuary

discharge report in f ve seconds, the new

system is expected to achieve 2 percent

energy reductions by improving the eff -

ciency of 90 pumping stations.

AdP Group companies that have ac-

quired Bentley software included AdP

Serviços, Águas de Trás-os-Montes e

Alto Douro (AdTMAD) and Saneamento

Integrado dos Municípios do Tejo e

Trancão (SimTejo), a concessionary that

operates the sanita-

tion system for the

metropolitan region

of Lisbon. The latter treats 118 million cu-

bic meters of wastewater per year.

SimTejo was faced with uncontrolled

stormwater f ows into its sewerage sys-

tems, which were causing major f ooding

problems and enabling large quantities of

grit and coarse solids to enter the sys-

tem. The net result was a very real po-

tential for the functional collapse of the

system.

The provided software is being used

in real time to forecast sewer overf ows

and estuary discharges. The system is

now being run every 15 minutes with up-

dated measured rainfall as well as rainfall

forecasts from an operational meteoro-

logical model acquired daily via FTP.

Portuguese water utility aims to cut energy use by 2% after software upgrade

Middle East

Lower cost membrane desalination and increased water

scarcity is now meaning that large scale desalination plants

are coming online outside of the Middle East.

The largest membrane desalination plant in the world – the

444,000 m3/d Victoria Desalination Plant in Melbourne, Aus-

tralia – came online recently but it will be soon surpassed by

the 500,000 m3/d Magtaa plant in Algeria, and the 510,000

m3/d Soreq plant in Israel.

The largest thermal desalination plant in the world is the

880,000 m3/d Shoaiba 3 desalination plant in Saudi Arabia,

although this will be displaced in 2014 as the largest desalina-

tion plant in the world by the 1,025,000 m3/d Ras Al Khair

project in Saudi Arabia, which uses both membrane and ther-

mal technology.

Data published from the International Desalination As-

sociation (IDA) showed that over the past f ve years a 57%

increase in the capacity of desalination plants coming on-line

has been witnessed. The installed base of desalination plants

around the world now has a capacity of 78.4 million m3/d

compared to 47.6 million m3/d at the end of 2008.

Around 60% of desalination capacity treats seawater; the

remainder treats brackish and less saline feedwater. Histori-

cally, large scale desalination has mainly been built in the Gulf

region where there is no alternative for public water supply.

Large scale thermal/RO desalination gains traction

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Worldwide News Americas

Governor Tom Corbett announced

the investment of $79 million in 27 non-

point source, drinking water and waste-

water projects in 16 counties through the

Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment

Authority (PENNVEST).

The funding approvals bring PEN-

NVEST’s total assistance over its 24 year

history past the $7 billion mark, a land-

mark achievement for this program and

for the state as a whole. Of the $79 mil-

lion total awards, $69 million is for low-

interest loans and $10 million is offered

as grants.

The awards range from a $100,287

loan to construct waste handling facili-

ties that will reduce nutrient runoff into a

stream in Chester County, to a $12.8 mil-

lion loan/grant combination for a project in

Blair County that will both reduce nutrient

discharges to the Chesapeake Bay. This

is as well as eliminate the use of malfunc-

tioning on-lot septic systems that are con-

taminating local drinking water wells.

The funding comes from a combina-

tion of state funds approved by voters,

federal grants to PENNVEST from the

Environmental Protection Agency and

recycled loan repayments from previous

PENNVEST funding awards.

Nearly $80 million investment into Pennsylvania infrastructure projects

The city of Wheaton and the Whea-

ton Sanitary District jointly developed

a master plan, in which the city agreed

to reduce excess f ows in Basin 4 by

40% and in Basin 3 by 60%.

RJN Group Inc. (RJN) originally

began working on the Basin 4 Sanitary

Sewer System Rehabilitation Program

in February of 2011. In May of 2012,

the contract for the Rehabilitation Pro-

gram was extended for another year to

July 2013 and was expanded to cover

city Sewer Basin 3.

The city has performed extensive

public sector rehabilitation, yet unac-

ceptable levels of Inf ow/Inf ltration (I/I)

remain. I/I in the sanitary sewer system

results in basement backups and sani-

tary sewer overf ows (SSOs) after even

small rain events. Since extensive work

has already been done in the public

sector, the city must now address the

private sector sources.

In Basin 4, RJN had previously

completed smoke testing and a small

amount of building inspection. RJN will

now be performing additional services

in a portion of Basin 4 designated as

a pilot area. In the pilot area all six

hundred properties will undergo build-

ing inspections by RJN f eld techni-

cians.

The 40% f ow reduction target in

the master plan will be accomplished

in the pilot area through a combination

of removal of any remaining public sec-

tor sources, removal of private sector

sump pump sources and lining of ser-

vice laterals. Long-term f ow metering

and utilizing city meters will be used to

assess the f ows before and after the

rehabilitation work.

Services that RJN will perform in

Basin 3 include data analysis on City-

owned meters and rain gauges, smoke

testing on a total of 65,000 linear feet,

assessment of manhole condition and

creation of a complete basin hydraulic

model. Based on this work RJN will

provide recommendations for removal

of excess f ow from the Basin.

ILLINOIS SEWER

REHABILITATION

PROGRAM CONTINUES

TO PROGRESS

FuelCell Energy has started operation

of a 2.8 megawatt stationary fuel cell pow-

er plant installation at a municipal water

treatment facility in California that utilizes

renewable biogas as a fuel source.

The company previously announced

the sale of the power plant to project de-

veloper and investor Anaergia who is sell-

ing the electricity and heat to Inland Empire

Utilities Agency (IEUA) under a twenty-year

power purchase agreement. Fuel cells use

an electrochemical process to eff ciently

generate electricity and heat suitable for

generating steam.

The absence of combustion avoids

the emission of almost any pollutants,

virtually eliminating nitrogen oxide, sulfur

dioxide and particulate matter, the com-

pany said.

The fuel cell power plant replaces

internal-combustion engines so the clean

power generation will help IEUA meet the

stringent emission regulations issued by

the South Coast Air Quality Management

District (SCAQMD), the local air pollution

control agency.

The by-product heat from this power

plant will be used to help create the en-

ergy by heating the anaerobic digesters

that produce the biogas.

AD biogas powers 2.8MW fuel cells

The City of Newport has started con-

struction of a new Lawton Valley Water Treat-

ment Plant in Portsmouth and upgrades to

the treatment processes at the Station No. 1

Water Treatment Plant in Newport.

In January 2012 the Newport City

Council awarded a design build contract

valued at $67 million for the water treat-

ment plant improvements to the joint ven-

ture of AECOM and C.H. Nickerson & Co.

The project includes the design and

construction of a new Lawton Valley wa-

ter treatment plant and improvements to

the Station No. 1 water treatment plant.

These new facilities are scheduled to be in

service by Dec. 31, 2014.

The Lawton Valley and Station No. 1

plants provide drinking water to Newport

Water Division’s 14,500 retail customers in

Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth as

well as the wholesale customers at Naval

Station Newport and the Portsmouth Wa-

ter and Fire District.

The project is designed to improve

drinking water quality for all Aquidneck

Island water users and responds to a

mandate by the Rhode Island Department

of Health to reduce the amount of triha-

lomethanes in treated water. Trihalometh-

anes are disinfectant by-products that are

formed when natural organics in the water

react with chlorine that is added to the wa-

ter for disinfection.

The Lawton Valley Water Treatment

Plant is currently designed to treat seven

million gallons of water every day. It will un-

dergo a full demolition and will be replaced

by a more eff cient facility with the same ca-

pacity. The Station No. 1 Water Treatment

Plant was originally designed to treat nine

million gallons of water each day; however,

due to age-related degeneration it is only

able to reliably treat six million gallons a day.

The upgrades will restore the treatment ca-

pacity back to nine million gallons per day.

The upgrades at both facilities will incor-

porate an advanced water treatment pro-

cess using granular activated carbon con-

tactors, which will remove organics from

the water as well as improve the aesthetic

quality in terms of taste and odor. Once

completed, the Newport water treatment

plants will be the only facilities in Rhode Is-

land to have advanced treatment.

Newport upgrades water treatment plant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agen-

cy has awarded $218 million to New York

State to help f nance improvements to water

projects that are essential to protecting public

health and the environment.

The funds will primarily be used to up-

grade sewage plants and drinking water sys-

tems throughout the state.

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund

program, administrated by the New York

State Department of Environmental Con-

servation and the New York State Envi-

ronmental Facilities Corporation, received

$157,205,222.

The program provides low-interest loans

for water quality protection projects to make

improvements to wastewater treatment sys-

tems, control pollution from rain water runoff

and protect sensitive water bodies and estu-

aries.

The Drinking Water State Revolving

Fund program, administrated by the New

York State Department of Health, received

$60,923,000.

The program provides low-interest loans

to f nance improvements to drinking water

systems, with a particular focus on providing

funds to small and disadvantaged communi-

ties and to programs that encourage pollution

prevention as a tool for ensuring safe drink-

ing water. Since 1989, the EPA has awarded

$4.9 billion to New York through these pro-

grams.

New York state water projects improved by EPA grants


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Water eff ciency must be considered alongside sup-

ply options as Australia’s climate is highly variable and

emerging pressures such as population growth will af-

fect the security of water supplies in ways that are dif-

f cult to predict, a new position paper has said.

Released by the Australian Water Association (AWA),

the paper said that the case for water eff ciency was a

need for “greater consistency in approaches taken to

water eff ciency across the country would facilitate the

sharing of experiences and would minimize the risk of

research being duplicated”.

Recent rainfall across many of Australia’s cities pro-

vide respite from severe drought conditions and has led

to the lifting of water restrictions in many areas. This has

also reduced the emphasis that some governments and

local utilities place on water eff ciency measures, accord-

ing to the AWA.

The industry agreed eff ciency measures should be

carried out regardless of rainfall levels. A State of the

Water Sector Survey 2012 from the AWA/Deloitte asked

the question “Drought conditions have eased across

much of Australia over the past 18 months. To what ex-

tent should water conservation and eff ciency programe

be curtailed during wetter periods?”. Over half (67%) of

respondents answered “Not at all” or “Marginally”.

As Neil Palmer, CEO of the National Centre of Ex-

cellence in Desalination Australia wrote in July-August

2010 issue of WWi, in terms of supply, desalination has

certainly come of age across Australia. The level of in-

vestment into desalination technology in just six years

has been astonishing.

By the end of this year, Australia will have its

sixth large-scale seawater desalination plant opera-

tional, helping to supply water up to 40% of public

needs. A combination of drought, climate change,

advances in reverse osmosis technology has led to

an increase in desalinated water over 10 years from

2005 to 2015 from less than 100 ml/day to more

than 1800 ml/day.

Australia’s f rst plant came into service in November

2006 - the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant in Western

Australia, with a capacity of 145 ML/d.

Since then, a further f ve large seawater desalination

plants have been created along the coastline with the

largest at Wonthaggi, just outside Melbourne, at 450

ML/d capacity nearing completion.

By 2015, these will be capable of providing up to

30% of Perth’s drinking water needs, 10% of Brisbane’s,

15% of Melbourne’s, 10% of Sydney’s and 40% of Ad-

elaide’s from the plentiful sea resource.

However, the AWA position paper warned that a too

heavy handed approach to enforcing water eff ciency

could have an adverse affect on supply. It said that

changes to water prices to stimulate conservation, re-

striction and other measures directed to reducing water

demand may have the effect of stimulating a shift to al-

ternative sources of supply.

Spreading risk across various water supply options

might not be bad move, the industry would think. Yet

AWA said: “This may be appropriate and benef cial but

should be assessed on a case-by-case basis as there

can be undesirable impacts.

“For example, a shift to local groundwater supplies

may deplete aquifers or lead to saline intrusion, and

more widespread use of rainwater tanks may lead to a

signif cant increase in energy usage.”

Smart metering was touted one water eff ciency mea-

sure for Australia. A number of utilities have embarked

on programmes to install ‘data loggers’ at commercial

premises to provide a f ner, more immediate, analysis of

water use, it said. “This information is a fundamental pre-

cursor to the design of good water eff ciency programs”,

said the AWA. On a household level, support was shown

for improvements in water meter accuracy and the deliv-

ery of monitored date to easy-to-read interfaces such as

phone apps and web portals in homes and workplaces.

The paper said these would strengthen the awareness

of water eff ciency and the ability to identify and act upon

issues.

The subject of tariffs and what water should cost did

not escape from the report. The AWA concluded that the

“setting of a price that ref ects the full costs of supplying

water services to consumers is an essential component

of water eff ciency. If water is under-priced it will be over-

consumed….AWA also believes that it is essential that the

price charged to consumers fully ref ects the cost of sup-

ply and that price structures to be economically eff cient.”

Going forward, to meet its water needs in the future,

Australia will need to ensure its approach is diverse and

tailored to circumstances.Water eff ciency measures

must always be part of the mix, not just in Australia but

globally.

ANALYSIS: Australian Water Association sets out vision for water eff ciency


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Anaerobic technologies supplier Biothane, part of

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (Veolia), has been

awarded a contract to provide a food & beverage manu-

facturer with a wastewater treatment plant in Indonesia.

Using the designed solution, the manufacturer will

be able to process 1,032 m3 of water and 7,000 kg of

chemical on demand load everyday.

Under the agreement, Biothane will provide the man-

ufacturer with a complete wastewater treatment system,

which includes a pre-treatment process.

During pre-treatment, suspended solids, together

with fats, oils and greases will be eff ciently removed

from the sewage through screening and purif cation.

Subsequently, the eff uent undergoes biological treat-

ment within a Biothane UASB reactor.

For this project, activated sludge aerobic treatment

is integrated with Biothane UASB technology to obtain

eff uents that meet regulatory standards for discharge.

Sludge collected is further treated using a centrifuge

decanter.

Upf ow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket

technology for Indonesian food & beverage manufacturer

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $300

million in loans to overhaul the quality, coverage, and man-

agement of water and wastewater services in the Sri Lankan

capital, Colombo.

The multitranche f nancing facility approved by the ADB

Board of Directors will support a $400 million government in-

vestment program to improve water and sanitation in greater

Colombo.

ADB’s f rst tranche loan of $84 million will focus on reduc-

ing water losses in Colombo, which are estimated to cost

more than $13 million a year in foregone revenue.

The program aims to make water available 24 hours a day

throughout greater Colombo by 2020, with a focus on im-

proving services in underserved areas. It targets a reduction in

non-revenue water losses from nearly 50% in 2012 to about

20% by 2020 and seeks to ensure 100% sewer network cov-

erage by 2020.

ADB’s assistance will be used to repair or replace water

transmission and distribution pipes and pumps, install high

quality meters, and implement network mapping and leakage

controls. It will fund new sewer connections and the construc-

tion of two wastewater treatment plants and support mea-

sures to strengthen the management and operations of the

oversight agencies, the National Water Supply and Drainage

ADB has donated over half a billion US dollars for water

supply and sanitation to Sri Lanka since 1986.

“Parts of Colombo’s water supply distribution net-

work are over 100 years old and some areas only get

water for less than half the day, while the sewer network

suffers from frequent collapses and blockages,” said

Mingyuan Fan, Urban Development Specialist in ADB’s

South Asia Department. “Our assistance will help the

government make water and sanitation services higher

quality, cost-effective, and sustainable.”

Sri Lanka to get $300m to upgrade water/wastewater infrastructure

Business News

India and China growth help Singapore’s Hyf ux

almost double revenue in third quarter

Hy ux and its subsidiaries recorded a 15% increase in prof t to S$14.5 million in the third quar-

ter of 2012, with revenue fro the period at S$155 million. This is an improvement of 66% compared

to the same period last year.

The Asia region without China provided 80% or S$123.9 million to total revenue, while China

also chalked up increased saels of S$26.4 million. Revenue contribution from the MENA region

(Middle East and North Africa) was S$4.7 million.

In a statement Hy ux said: “The uncertainties on a global economic front will continue to

have an impact on the pipeline of water infrastructure projects in the Group’s key markets, such

as Asia including China and MENA. While the environment remains challenging, the group will

continue to focus on driving technology and innovation to provide cost-effective solutions to the

markets.”

Making Ripples: Water Leader Focus

12 October/November | 2012 www.wwinternational.com12 www.wwinternational.com

Veolia Water’s CEO

is open and hon-

est about his com-

pany’s f nancial

situation. “Everyone

knows that Veolia is under f nan-

cial stress so money is a scarce

resource,” says Jean-Michel Her-

rewyn, before adding: “This is

why I need to reallocate money.”

He is of course talking about

the group’s €5 billion asset di-

vestment program – in other

words freeing up money - set to

be complete by the end of 2013.

One major milestone in the

company’s consolidation process

was the sale of its UK regulated

water activities. Rift Acquisitions

purchased Veolia Water UK for

£1.2 billion in the summer of this

year.

“The selling of the UK regu-

lated business was a way to free

f nancial resources that the group

needs,” Herrewyn says. “It’s not a

Veolia Water issue; it was a Veolia

Environnement issue. This decision was a f nancial decision. It was

not an easy decision for us because we have been active in the

UK for many, many years. Actually it was the f rst venture outside of

France so it had symbolic value.”

Yet the UK market provided valuable lessons for the company as

a service provider, with the CEO saying the “tough regulation” made

sure utilities were operating eff ciently and providing top service.

It’s encouraging to hear that experience learned from the scrupu-

Industrial Markets to Power Veolia Water’s FutureThis year Veolia Environnement sold off its UK regulated water activities – one of its earliest inter-

national operations - for £1.2 billion. And in three years the group saw a 35% increase in industrial

activity. Is this a sign that the company is favouring the industrial technology supplier to service

provider model? WWi caught up with its water group CEO, Jean-Michel Herrewyn, to f nd out.

Industrial Boom: Between 2009 and 2011 the Veolia Water group saw a 35% increase in

industrial contract bookings. Below are recent highlights of the activity

- Crystallization technology for salt recovery plant in Spain

VWS awarded contract by Iberpotash to provide HPD evaporation technology

- Technology available for treatment of high pH SAGD produced water

Contract with Tervita to treat wastewater from steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operators

- South Africa upgrades sugar ref nery

Reverse osmosis (RO) plant designed and installed for manufacturer to produce feed water

- Energy-eff cient water treatment for desert mine

A 62.5 m3/hour Ro permeate supplied to treat brackish water in Mauritania, Northwest Africa

Tactical divestment: Herrewyn believes that industrial solutions will help VWS increase revenue for the Veolia

Environnement group going forward, especially wastewater reuse and desalination



lous UK environment could be passed on around the world in East-ern Europe, or Asia or South Africa – all of which are active markets for the company.

“If you have strict f nancial constraints on one side, and on the oth-er side a global market offering with many opportunities then you are forced to allocate your money in a very strict way. You are pushed to develop a light capex offering…I believe that this doesn’t impact the capabilities of the water division. This decision was not taken lightly and this decision was not pleasing in some respects. Again because of the nature of these activities and the historical factor.”

A rare position in the water sector, Veolia acts as both a water supplier/private utility, Veolia Water (VW), as well as a supplier of tech-nology, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS). Between 2003 and 2009, Herrewyn can be credited with helping to turn around VWS – what was the loss-making technical arm of Veolia into a series of eff cient, niche operating separate business units. It was in 2009 that he was appointed CEO of Veolia Water. So now he oversees both VW and its technical subsidiary VWS. Water & Wastewater In-ternational (WWi) caught up with Jean-Michel Herrewyn (J-MH). An abstract from the interview is printed below:

WWi: Was Veolia Environnement’s decision to sell off it’s

UK water operations for £1.2 billion a move to concentrate

more on the technology supplier business than water ser-

vice provider?

J-MH: I would not look at it this way. In the municipal business we have two models: heavy-capex and light-capex. In the heavy-capex business line, you are the part owner of a regional, local municipal water system, most of the time in a structure with local authorities. You are in the driving seat. You are the owner of the business so you inject your expertise to make the asset perform better. Then you get a return as a shareholder.

In the light-capex model, you are not entering the shareholding structure but helping customers to do better. Take the contract in New York - it’s not a privatisation process so the shareholding struc-ture and the governance of the New York water department has not changed. For the heavy-capex municipal model that we still promote, such as in Eastern Europe and China, we need f nancial resources. If we participate in big tenders for large corporations in the oil and gas industry where we would need to build infrastructure, then we need money.

WWi: In 2011 Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies helped

the water division generate revenue of 2.3 billion Euros. How

is this revenue broken down?

J-MH: A sizeable part of the VWS business – 29% - came from Europe and a separate 20% for France. The rest came from outside this region.

To simplify it’s almost equally split between North America (12%) and South American (11%) and Asia (11%) and a little bit more for Africa and the Middle East (15%).

WWi: Out of the different water sectors, which present the

biggest growth opportunities in the future and why?

J-MH: Globally speaking industry should represent a signif cant potential for growth in technologies and in service. I’m a great believer in alternative resources, such as desalination, reuse and recycling, so I do believe that you will have more and more countries needing or willing or both. Looking at the business through a more traditional angle of Veolia Water services then I would say of course our Asian activities and China activities to continue to signif cantly grow. I also expect our Eastern and Central Europe activities to grow.

WWi: So there is still plenty of opportunity in China as a ser-

vice provider, despite increasing local competition?

J-MH: We made the right move 10 years ago when we entered China and now mainly through the service activities we are a sizeable player in the Chinese market. We are on an equal business size with the top Chinese company. Of course I do expect the Chinese private sector in the service business also to grow at a higher base. I believe that we will still be part, even in 10 years time, in the top three to top f ve Chinese market players. And that was because we were able to enter the market in the early days when China needed foreign, non-Chinese actors in this market.

I can imagine and anticipate in the mid-term future that China will be an export platform. Actually it’s what we’ve already started to do on the municipal arena for VWS, for the EPC and technology part we serve some of the Asian market out of Beijing and out of China. We have a competitive advantage from doing so. Because being part of the Chi-nese water world, it’s also legitimate to believe that we’re a world partner with Chinese companies when they come to expand outside of China. That is the natural expansion also for some Chinese companies in the mid-term future, to do more and more outside of China.

Jean-Michel Herrewyn – 1961 to present

- Born in 1961, a graduate from the École Polytechnique and the École Nationale d’Administration

- He became an engineer in 1986 in the Avionics division of Thomson CSF.

- In 1991 he joined the Compagnie Générale de Chauffe (now Dalkia) as technical manager then general manager of the home automation subsidiary

- In 1996 ran Dalkia’s German subsidiary and later subsidiaries in Austria and Switzerland

- Four years later in 2000 he was also appointed general manager of Veolia Transport’s German subsidiary

- In the same year he was appointed chairman of Valorec, a joint subsidiary of Dalkia and Veolia Environmental Services, created from the outsourcing of energy and waste management by Novartis plants in Basle (Switzerland).

- He joined Veolia Water in 2003 as Managing Director of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies.

- Six years later in 2009 he appointed Chief Executive Off cer of Veolia Water, the Water Division of Veolia Environnement



WWi: Veolia is also playing a role in the Asian power market.

How much potential is there for advanced water solutions here?

J-MH: I see a clear trend in different countries towards the real

promotion of eff cient water usage through stricter regulation. Not

only stricter regulation also stricter enforcement of those regulations.

Of course this is the framework we need for the promotion of those

technologies. They are expensive compared to traditional systems so

nobody would like to invest into

something that is perceived as

not needed.

The context is drastically

changing in many countries. Two

worlds are combining: the pro-

cess water world and the eff uent

world, which have been separate

and foreign to each other before.

In the industry, you have many

players that are able to do one

task but not the other. Very few

are able to master both sides of

the process water part and the

wastewater part.

The power industry is now

addressing the water part of its

investment. If you build in closed

loops systems then you are ex-

tremely attentive to the quality of

the system because if it doesn’t

work then the whole system

doesn’t work. This is a big, big

change compared to the past. The responsibility for delivering suf-

f cient input water was left down to the plant management.

WWi: VWS is also a partner with power provide Alstom. Tell

me about the Water Impact Index?

J-MH: This is an evolution of the traditional footprint. Traditionally,

water usage is looked at in terms of volume. Volume doesn’t tell the

full story. We have had to adapt to what we believe is important, such

as the stress factor and the quality of water extracted and the quality

of water rejected.

The index ref ects the real life situation. It’s obviously not the same

issue if you have the same water treatment system in an area under

water stress compared to an area not under water stress. It’s also dif-

ferent if you extract high quality water or if you extract polluted water.

The same is you reject treated water or non-treated water.

This is not a proprietary tool but a tool I would like to see used as

an open tool. In the power market we are working more closely with

Alstom because this company is also sharing these types of views.

I’m pleased to see that when we talk more and more to corporate

names about those type of ideas – the water index – combined with

carbon footprint and environmental footprint, generally speaking we

are able now to have discussions which are extremely interesting. It’s

not just corporate agenda but it’s also more and more linked to the

reality of the business at the site level.

The water industry is very strange because it’s a very fragmented

industry with a lot of different players and a lot of different local habits.

It’s not that easy in this industry to promote general ideas or to pro-

mote trends that could be a little bit more universal.

WWi: Veolia provided the technology for what it claims it the

“largest hybrid desalination plant in the world”, at the Fujai-

rah 2 facility in the UAE. Are hybrid combinations the solution

here where technology uncertainty can be common?

J-MH: I think it’s a nice combination because through the mem-

brane part you get the f exibility that is the key advantage of this solu-

tion. In the thermal part you get the robustness that customers ap-

preciate in these technologies – it is a well known fact that thermal

desalination is very robust. When you have algae bloom/red algae

tide problems in those countries, it is tough for membrane systems

to cope with that.

I do hope that we’ll see more and more of the hybrid plants be-

cause this technological solution has a lot of potential. That is also

dedicated to these regions where you need both power and water

delivery systems with a combination of power and water.

Obviously if you just need water then membrane technologies

have completely outpaced thermal technologies. I really do believe

that contrary to what people have been saying sometimes in the past

that thermal is not dead at all.

WWi: This region - Africa and Middle East – generated 15%

of the group’s revenue in 2011. How is the group going to in-

crease business in this area?

I’m quite conf dent about Africa. I think the continent has a lot

to offer for us and I can imagine our African activities growing in the

near future.

So in terms of municipal infrastructure, or in terms of industrial

infrastructure, Africa is a booming continent. There are a lot of things

happening as we talk. If you are familiar with the south part of the

continent, they face really drastic water shortages. Water issues are

really getting bigger and bigger. The mining industry also faces big

water shortages.

If you are talking municipal or industry, or both, the African conti-

nent should provide us with a lot of interesting options and opportuni-

ties. Also in Africa, even today on a limited scale, we are an operator.

That I would like to see growing.

WWi: And f nally, on the subject of money, what are your

thoughts on the f nancial gap between how much water

costs to process and how much it’s sold for. Will this change

in 10 years time and if so, how?

J-MH: I am absolutely convinced that there is no way around this

issue. I think this question is the key question for the water world in

the years to come. There is a social challenge – protecting low in-

come families from rising tariffs but there is no other way around rising

tariffs. For industry, industrial customers will have to pay for the true

price of water and that will mean a signif cant increase in water tariffs.

The industry will have to think a lot more about water and again

investment in reuse, investment in all kinds of system where you can

extract value out of the water loop and eff uent. All of that will gain in

popularity because the present system is not a sustainable system.

This is indeed the same for all the countries on earth. For some coun-

tries it is becoming a real issue.

However, I really see a lot of signs that are making me optimistic

because I believe this issue is an opportunity. For too long this issue

has been set aside and is not being addressed the way it should.WWi

Enquiry No. 102

The CEO wishes for a universal use of a Water

Impact Index for industrial power plants

Creative Finance


The water sector is witnessing a revolution of sorts

with state-of-the-art technology being developed and

implemented, especially in the Gulf Cooperative Coun-

cil (GCC). Several reports and publications have given

narrated accounts of water stress and scarcity in the

GCC and its short and long-term implications. Some industry reports

have also pronounced the ‘dire consequences’ of water imbalance

and risk, going as far as predicting suspected ‘water wars’ in future.

These reports have not gone unnoticed by Governments and policy

makers in the GCC and signif cant measures are now being taken

towards sustainable practices.

The GCC countries are taking requisite steps to overcome known

challenges of streamlining public-private participation (PPP), utilities in

debt, improving accountability and investment framework. Technolo-

gy is playing a pivotal role in this situation. The use of advanced water

technologies is at an all-time high in the GCC. It is also observed that

most, if not all, best available water treatment and reuse technologies

are being used in this region.

Focus of the water sector in the region is shifting towards sus-

tainable practices, wastewater treatment and recycling, with several

utilities and water agencies announcing noticeable projects indicating

start of a technological turnaround for the region. Governments in the

GCC have allocated approximately USD100 billion towards imple-

menting better water technologies and energy-eff cient desalination.

UTILITIES RIDING THE TECHNOLOGY WAVE

Frost & Sullivan research reveals that urban water supply in the King-

dom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is

already above 90% coverage, with the majority of this water (up to

80%) sourced through desalination. In the next couple of years, it is

anticipated that water supply in urban regions will reach 100% cover-

age in these countries. Utilities such as DEWA (Dubai electricity and

Water Supply), are leading by example with Moody’s Investors Ser-

vices upgrading the company’s rating to investment grade. This has

been a result of operational improvements and a sound f nancial pro-

f le. It will be interesting to see if other utilities emulate these practices.

Investments in the water sector have been on the rise since 2010,

with several projects under execution or bidding/tendering stage.

These projects are covering all segments of the water sector, includ-

ing desalination, independent water and power projects (IWPP), wa-

ter transmission and distribution, repair and replacement of networks,

wastewater treatment and produced water treatment.

Sustainability drives have also been seen among national water

companies. An example is Haya Water, the wastewater company

of Oman which is reducing methane emissions by aerobically com-

posting sewage sludge. The end products can be re-used eff ciently

by the agriculture community as sewage biosolids or compost. In

the medium to long-term, technology adoption/upgrade and com-

pelling sustainability targets, together, can help the GCC reduce the

demand-supply gap and aid preservation of resources for future.

DESALINATION WILL GAIN MORE LOYALTY

Over the past two decades, desalination has become the backbone

of water supply and consumption in the entire Middle East and Af-

GCC: The Middle East’s Emerging Watering Hole?Governments in the GCC have allocated approximately USD100 billion towards implementing

better water technologies and energy-eff cient desalination. Planned reverse osmosis plant

capacities are increasing every quarter as a result, explains Kshitij Nilkanth.

“A desalination project contract by the UAE’s FEWA was one of the

most-competitive bids in recent times with as many as 20 bidders”

Creative Finance


rica (MEA) region. Investments in desalination have been on a rise

and conf dence in various technologies is growing. It is interesting

to notice that Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) is a dominant technology in

the GCC, while reverse osmosis (RO) is more dominant in non-GCC

countries. A reason behind this is that the number of large desalination

plants (over 100,000 m3/day) in the GCC is high; and at such ca-

pacities MSF is a proven technology. Lower primary energy cost in the

GCC further supports MSF technology. However, RO technology has

established itself as a reliable and eff cient technology for desalination.

The planned plant capacities of RO are increasing every quarter in

the GCC, thereby exhibiting economies of scale.

RO technology for desalination has overcome the challenges per-

taining to pre-treatment of RO feed water,

and a number of plants including the new

Al Zawrah desalination plant that will utilise

Ultraf ltration (UF) membranes supplied by

Pentair X-f ow. The system will produce

4783 m3/h of pre-treated seawater to

feed the RO membrane system. Similarly,

Jubail Seawater RO (SWRO) Phase 2 in

Saudi Arabia, has a designed capacity of

58,500 m³/day. The plant has dual mem-

brane system with UF followed by RO. On

completion (expected January 2013), this

will be the largest UFRO desalination plant

in the KSA.

Desalination potential in the GCC is

increasingly attracting both domestic and

international companies in the bidding

process. In 2011, a desalination project

contract by the UAE’s Federal Electricity

and Water Authority (FEWA) to provide

68,191 m3/day SWRO based desalination

facility was one of the most-competitive

bids in recent times with as many as 20

bidders, including top international com-

panies.

Increasing numbers of independent

water and power projects IWPP’s are

utilising RO, thus driving the technol-

ogy market. Several GCC countries have

planned IWPPs with their construction

scheduled to commence in 2012. These

include 10 projects in the UAE worth

USD 1.5 billion; 15 projects in KSA worth

USD8.8 billion; and 19 projects in Kuwait

worth USD 4.2 billion.

Water production activities are increas-

ing in the Gulf but so is the signif cant

need for additional water owing to the

growing population. Added to this is the

proliferation of industrial and agricultural

activities. Implementation of eff cient wa-

ter management is critical to sustain this

essential resource for future.

OIL ON WATER

National oil companies in the GCC rank

among the world’s largest companies.

They are also initiating sustainable practic-

es by recognising the inf uence of water on their business. The oil and

gas industry in the Gulf is taking decisive steps in produced water

treatment. Produced water is generated in the process of extracting

oil and gas. This water brought along the surface during lifting is large

in volume, and needs treatment prior to discharge or re-injection.

The Bauer Nimr Produced Water Treatment Facility in Oman,

which in 2010-11 treated contaminated produced water using natu-

ral reed bed water treatment systems, is a pioneer in this sector. The

facility is treating around 46,500 m3 of production water per day and

an expansion to 95,000 cubic meters is in progress. This facility has

also achieved over 90% recovery of crude oil that was put through

the treatment plant along with energy savings, which have ref ected


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Creative Finance


both in ecological and environmental performance.

Another recent example of adopting advanced

technology solutions is Bahrain Petrochemical

Company (BAPCO) which is adopting Membrane

Bioreactor System (MBR) for its ref nery wastewa-

ter treatment plant at Sitra. GE’s ZeeWeed tech-

nology will be used to handle wastewater f ow up

to 24,000 m3/day. More projects are in the pipeline

for produced water treatment in the GCC.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT – THE WAY

FORWARD

In municipal wastewater treatment, much needs

to be done across the GCC, from collection

networks to treatment plants and water reuse.

In 2011-2012, several contracts for wastewater

treatment and transmission and distribution

contracts are expected to be awarded. The next

few years will be crucial as much will depend

on timely completion of these planned projects

and overcoming the challenges of f nancing and

operational delays.

One notable example is the Muharraq Wastewater Treatment

Plant in Bahrain. This 100,000 m3/d sewage treatment plant and 15

km deep gravity sewer conveyance system is under a 27-year agree-

ment. The aim of the project is to collect and treat wastewater to a

high standard, suitable for treated eff uent (TSE) to be reused. It will be

constructed on a reclaimed Greenf eld site. This is also the f rst PPP

(Public-Private-Partnership) project in the Bahrain wastewater sector.

Major international companies are keeping a close eye on these

developments and making inroads in the GCC water market through

manufacturing setups, partnerships, and joint ventures.

Some signif cant moves by companies in recent times indicate

how the biggest desalination market in the world is attracting atten-

tion. Technology companies not only from Europe, but also from East

Asia including Japan and Korea, are probing the Middle East market.

Their interests lie in exploring all segments of the ME water sector, in-

cluding niche products and services. Larger international companies

are reinforcing their stance in the region to sustain their position in the

increasingly competitive environment.

The Dow Chemical Company announced plans for a manufactur-

ing facility in the KSA which will deliver water membrane technologies

for desalination and re-use for potable, non-potable and industrial wa-

ter serving the MEA region and emerging markets worldwide.

In 2012, a joint venture company called Arabian Japanese Mem-

brane Company commenced production of RO membrane elements

for seawater desalination at a manufacturing plant in Rabigh City. The

JV is an agreement between ACWA Holding of Saudi Arabia, Toyobo

Co. and ITOCHU Corporation (Japan).

Arabian family-group companies are also

taking heed of situation. Groups with back-

ground in engineering solutions, infrastructure,

and construction are weighing their options in

the GCC water industry. Some of these group

companies are already active in the bidding

process. Their domestic setups, know-how

of legislative and bureaucratic structure make

them potential partners for business.

SUSTAINED GROWTH OF THE GCC

WATER MARKET – ENOUGH SPACE

FOR EVERYONE

The GCC is leading the MENA bandwagon

by taking decisive measures to improve water

management. Increasing investments across

the value chain imply there is room for both

domestic and international companies, in-

cluding medium-small OEMs (original equip-

ment manufacturer), local fabricators, EPC

(Engineering, Procurement and Construction)

contractors, design and engineering compa-

nies and consultants.

Frost & Sullivan analysis reveals that be-Pipe dream: water scarcity has forced Middle Eastern nations to innovate and direct water where needed,

such as Jordan’s North-South Water Conveyor

Wastewater recycling and reuse is expected to increase up until 2015, with ZLD taking off from 2016

Creative Finance


GEFCO, INC. an Astec Industries Company

2215 SOUTH VAN BUREN · ENID, OKLAHOMA, USA 73703 · PHONE +1 580.234.4141 · [email protected] · [email protected] · www.gefco.com

The GEFCO 50K, has 50,000 lbs. (22,679 kg) of top head hoist. A wide mast and table allow this drill to handle large casing loads associated with shallow municipal water wells and deep residential water wells with ease. The GEFCO 50K features a single rod loader for quick and safe connections and an air operated

compressor clutch for fuel savings and noise reduction during times when air is not needed.


Zero LiquidDischarge (ZLD)

2000-2010 2011-2015 2016-2020

Wate

r Tre

atm

en

tW

aste

wate

r Tre

atm

en

t

Desalination Plants

Water NetworkTransmission &

Distribution

Independent Waterand Power Projects

(IWPP)

Smart WaterMetering & Network

Leak Detection,Network Repairs

Solar and HybridDesalination

Produced WaterTreatment Wastewater &

Sewerage Treatment

Sewerage Network& Collection

Wastewater Recyclingand Reuse

Figure 1. Water Industry in GCC - Technology Adoption Timeline

tween 2010 and 2012 the GCC has witnessed growth rates between

14 – 20% across various segments of the water and wastewater in-

dustry, including treatment equipment and chemicals.

Growth is expected to remain steady with the industry looking to

continue to adopt global best practices in the long term. Moving for-

ward, focus on improving eff ciency and creating accountability could

lead to the market opening up for integrat-

ed services and networks, with opportuni-

ties also arising in associated services such

as smart metering, leak detection, and inte-

grated solutions.

In the next f ve years, the GCC can ex-

pect numerous technology options for de-

salination, water and wastewater treatment.

However, it will be in the best interest of the

governments and water agencies to have a

far-sighted approach and assess the situa-

tion well, so as to take informed decisions.

WWi

Author note: Kshitij Nilkanth is pro-

gram Manager, environment and building

technologies practice, Middle East and

North Africa for industry analysts Frost

& Sullivan. For more information email:

[email protected]/[email protected].

In February 2013 Qatar will host the second WaterWorld Mid-

dle East Conference and Exhibition, focusing on topics such

as wastewater reuse and smart water management. For more

information please visit: www.waterworldmiddleeast.com

Enquiry No. 103


Green Infrastructure

20 www.wwinternational.com

If you play the time-honoured game of random association, so fa-

voured by Freud and his army of followers, and throw in the word

‘Cannes’, what responses might you generate? Sun-kissed

beaches? The Promenade de la Croissette? The city’s glitzy an-

nual f lm festival? Certainly all three would be likely to loom large

on any list.

Now, many people might will say that ‘the world’s f rst carbon-

neutral wastewater treatment plant’ seems an unlikely candidate for

inclusion – and besides, the phrase doesn’t exactly f ow from the

tongue. But if Bernard Brochand, the city’s Mayor, has anything to do

with it, all of that is about to change. For he has embraced a notion –

which he describes as industrial or technical tourism – with an almost

evangelical fever of which even the most ardent ecologist would be

rightly proud.

“Does this mean that people are going to ditch the beach and

spend their time to come and visit our beautiful new Aquaviva facil-

ity?”, he enquires rhetorically. “Certainly not. But I can tell you one

thing, they might very well end up spending some time on both.”

Together with Yann Rolland, deputy CEO of Lyonnaise des Eaux,

the dynamic duo have been unveiling their dream in incremental

phases – the plant only becoming fully operational a month or so ago.

The Aquaviva facility is indeed a world f rst in terms of its carbon-

neutrality, its treatment processes based on membrane technology,

and is so eff cient in its design and conception that there are no

greenhouse gas emissions whatsoever.

This is achieved through a series of ambitious and innovative tech-

nical f rsts, including the introduction of bacteria to remove pollutants

such as phosphorous and centrifugation to dispose of sludge.

Designed to treat up to 88,000 m3 per hour and serving a popula-

tion of around 300,000 the building also happens to be quite beauti-

ful, covered with vegetal walls and harmoniously integrated into the

already luscious landscape of the Cote d’Azur.

“Nor is this a pilot project”, Rolland is eager to point out. “It can be

rolled out at other sites on a similar scale or, more importantly, with-

out waiting to evaluate the performance of this facility. The plant can

be duplicated immediately. Consequently, as part of its new engage-

ment for 2012-2016, Lyonnaise des Eaux will neutralize the green-

house gas emissions of 10 new facilities by 2016.”

Rolland adds how the Aquaviva project has helped raise the bar

when it comes to environmental protection.

“Controlling greenhouse gas emissions has become a key envi-

ronmental concern for local authorities,” he says. “Initially emission

control was done on a proactive basis but since the completion of the

Aquaviva project, it has become a statutory requirement: under the

Grenelle II Act, local communities in France with more than 50,000

inhabitants are now legally required to produce climate and energy

plans for their communities.

“There is thus huge potential for sanitation services to play their

part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in local communities.

They can employ processes related to their business lines (for in-

Carbon Neutral Wastewater Treatment? A Cannes-Do Approach in the Cote d’AzurWastewater. Carbon Neutrality. The two don’t usually go together but the world’s f rst

Aquaviva facility in France started operating fully recently and is proving this is an option.

Jeremy Josephs looks at the technology behind these claims and whether such an al-

leged eco-friendly approach could be replicated internationally.

Forward thinking: the 77 million Euro Aquaviva facility treats up to 88,000 m3 per hour using UF and MBR. Around 4000 m2 of solar panels help power the facility



stance, recovering organic material) or set up additional sources of

renewable energy at their facilities, such as solar panels.

IMPROVING LOCAL WATER QUALITY

The deputy CEO adds: “Here at Lyonnaise des Eaux we began offer-

ing local authorities the possibility of building carbon neutral facilities

as early as 2008. So when the call for tenders was issued at the end

of 2007, we wanted to help tackle the climate and energy problems

faced by the Greater Cannes area, in particular those expressed in

the city’s quality of life “Agenda 21”.

At the time, climate and energy were already key environmental con-

cerns for the local authorities, on a par with the concern for water

quality. The quality of treated eff uent was also a priority, given the

susceptibility of the receiving water and the fact that it was used for

bathing. And we also had to bear in mind that the size of the site

meant that any facility had to be compact.”

If all of this comes across as somewhat cosy and complacent –

this was not always the case in the city of Cannes. In fact, if truth be

told, there was something quite rotten just a stone’s throw from the

Aquaviva plant itself, in the heart of the French Riviera.

“Yes, that’s right”, Brochand conf rms rather matter-of-factly. “My

predecessor Michel Mouillot was corrupt – he served six and half

years in prison - and it was clearly important for me to wipe the slate,

and by that I mean his tainted slate, clean. I had to review many

things and getting a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant was

high on my list of priorities.”

One understandable outcome of all of this was that the tender

process for the Aquaviva plant had to be whiter-than-white. Transpar-

ency was the watchword, with Suez winning hands down because

of their “experience, their technical competence and, of course, the

most amazing design”, says the Mayor.

Eight municipalities signed up for and became connected to

Aquaviva via hundreds of miles of wastewater collection and trans-

portation connections: Auribeau sur Siagne, Cannes, Le Cannet,

Mandelieu, Mouans-Sartoux, Pégomas, La Roquette sur Siagne and

Théoule, meaning that Acquaviva will henceforth be receiving 15 mil-

lion m3 of eff uent per year.

A key feature of the plant is no less than 4000 square meters of

energy producing solar panels. This involved the supply of one thou-

sand photovoltaic units supplied by the Pégomas-based company

Tournaire Solaire Energie. Equally important is the wastewater treat-

ment sludge which is dried on site and then packaged to be used as

natural fertilizer or fuel as “eff cient as wood”.

The combination of all of these elements has been to ensure that

the plant has become a f agship for sustainable development be-

cause of its ability to successfully blend together three distinct el-

ements - the latest technical specif cations, co-integration and an

alluring design which is so successful that the plant already looks as

if it positively belongs to the Riviera.

ENVIRONMENTAL REMUNERATION

Being involved in such a stylish carbon-neutrality initiative from the

outset of the plant’s development has clearly meant that Lyonnaise

des Eaux was able to showcase Cannes’ determination to safeguard

the environment. A feather in the cap for Lyonnaise? Undoubtedly.

But it has been a win-win situation for the city of Cannes too

which is now able to benef t from a modern plant in which there is no

discharge of suspended solids, a facility that meets the sustainable

development requirements of a low-consumption building requiring

no interior heating and very high-quality output water which is dis-

charged into the Bay of Cannes.

Rolland is keen to emphasise that the plant is not the end but just

the beginning of its ongoing sustainable development policy. “Lyon-

“The key to Aquaviva is its use of ultrafiltration modules as well as

a membrane bio-reactor”

Super Sludge: Biosolids are dried on site, packaged and used as natural fertilizer



naise des Eaux also wants to develop the offer to local authorities of

a contract that formalises our commitment to local sustainable de-

velopment through the stipulation that a portion of our remuneration

will be based on achieving quantitative environmental goals, such as

water resource protection, greenhouse gas emission reductions and

biodiversity conservation. Remuneration linked to environmental per-

formance is already included in about a dozen Lyonnaise des Eaux

contracts in France and can account for up to 15% of our revenue.

“Innovation and progress have always been part of the “genetic

code” of Lyonnaise des Eaux, which has always been forward think-

ing so as to anticipate and protect against risks to water quality and,

more broadly, the environment. Under the banner “Innovate to pro-

duce healthy water and measure its effectiveness”, and as part of

our new sustainable development engagement for 2012-2016, we

are committed to saving even more water, doing what we can to

restore good environmental status, reducing – and even offsetting –

the pressure on biodiversity, and gradually transforming our treatment

facilities into environmental platforms.”

ULTRAFILTRATION

Now if all of that is in danger of sounding like a par-

ty political broadcast for the Lyonnaise des Eaux

party, well, the proof of the pudding is in the plant

itself. The key to Aquaviva is its use of ultraf ltration

modules as well as a membrane bio-reactor.

The treatment process also enables eff uent

to be re-used for watering green spaces and for

the cleaning of both the streets of Cannes and its

environs too. In fact its purif cation eff ciency far

exceeds regulatory requirements. The plant even

managed to come in on its original budget of €77

million.

The facility’s operation will be audited by a cer-

tif cation organization in order to attain the ISO

14001 environmental management standard.

The bottom line of all of this is that the new WWTP has succeeded

in completely neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse

gases will make up only 269 equivalent tons of carbon annually – that

is to say 90% less than the previous plant. But these emissions are

now being completely offset.

The technology was developed by Degrémont, a subsidiary of

Suez Environnement, which specif es and uses a variety of equip-

ment and material. It’s not without some justif cation, therefore, that

both Brochand and Rolland are in crowing mode.

A lot of commentators, both local and national, were skeptical as

to whether or not the

project would f nd its

way to completion

at all. Of whether or

not it would in fact

achieve what it had

set out to achieve.

“My tendencies

lie with the right, not

the left, as you would

expect from some-

one with my political

background”, the

Mayor of Cannes

concludes.

“But I have to con-

fess that I was more

than a little impressed

with the way Barack

Obama campaigned

and ended up by be-

ing elected as presi-

dent of the United

States of America.

Well, I would like to

take a leaf out of

his book – or at least out of his campaigning book. To those who

doubted as to whether or not we could pull this off, and produce the

f rst carbon neutral wastewater treatment plant in the world – I would

always give the same answer. ‘Can we do this here on the Cote

d’Azur?’, people would often enquire? And to which I would always

reply with just three words – ‘Yes, we Cannes.’ WWi

Enquiry No. 100

MBR technology demonstrated here is one part of the process to help reuse treated eff uent

Design consideration and intergration has set out for the Aquaviva facility to f t into its Riviera surroundings

UV, Ozone & Advanced Oxidation Needs


Smart BubblesKey to Israeli Aeration Energy Saving ClaimsThe Holy Grail of wastewater treatment is to f nd lower energy and cost aeration treatment.

One company in Israel claims to have done that by generating bubbles that stay in the

water longer. Jeremy Josephs speaks to the CEO behind the organisation and takes a

closer look at an installation at the Tiberias Regional Water and Sewage Corporation.

Tiberias Regional Water and Sewage Corporation in Israel owns and operates the WWTP where the Diffusaire technology has taken place

Aeration and the production of air have been described

as ‘the elephant in the living room’ when it comes to

WWTPs. That is to say that they represent a diff cult

or troubling subject about which everyone present is

acutely aware – but which for reasons of awkward-

ness all those concerned steadfastly refuse to talk about. Or, to use

another analogy, there has been more than a touch of Basil Fawlty’s

famous one-liner when it comes to aeration costs – ‘don’t mention

the war’ – except in this instance it’s been ‘don’t mention the electric-

ity costs’.

When the truth is, of course, that we should be doing precisely

that. Why? Because aeration is the cornerstone of biological waste-

water treatment and controls the treatment performance and opera-

tional economics of the entire wastewater treatment facility. Its as-

sociated costs are thus crucial. Crucial but massive.

For energy used by WWTPs in the United States alone has been

estimated to be running at ~1.5% of total US electricity consumption.

Figures published by the US government’s Department of Energy

(DOE) show this translates to more than 3000 MW of electricity in the

USA, and runs at an annual cost of over one and a half billion dollars

in the United States alone.

One company claims that its modular aeration unit can provide an

innovative and cost-effective series of solutions for all sized WWTPs,

reducing aeration costs by anything up to 50%.

“Now, if we consider that aeration accounts for 50% of WWTPs,

we are talking about the possibility of the saving of hundreds of mil-

lions of dollars worldwide, possibly even more”, enthuses Meir Shim-

ko, CEO of Israeli start-up Diffusaire.

So does this mean that this prospective solution from Israel, often

dubbed the start up nation on the not unreasonable grounds that it



has more NASDAQ listed companies than any other country be-

sides the US, is all terribly high-tech?

“No, it does not”, Shimko is quick to respond. “In fact that’s the

beauty of our system: it is high-tech but it’s also terribly easy to install

and, best of all, there is absolutely zero downtime. There is never

any need to empty the reactor or stop the treatment process during

either installation or maintenance.”

Such claims throw up the question of precisely how the com-

pany’s aeration system diffuses air into pumped liquids in the f rst

place? And to which the answer is that the company has come up

with a simple but devastatingly effective solution. That its bubbles

are a cut above the rest. Smarter if you will. Yes, that’s right – we are

talking about smart bubbles.

Or, to put it somewhat more scientif cally, the sad truth is that for

every 40kg of air pumped through aerators only ~1kg of oxygen is

actually extracted. Diffusaire’s patented system actually doubles the

retention time of the air bubbles in the water.

Bubbles in traditional systems ascend at a rate of approximately

ten inches per second. Diffusaire’s system is able to slow down their

ascent – doubling their retention time, offering far more oxygen to

the water and saving energy in the process. The company calls its

system OTECH, a hybrid that combines air injection through diffus-

ers against a counter f ow of liquid including an innovative algorithm,

constantly calculating various parameters into its decision engine.

The amount of material transferred from the gaseous phase to

the liquid phase depends on several factors including temperature,

concentration, contact time and boundary layer thickness. OTECH

facilitates increased contact time between the gas bubble and liq-

uid, thus allowing a greater quantity of material to pass into the f uid,

the company said.

Streaming examination of the f uid against the direction of the rise

of the bubbles slows the risen bubbles’ velocity and increases the

time of contact with the liquid. The net result of both this and a care-

fully positioned probe linked to Diffusaire’s computer system means

that you are getting far more bubble for your buck.

More marketing hype from the plucky Israeli start-up? Hardly. For

Shaul David, CEO of Tiberias Regional Water and Sewage Corpo-

ration and who owns and operates the Yavniel WWTP where the

Diffusaire equipment is installed is energised by the new system. For Info. http://wwi.hotims.com RS# 13

Better bubble for you buck: Diffusair says its OTECH system doubles the retention time

of aeration bubbles in the water from 10 to 20 seconds

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“We were very much interested in f nding advanced solution to our

existing aeration system which was not at all eff cient and consumed

high levels of energy from all perspectives – but especially in terms

of electricity and ongoing expensive maintenance. We received from

Diffusaire a very well-priced quotation, which we approved, and this

was followed by the very speedy and simple installation of their sys-

tem. We saw great results from the very f rst month.”

The CEO goes onto add: “Now after more than two months of

24/7 operations we are entirely convinced that we have purchased

from Diffusaire an eff cient and advanced aeration technology which

has provided us with signif cant savings both for electricity and O&M

costs. We also really appreciate the zero down time and the fact that

there was no process interruption during installation. Their ongoing

technical support has been similarly impressive.”

It’s diff cult to pin down Shimko when it comes to quantifying the

precise level of energy saving likely to be encountered. Why? Be-

cause it all depends. On the size of the plant. On how well it has been

maintained. On when it was built. On which treatment techniques are

being used. On the size of the existing diffusers? On when they were

last serviced or replaced? And so on. But his best guess – and he

appreciates that he is not entirely an independent witness in these

matters – is that on average a reduction in energy costs of around

50% could expect to be encountered.

That said it’s clear that Diffusaire’s CEO is a serious operator: he

was VP of Subsidiary Operations & Global Marketing for IDE Tech-

nologies, Israel’s f agship desalination

company and an acknowledged world

leader in the f eld. And it was while working

for IDE that Shimko led and won two ma-

jor projects in China and India, each worth

more than US$100 million.

Diffusaire operates under the auspices

of an umbrella incubator organization

known as Kinrot Ventures – ‘A Rainbow

of Water Technologies’ – as its publicity

material puts it, and is but one of thirteen

separate water technology start-ups.

Business development of Kinrot is

headed up by Amit Shilony whose task it is

to oversee projects ranging from the devel-

opment of a micro generator that produces

electrical power from water f ow within pipes

(Hydrospin) to a revolutionary system in re-

mote valve monitoring for the process in-

dustry and automation world via advanced

wireless technology (Eltav).

His role is that of a global bridge con-

necting entrepreneurs with investors and

key water industry players, actively seek-

ing out strategic and effective co-oper-

ations and partnerships. So are both he

and Shimko ready to go out there, all guns

blazing, so that the Diffusaire brand goes global – another start-up

success on the already impressive Israeli record? Certainly not.

“It’s not that we want to take things slowly”, Shilony explains, “we

are as keen as anyone to move things forward and get going. Be-

cause we all know that the product works. But we want to get it

absolutely right.

“We are not going to go from a small plant working on 600 cu-

bic meters a day to a system processing thousands of times that

amount. We often say ‘make your mistakes in Hebrew – our lan-

guage here – but notch up your successes in English’, or other lan-

guages for that matter.”

He adds: “So if a customer from the United States or Canada

comes along – and there has already been interest in both of those

countries - and says ‘yes, we’ll take your system, thank you very

much’ we would be happy to put him in the pipeline for 2014. That

said we are looking to expand in the next 12 months closer to home

in and around the Mediterranean basin. Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Tur-

key, Italy, the UK, France – and so on.’’

Shimko knows that he is might well be making a mistake – inter-

rupting his boss – but he simply can’t help himself. He wishes to

return to a previous theme.

“Of course no system can be all things to all men. Perhaps ours is

not appropriate for huge reactors. But most reactors in the world are

not so big. So for small to medium sized systems there is already no

doubt that it’s great. It’s not just a question of saving energy. Because

“This system is able to slow down the ascent of the bubbles -

doubling their retention time from a traditional 10 seconds to 20

seconds, offering far more oxygen to the water and saving energy”

CEO Meir Shimko, formerly of IDE Technologies, estimates that energy savings could amount to up to 50%




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if you have any problem with our system you can simply hoist it out,

f x it – all without closing the plant at all.

“The same for the installation of our system. With existing systems

you have to close the plant, sometimes for two, three or four days –

not to mention the inconvenience and environmental

issues associated with emptying a reactor. With ours

any repair is all over within an hour. No other sys-

tem can do this. And still it’s saving energy. It looks

like simple engineering although actually it includes

some ground-breaking innovative algorithms and is

in fact a hybrid low-tech high-tech solution, plus the

software which manages the programme, which we

have also developed here, is of course also key.”

Israel’s system of technological incubators has

served it well. And not just in the water sector. As

massive repositories of potential ideas, the country’s

incubators have helped make its hi-tech entrepre-

neurship world-renowned.

Most striking of all, though, is that it is not at all

diff cult to detect the hand of the state in the form of

The Off ce of the Chief Scientist (OCS) of the Ministry

of Industry and Trade. This clearly takes great pride

in implementing the government policy of encourag-

ing and supporting industrial research and develop-

ment at the very earliest stages.

In practical terms this has meant that Kinrot ven-

tures, the water technology start-up, received 85%

of its half a million dollar funding from the govern-

ment, monies designed to underwrite technical in-

novation and enterprise but the advanced monies

only becoming repayable if the business venture

takes off and proves successful. It’s the most public

of backing for private enterprise imaginable. The net

outcome of this is that Israel now boasts more tech

start-ups per capita than any other country in the

world.

“When it comes to ideas and innovation”, Shimko

muses with a mischievous grin, “the truth is that

size isn’t everything. When you go to the big water

events around the world, yes, the major operators

are always there, for sure, and so they should be.

But to my mind the really interesting work, the inno-

vation, is being displayed in the smaller booths and

exhibition stands. Not exactly on the sidelines. But

when your idea is new to the market it can of course

take time to penetrate.

“When it comes to diffusers the prevailing mental-

ity has been ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t f x it’ – even when

you can demonstrate that there are huge savings to

be made. There is a natural conservatism in the in-

dustry, which is often slow-moving, and this is some-

thing we are constantly f ghting against, for sure. It

was the same thing when the car was invented.

Some people turned round and said ‘what do we

want that for – what we really need is faster horses.’

“But we are passionate about our product. We know that it works.

And we really do feel that our system of smart bubbles are really go-

ing to f y.”WWi

Enquiry No. 101

“There has been a natural conservatism in the industry, which is often

slow-moving. When your idea is new it can take time to penetrate”


Until now, bal-

last water

e x c h a n g e

has been the

normal way

of counteracting the threat

of invasive species, but new

regulations will replace this

with a requirement for treat-

ment.

“The IMO Convention will

in essence create a global

requirement for most ships

to install ballast water treat-

ment,” says Jim Cosman,

ballast water treatment

manager for Trojan Marinex.

“There is a huge business

opportunity in terms of sup-

plying UV in this market,

which is primarily regulatory

driven.”

There are two require-

ments for the Convention

to be ratif ed – 30 countries

must sign up, and 35% of

the world’s deadweight

shipping tonnage (DWT).

The country threshold has been exceeded – 35 countries are now

signatories – but at 27.95% to date, the tonnage target has yet to

be reached.

WORLD TRADE EXPANSION

As the recent MEPC 64 (The 64th session of the Marine Environ-

ment Protection Committee, which took place from 1 to 5 October)

heard, around 6% of the world’s merchant shipping gross tonnage

is still needed to fulf ll that requirement.

IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu exhorted the audience: “I

therefore, feel compelled, once again, to urge all countries that have

not yet ratif ed the Convention and, in particular, major f ag States

to do so as soon as possible. The problems associated with ballast

water are inherently connected to the expansion of the world trade

so this is an issue from which the shipping industry cannot escape.”

The delay is due to concerns among some critical countries such

as Panama and the Bahamas (major f ag carriers), about the pos-

sibility that even with an approved ballast water management (BWM)

system on board, ship owners could still be penalized in the absence

of a clear sampling methodology and unif ed procedures for port

State control off cers.

Another concern is slow implementation, due to lack of approved

technologies, limited shipyard capacity, time availability and the costs

involved, which these countries argue mean the application dates

of the Convention may need to be reconsidered, Cosman explains.

The IMO notes that “there has been some discussion on availabil-

ity of BWM technologies but many agree there are suff cient around”.

The organization adds that “there will be opportunity at MEPC 64 to

discuss these issues again”. There is a further meeting early next year,

which will give a further chance for suff cient movement to bring the

Convention into force.

MEPC 64 heard that Belgium, Argentina and Germany are close

to ratif cation, but the IMO conf rmed that these three countries would

not provide the necessary gross tonnage.

TESTING CHALLENGES

Ratif cation is only the f rst step. Cosman notes that “the primary is-

sue is getting a representative sample of a ballast water tank – these

are very, very large tanks that were never meant to be sampled. The

second issue is what biological techniques are used to verify whether

water does or does not meet the Convention. The limits look very

much like wastewater standards, specifying the number of organ-

Ballast Backlash Is IMO Ratif cation

Helping or Hindering Technology?Ballast water treatment has increased in the past few

years. US states such as New York and California have

set their own requirements, with the stalled

International Maritime Organisation

Convention hovering in the

background, waiting for ratif cation.

How is this affecting manufacturers?

WWi f nds out.

Approval Regimes

IMO type approval is something all marine equip-

ment must pass and is similar to other valida-

tion regimes. This scrutiny checks that the sys-

tem is electrically safe and can withstand the

harsh marine environment.

The US Alternate Management regime allows a

system type approved from another country to

be used while a treatment system is being re-

viewed for full US type approval. This would

allow already installed systems to be used in-

stead of undertaking ballast water exchange,

the current practice that is being phased out.

The USCG STEP programme allows experimental

equipment to be installed provided the owner

gives data from the system to the Coast Guard.

At the end of the five-year testing, providing the

Coast Guard is happy, the system gets perma-

nent approval

USCG type approval. This ultimate step will in-

volve approval by an independent US labora-

tory (or laboratories) of ballast water manage-

ment systems.

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isms in a volume of water.”

He adds: “As a water treatment practitioner, the issue I see is that

in North America we lay out standards in terms of E. coli, and what

the wastewater treatment plant does is measure the amount of E.

coli. The problem in a ballast water tank is that it could be any organ-

ism – coming up with techniques to determine their absence or pres-

ence is pretty easy, but whether they are live or dead is more diff cult.

It strikes me as very time-consuming, and it is still not standardized.”

Cosman estimates that there are around 23 to 25 systems that

have so far reached IMO type approval, which is the minimum re-

quirement needed to sell equipment for marine use. However, wheth-

er this enables them to meet US type approval for ballast water treat-

ment systems is another matter.

He adds: “The early assumption in the market was that as long

as you had upfront approval there would be no problems – we have

found this is not the case.”

Cosman adds that the US type approval “is far more compre-

hensive, requiring far more assurance, quality control and testing,

and must be done at US-accredited facilities”. The process by which

manufacturers obtain US approval has not yet been f nalised he

adds, meaning there is a degree of confusion in the market. Testing

for type approval seems to be a key issue.

US COAST GUARD VIEW

Dr Richard Everett and John Morris of the US Coast Guard explain

that the US discharge standards are basically the same as the IMO

Convention. Morris says that “Coast Guard regulations are based

on US law and are not dependent on the IMO Convention coming

into force.”

Regarding testing, he notes: “The Coast Guard and EPA devel-

oped test protocols under the Environmental Technology Verif cation

(ETV) program, which are similar to the IMO Convention’s G8 guide-

lines [which approve ballast water treatment systems] but have some

differences that vendors seeking US type-approval must follow.”

Some states – such as New York and California - already have

their own standards, as Morris explains: “The authority of the Coast

Guard and EPA allows states to set their own ballast water standards

in state waters, so there is an ongoing discussion. We communicate

with some states and government agencies, but we don’t tell them

what to do.”

Dr Everett, who has been involved in developing both the USCG

and IMO standards for the past ten years, adds: “Most pertinently,

states are allowed to enact more stringent regulations than we might

establish.”

While some have gone down this route, he notes that “for the

most part states as they have thought about how to implement

these, have either backed away and dropped them or adjusted their

policy so that it is clear that if they have a more stringent standard

they won’t be enforcing it.”

On the other hand, if states want to set less stringent standards,

the USCG regulations would override them. Dr Everett notes that in

the US, there are two laws already in effect prior to the Convention

The IMO Convention and the USCG Rule

Under the IMO’s International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’

Ballast Water and Sediments, parties undertake to give “full and complete” effect

to the provisions of the Convention and the technical Annex in order to prevent,

minimize and ultimately eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms

and pathogens through the control and management of ships’ ballast water

and sediments (the ballast water performance standard).

Vessels built during or after 2009 have to install a type-approved ballast water

treatment system immediately once the convention enters into force, and ves-

sels built before 2009 must install a certified ballast water treatment system

by 2014 or 2016 (depending on ballast water capacity of the vessel – vessels

of between 1500 and 5000m3 must meet the 2014 deadline and ships smaller

or larger than this have till 2016).

The USCG final Rule applies to two groups of vessels discharging ballast water into

US waters – first, those vessels currently required to conduct exchange, and

a second group, which was previously not required to exchange ballast water,

consisting of seagoing vessels that do not operate beyond the US economic

zone, take on and discharge ballast water in more than one Captain of the Port

Zone, and are greater than 1600 gross register tons. The Rule took effect on 21

June 2012.

Ballast water exchange will continue to be required but is only a temporary option

until the first drydocking after the applicable 2014 or 2016 date, after which a

vessel is required to meet the discharge standard. The implementation sched-

ule means that all new vessels built on or after 1 Dec 2013 must be compliant

on delivery; existing vessels less than 1500m3 must comply by their first sched-

uled drydocking after 1 January 2016; existing vessels of between 1500m3 and

5000m3 must comply by their first scheduled drydocking after 1 January 2014,

and existing vessels greater than 5000m3 must comply by their first scheduled

drydocking after 1 January 2016.

One major concern is slow implementation, due to lack of approved technolo-

gies, limited shipyard capacity, time availability and the costs involved, says Trojan

Marinex’s Cosman. Above: the company’s 500i ballast treatment system.



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that require the US to issue regulations for management of ballast

water – the National Invasive Species Act and the Clean Water Act.

The latter gives the US EPA authority to regulate ballast water dis-

charges, which it does under its Vessel General Permit.

ORGANIC RELATIONSHIPS

The Invasive Species Act kick-started the Coast Guard programme,

with the f rst regulations issued in 1993 and thereafter at regular in-

tervals. “There is no organic relationship to the Convention and we

didn’t do it as a response,” Dr Everett stresses.

“Our domestic requirements and need to manage ballast water

preceded this, so when we were negotiating details of the Conven-

tion, many of the negotiating positions were based on the fact that

we had already got some requirements in place and wanted to make

sure the Convention ref ected this. In general, the framework set up

by the Convention is compatible with the Coast Guard regime.”

Despite the delays in the Convention, ship owners need to start

paying attention.

Mark Riggio, the product line manager for Hyde Marine, Calgon

Carbon’s medium-pressure UV and disc-f lter based ballast water

treatment system manufacturer, feels that regardless of the Conven-

tion and USCG grace periods (see box), people are unprepared for

the reality.

“I don’t think people have realised yet the full scope of what the

USCG regulations mean, particularly owners.” There has, he notes,

been a “huge impending market for some time, but this is coming

to a head”.

Next year could be critical, with a realistic chance that the IMO

Convention might be ratif ed – it would then come into force 12

months later. Nevertheless he warns: “There seems to be signif cant

resistance to purchasing systems.”

The EPA is even now developing a new permit to supersede the

Vessel General Permit, he notes – adding a further layer of regula-

tion owners must be aware of. “The text was recently published

and includes terminology relating to ballast water treatment, not

just exchange.”

INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The stalled IMO Convention will implement quickly when it comes

into force, he warns. The IMO requirement to have a system installed

is based on the f rst dry dock survey after the Convention’s imple-

mentation date, he explains, whereas the USCG requirement is for a

deadline based on the f rst major survey.

“Next year could be critical, with

a realistic chance that the IMO

Convention might be ratified - it

would then come into force 12

months later. Nevertheless there

seems to be significant resis-

tance to purchasing systems”

Riggio explains: “In every survey there are two dry dock-

ings. The IMO makes no distinction between the intermediate

dry docking and a major dry docking. The Coast Guard stipu-



lates a major survey. If a ship had just completed one of these it

would have f ve years to comply. With the IMO it would have two and

a half to three years, depending on when its next dry dock is due.”

However, the US regulations are the only ones off cially in place

at the moment and these will affect a signif cant number of ships

in the world as many visit the US. Ship owners need to start think-

ing about treatment systems now, he warns, in order to ensure they

can get USCG type approval. “It will be a lengthy process. It will be

between 12 and 24 months before any system receives US type

approval,” he warns.

Whatever route a ship owner may take - and sifting through the

detail of what needs to be done will not be simple – it is clear that

unless ships plan never to visit the US, they will require some sort of

ballast water treatment system sooner rather than later.

“There are a number of competitors and a number of systems, so

the pricing now should be very attractive relative to the future when

more orders are being placed and supply, if not constrained, is at

least tight,” Riggio adds.

CALL TO ARMS

Severn Trent De Nora, which makes an electrolytic disinfection sys-

tem for ballast water treatment, echoes the call for urgent action. A

spokesperson says: “In reality, the US has the only existing ballast

water treatment regulations. With the USCG Final Rule, which en-

tered into force in June 2012, the stalled IMO Convention will only

make the introduction of invasive species much worse and delay the

inevitable.

“Continued delay to ratif cation of the Ballast Water Convention

will only result in the appearance of f agrant disregard for good envi-

ronmental stewardship – thus making the entire market suffer nega-

tive public opinion. Even the early adopters will be lumped together

with the truly guilty and reputation recovery all the more diff cult.”

The spokesperson added: “Just waiting until there are no more

choices and hoping the Convention goes away will eventually back-

f re on the industry. As the USCG and EPA rules eclipse the IMO

Convention enforcement, the rest of the world will not be able to ex-

plain why such reasonable and effective actions were not taken when

equipment to meet the standards was available.” WWi

Enquiry No. 104

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in sub-assembly conf guration. The entire ballast f ow stream is passed through the electrolytic cells.

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America’s wastewater sector is facing an uphill battle.

With some of the country’s water infrastructure sys-

tems built before the Civil War, it is no surprise these

fragile networks are in need of serious attention. The

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates

that repairing, replacing, and upgrading aging wastewater infrastruc-

ture will cost between $300 billion to $1 trillion over the next 20 years.

As things stand today, ratepayers are shouldering approximately

97% of this f nancial burden, with municipalities spending over $100

billion per year on clean and safe water investments.

In addition to this growing investment need, EPA regulations on

wet weather-related discharges, biosolids management and nutri-

ents under the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) have expanded. As a

result, this has lead to more expensive levels of wastewater treat-

ment. Given the current economic environment and federal budget

shortfall, how can publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) make

the necessary upgrades to protect public health and the environment

without going bankrupt or increasing rates to unsustainable levels?

For over 40 years, utilities have been at the crux of this chal-

lenge, pursuing national policies and approaches that seek to

stretch every ratepayer dollar as far as possible in order to ensure

that the nation’s waters are clean and safe, and meet the strict

requirements of the CWA.

THE NUTRIENT CHALLENGEExcessive amounts of nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorous

in waterways now represents the single largest pollution problem fac-

ing US waters. More than 60% of the rivers and bays in every coastal

state are moderately to severely degraded by nutrient pollution. Nu-

trients are contributing to some of the largest algal blooms, f sh kills,

shellf sh poisonings and aquatic deadzones in the country.

Eff uent discharges from POTWs are a signif cant source of nutri-

ent pollution in surface waters. As a result, EPA has increased its

focus on controlling nutrient discharges from these sources. Yet

POTWs are not the only nor the greatest source of nutrient pollution

in many waterways.

Runoff from agricultural land, rich in nutrients from fertilizer and

livestock manure, is responsible for high levels of nutrient pollution.

Despite this, most agricultural producers are exempt from the water

pollution control requirements of the CWA.

The New American Dream: Water Quality TradingNutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen are being seen as a curse and a blessing: the

cause of algal blooms yet a harvestable commodity. With runoff from farms having to be

treated by waterworks, should there be more communication between the agricultural and

water sectors? NACWA believes water quality is one answer. Hannah Mellman reports.

Most agricultural producers are exempt from the water pollution control requirements of the Clean Water Act, says NACWA



This leaves the brunt of the work to mitigate nutrient pollution to

the POTWs, which rely on expensive technology controls and up-

grades to reduce their nutrient loadings. While these utilities strive for

compliance, there are two problems with this model.

First, nutrient removal technology is extremely expensive. In the

Chesapeake Bay for example, EPA recently issued a permit to the

Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C., requir-

ing a further reduction in eff uent nitrogen from just over f ve million to

4.7 million pounds per year. This nitrogen removal project will incur

a capital cost of $900 million to ratepayers yet only result in a 0.4%

reduction of total nitrogen f owing into the Chesapeake Bay.

And second, even if a utility is able to completely remove the nutri-

ents from its discharge, it may not lead to sizable reductions in overall

nutrient loads in waterways and improvements in water quality. In the

Midwest, nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River is responsible for a

deadzone in the Gulf of Mexico that measures almost 3,000 square

miles. Yet, POTWs are only responsible for 12% of the phosphorous

and 9% of the nitrogen delivered to the Gulf, compared to agricultu/ral

and range land, which is responsible for 80% and 71% respectively.

Clearly, there is a disconnect between current water quality man-

agement and implementation practices and what is needed to im-

prove water quality. Instead, a more holistic approach to watershed

management should be adopted to collectively engage and address

all sources and activities contributing to nutrient pollution.

WATER QUALITY TRADING TO ADDRESS NUTRIENT POLLUTION Water quality trading continues to gain interest among industry

and agricultural producers as a viable market-based alternative to

control water pollution. This approach is based on the idea that

pollution sources in a watershed face very different costs to control

the same pollutant.

So, permitted emitters like POTWs with high abatement costs

could purchase equivalent nutrient reductions from a cheaper

source, like agriculture, to help meet their regulatory requirements.

There are three main benef ts to water quality trading. First, water

quality trading has the potential to meet nutrient load requirements at

lower overall costs. The cost to remove a pound of nitrogen or phos-

phorus from farm runoff and drainage is typically four to f ve - and

sometimes up to 10 to 20—times less than the cost to remove the

same amount from municipal wastewater or stormwater.

Secondly, the economic incentive created for farmers who engage

in nutrient management activities means that water quality trading

can potentially generate environmental benef ts beyond those that

would be achieved under

traditional regulation, like

wildlife habitat and f oodwa-

ter control.

Finally, water quality

trading helps move water

quality control efforts to-

wards a watershed-based

approach, collectively ad-

dressing all sources and

activities contributing to wa-

tershed degradation.

It is easy to see why a

POTW, stretched beyond

the brink of its f nancial

capacity, would see water

quality trading as appealing. This approach can address the lowest-

hanging fruit in terms of nutrient reduction, saving utilities money,

engaging sectors that may not otherwise participate in nutrient re-

duction activities. This is as well as encouraging water quality im-

provements that go above and beyond minimum pollution control

requirements.

UPDATING EPA’S WATER QUALITY TRADING POLICY According to the EPA, there are currently 49 water quality trading

programs active or under development in the U.S. Of those, less than

half include trading between utilities and agricultural and fewer still are

geared specif cally towards addressing nutrients.

If the environmental and economic benef ts of adopting a market-

based approach to meet nutrient requirements are overwhelmingly

positive, why haven’t these markets been more readily adopted?

Successful water quality trading programmes depend on quite a

few factors. These include the ability to establish and enforce a pollu-

tion cap, handle the complexity associated with establishing verif able

agricultural credits, and avoid the creation of hot spots, or localized

areas with high levels of nutrients within a watershed. Equally impor-

tant is the need for more consistent support and greater promotion

of water quality trading from the federal government.

In 2003, EPA released its Water Quality Trading Policy to provide

states and interstate agencies with guidance in developing and im-

plementing water quality trading programs. This Policy is the f rst time

EPA has recognised water quality trading as a viable approach to re-

ducing certain types of water pollution. Its release signif ed a broader

shift in environmental policymaking from top‐down strategies to one

that fosters commodif cation and local ownership.

While it is certainly positive to see EPA endorse a market-based

approach to nutrient management, NACWA has urged EPA to up-

Working Group NACWA recently formed a Water Quality Trading

Working Group to provide a utility perspective

on whether trading can achieve more efficient

water quality improvements. While the Asso-

ciation has weighed in on trading issues in the

past, this is the first time NACWA has formed

a group dedicated to the issue, signifying the

growing recognition that this approach can pro-

vide a credible alternative to traditional regula-

tory approaches.

The cost to remove a pound of nitrogen or phosphorus from farm runoff

and drainage is typically four to f ve - and sometimes up to 10 to 20 -

times less than the cost to remove the same amount from municipal

wastewater or stormwater.



date the policy and clarify language the Association fears could in fact

limit trading and the broader establishment of regional water quality

trading programs.

First and foremost, the National Association of Clean Water Agen-

cies (NACWA) urges EPA to encourage water quality trading if trading

can meet environmental goals equal to or greater than those under

existing regulatory programs, not only where trading achieves greater

environmental benef ts as the Policy states. Achieving ancillary en-

vironmental benef ts is certainly encouraged but trading should not

be disregarded if a program is capable of achieving environmental

benef ts equal to those under regulation at less cost.

Secondly, NACWA is concerned with how the Policy def nes the

areas under which trading may occur. According to EPA’s Policy, “All

water quality trading should occur within a watershed or a def ned

area for which a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) has been ap-

proved.”

Under the CWA, a waterbody that fails to meet one or more of its

designated uses is declared ‘impaired’ and a TMDL is developed,

which allots a maximum amount of a pollutant the waterbody can

receive and still safely meet water quality standards. TMDLs can cer-

tainly help facilitate trading as they def ne a trading area and establish

a pollution cap for each pollution source. Nevertheless, NACWA fears

EPA’s Policy could be interpreted as only endorsing trading where a

TMDL has been established.

Relying on a TMDL to establish a trading program is constrain-

ing and could hamper the development of new domestic markets.

Around the country, many segments of streams and rivers, lakes,

and coastal waterbodies are facing enormous nutrient problems de-

spite not being declared impaired or having a TMDL.

Furthermore, implementing a TMDL is a cumbersome and, at

times, contentious process. It requires setting a controversial pollu-

tion limit to be recognized by pollution control mandates on some or

all pollution sources. In cases where agriculture is involved, translat-

ing broad mandates to individual producers and ensuring long-term

compliance is especially diff cult.

WATER QUALITY TRADING TRIAL

It is critical the EPA recognizes that trading can be just as effective,

if not more so, in the absence of a TMDL. The Electrical Power Re-

search Institute’s (EPRI) Ohio River Basin Trading Project is one ex-

ample of a voluntary nitrogen and phosphorous trading program not

linked to a TMDL.

In August 2012, EPRI launched the pilot phase of the Project,

which covers parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. It is the only

active interstate trading program in the country and on its way to

being one of the largest and most sophisticated water quality trading

programs ever developed. To see the implementation of more pro-

grams like EPRI’s, EPA should be receptive to water quality trading

programs under a wide variety of circumstances.

Finally, NACWA is concerned that baseline require-

ments for agriculture may hinder trades in water quality

trading programs. According to EPA, farmers must f rst

comply with baseline, or pollutant control requirements,

before they can be eligible to generate and sell credits.

Baseline requirements take the form of best manage-

ment practices (BMPs) that are consistent with the water

quality goal.

Under the CWA, there are no requirements for agri-

culture to adopt BMPs even in the presence of a TMDL.

By requiring a minimum practice standard to participate

in a trading program, EPA is disqualifying the least costly

reductions from being offered as offsets.

Farmers who have not voluntarily adopted the mini-

mum set of practices prior to the start of a trading pro-

gram may not f nd it in their interest to enter the market

because of the entry cost associated with meeting a

baseline. NACWA fears this competitive disadvantage

could ultimately limit participation, hampering credit sup-

ply and adversely affect market eff ciency.

Although it is unclear whether EPA is open to revising

the Water Quality Trading Policy in the near future, EPA has requested

a meeting with NACWA to continue this discussion. NACWA is en-

couraged by this request, and plans to continue work with EPA and

other stakeholder groups to develop water quality trading policies

and programs that will yield tangible water quality and environmental

improvements while addressing the affordability concerns of POTWs

around the country. WWi

Author note: Hannah Mellman is manager of legislative affairs for

the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). For

more information please email: [email protected].

Enquiry No. 106

“It is easy to see why a POTW, stretched beyond the brink of its fi-

nancial capacity, would see water quality trading as appealing. This

approach can address the lowest-hanging fruit in terms of nutrient

reduction, saving utilities money, engaging sectors that may not oth-

erwise participate in nutrient reduction activities.”

Runoff from agricultural land, rich in nutrients from fertilizer and livestock manure, has been blamed

for high levels of nutrient pollution.

For Info. http://wwi.hotims.com RS# xx


Regional Spotlight: America/Caribbean


For several decades, scientists have

warned about the exposure to lead

and its effect on health, from physi-

cal and mental development issues

in children, to raising blood pressure

and causing kidney problems in adults.

The most common cause of lead poisoning

is dust and chips from old paint. However, some

non-paint sources can cause severe cases of

lead poisoning, including drinking water.

Concentrations of lead in drinking water do

not usually get there from natural sources. One

of the most common causes of lead concen-

tration in water is due to contamination from

the gradual corrosion of water supply

pipes and plumbing f xtures.

As a result, in as early as the

1920s, the United States began

restricting lead use in water pipes

due to public health concerns.

In 1974, The Safe Drinking Wa-

ter Act (SDWA) was passed in

an effort to regulate the nation’s

public drinking water supply.

Under the SDWA, the Envi-

ronmental Protection Agency

(EPA) is mandated to

set enforceable maxi-

mum containment lev-

els for contaminants.

Since the signing of

the initial act, there have

been several amend-

ments, including in 1986. The amendment Act mandated

that all pipes, solders, pipe f ttings and plumbing f xtures used

in the installation and repair of any public water system, or

any non-residential facility that provides water for human con-

sumption to be “lead free”. The message was indeed clear:

drinking water and lead should not be mixed together.

Most recently, the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act

signed by President Obama on January 4, 2011. The Reduc-

tion of Lead in Drinking Water Act reduces the amount of lead

permissible in water meters from 8.0% to 0.25%. These new

regulations will go into effect on January 4, 2014.

With a little over a year before federal regulatory require-

ments come into effect, many utilities are already converting

to no-lead products to ensure proper inventory for 2014.

However, California and Vermont have already enacted more restric-

tive state limits already. New lead content restrictions were set for

introduction in Maryland earlier this year. For utilities that have not

started planning for this new regulation, now is the time to begin re-

searching and selecting the right products.

LEAD FREE ALTERNATIVES

There are several materials that utilities should consider when se-

lecting a lead free meter alternative. Various options include epoxy

coated ductile and cast iron, stainless steel, low lead bronze and

composites.

When choosing a lead free alternative material, utilities must con-

sider traditional meter requirements such as f ow capability and dura-

bility, however, the difference between lead-free and zero-lead meters

should also be considered. Some “lead free” meters contain as much

as 0.25% lead.

While 0.25% of lead in meters allows utilities to meet current regu-

lations, implementing these “lead free” meters could put utilities at

risk for another meter change out should future regulations require

complete lead elimination from water meters. Most water meters are

expected to last more than 20 years, meaning that the next amend-

ment to SDWA could come before the meter f eet must be replaced.

COMPOSITE METERS

One product that is gaining in popularity because of its strength and

cost stability without dependence on metal pricing f uctuations is

Whole Lotta Lead: Preparing for New Drinking Water Regulations

The use of lead in drinking water pipes has been restricted since the

1920s but in a little over a year the same rules will apply to water meters.

For utilities that haven’t started planning for the Reduction of Lead in

Drinking Water Act, now is the time, warns Bridget Berardinelli.

Figure 1. Flowchart: Decision tree for determining the need for compliance to thereduction of lead in drinking water Act Via ANSI/NSF 372 certifcation

Source UL

Does the product come incontact with drinking water?

Is the product connectedto the potable waterdistribution system?

Product does not need todemonstrate compliance with

the new law

Is the product a toilet, bidet, urinal, fll valve, shower valve,

service saddle, or waterdistribution main gate valve

larger than 2 inches?

Product does not need todemonstrate compliance

with the new law

Product does not need todemonstrate compliance

with the new law

Certifcation to NSF 372is required

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Regional Spotlight: America/Caribbean


composite meters. More importantly, these composite meters have

zero lead as opposed to low lead or even “no-lead” bronze meters.

Using materials that have already proven their strength and durabil-

ity in the automotive and valve industries, composite meters boast

longevity and resistance to corrosion from aggressive water and from

the chlorinated chemicals used to make water drinkable. Composite

meters are also equipped to withstand the pressure

required to maintain a water system.

Composite meters are constructed using a blend

of plastic and f berglass. These environmentally-

friendly materials are not only strong and durable,

but also are not susceptible to f uctuating copper

prices. Compared to bronze water meter products,

composites are not only stronger but also lighter and

require less energy to manufacture and ship.

Through comprehensive testing, composite me-

ters have demonstrated a burst pressure that is sig-

nif cantly greater than bronze and an equal longevity.

Manufacturers have a wide range of ”lead-free”

or zero-lead products on the market and it is critical

that utilities consider all of their options when select-

ing a new f eet of meters.

Most importantly, everyone deserves access to

safe, clean water. It is important that manufacturers

continually develop and deliver products that meet

the highest standards for quality, reliability and ac-

curacy to ensure accessibility to and conservation of

this most critical resource. WWi

Author’s note: Bridget Berardinelli is product manager for the North

American Water Products at Sensus. For more information on the

Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act, please visit the USEPA

website on: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/index.cfm.

Enquiry No. 107

Your process needs…

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NEW

DURA 4

5

Legislation Description Effective Date

NSF/ANSI

Standard 372

New lead content only approval standard that

uses the requirements in NSF/ANSI Standard

61, Annex G. NSF standard in accordance with

California

AB1953 and new national lead-free law requiring

a 0.25% (15 ppb) maximum lead content for all

wetted components.

Oct. 1, 2010

NSF/ANSI

Standard 61

(Annex F)

Reduces the allowable lead leach maximum limit

to 5 ppb for all NSF Standard 61 certif ed prod-

ucts. All existing NSF Standard 61 approved

products will be reviewed to ensure compliance

with the new requirement in order to maintain

NSF Standard 61 approval.

July 1, 2012

Reduction

of Lead in

Drinking

Water Act

(S.3874)

New national law (amending the Safe

Drinking Water Act or SDWA) requiring

products in contact with drinking water to a

0.25% (15 ppb) maximum lead content for all

wetted components using a surface based

averaging formula. The new NSF Standard 372

and NSF

Standard 61, Annex G will provide independent

third party verif cation to the law.

Jan. 4, 2014

Low-Lead Requirements for Water




It is not unknown that food and

beverage production is one

of the most water intensive

industries globally. Research

from J.P. Morgan suggests that

direct water use from f ve global

food and beverage giants, includ-

ing Kraft Foods and the Unilever

Group, is enough to serve the daily

basic water needs of everyone one

the planet.

Driven by heightened regula-

tion and sought after cost savings,

these very food and drink compa-

nies are now integrating advanced

water treatment technologies into

their operations.

Earlier this year PepsiCo

scooped the Stockholm Industry

Water Award for conserving nearly 16 million cubic meters of water in

2011, from a 2006 baseline.

The company’s Casa Grande, Arizona, Frito-Lay facility was cited

for using a f ltration and purif cation system that recycles and reuses

approximately 80% of process water used in production.

CDM Smith completed the design and construction of the 2460

m3/day process water recovery treatment system,

which recycles up to 75% of the facility’s process wa-

ter. As a result, Frito-Lay has been able to reduce its

annual water use by 378,541 m3.

The advanced purif cation system incorporates

screening, sedimentation, membrane bioreactor, acti-

vated carbon, ultraviolet, low pressure reverse osmo-

sis, water stabilization and chlorine disinfection to treat

the eff uent to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) primary and secondary drinking water quality

standards, allowing it to be reused to wash and move

potatoes and corn. This is the f rst U.S. food process-

ing plant that produces drinking water quality process

water to be reused in food production.

Several processes at the facility are large consum-

ers of water. Potatoes are moved and washed in a

f ume as they are prepared for processing. During

peeling and slicing, starch is f ushed away. For corn,

water is used in a caustic soak that loosens the hulls,

also in a starch reduction step and in cooking.

Starch water is sent into a segregated water line so

the starch can be removed and processed. The water

and starch are separated in a vortex, high speed sepa-

ration process. The concentrated starch is dewatered

UF, MBR + UV Achieves Water Reuse for Food ProducerThanks to an innovative process water reuse system and alternative energy, PepsiCo

Frito-Lay’s Casa Grande facility in Arizona is the f rst US food processing plant that pro-

duces drinking quality process water to be reused in food production. Here’s how.

Biological nutrient removal and ultraf ltration is used in the MBR process before the LPRO system to provide posi-

tive removal of solids from the bioreactor and solids too small for the screens and primary clarif ers to capture

A unique design for bioreactors in concentric tanks, and the use of a GE Zenon MBR, activated carbon,

LPRO and UV/chlorine disinfection help the treated eff uent meet EPA standards



on a vacuum f lter, and then it is dried with a hot air dryer, bagged and

sold for use as commercial starch product.

Equipment cleaning and sanitation also consume water. Equip-

ment must be cleaned before any f avor change and a more exten-

sive cleaning is done every weekend. All process water goes into

the recycle stream and on to the Process Water Recovery Treatment

Plant (PWRTP). Sanitary water from restrooms and the cafeteria

kitchen go to the city sewer.

At the PWRTP, a pump station lifts the process water up to internal

fed rotary screens that capture corn kernels and pieces of potatoes

and any large material. Water f ows out of screens to an equalization

tank, where staff adjust pH. From there it goes to primary clarif ers.

Fine particles of corn and potatoes that settle in the primary clarif ers

are removed by a bottom scraper. The settled material is blended

with the larger screenings and then dewatered on a centrifuge. The

dewater solids are used for animal feed.

After the primary clarif ers, water f ows to into bioreactor tanks,

where an activated sludge step provides biological nutrient (nitrogen)

removal, followed by a membrane bioreactor featuring ultraf ltration

with GE Zenon membranes. A pressurized granular activated carbon

system helps remove color and reduces BOD and COD. Water is

disinfected in a ENAQUA UV system prior to f owing into a Low Pres-

sure Reverse Osmosis (LPRO) system. The LPRO features use of

Dow membranes but was assembled by ENAQUA. There are three

membrane arrays, with two being used for average f ows seen at the

plant.

Inf uent BOD is around 3500 mg/l and non detect on discharge.

TSS is about 4,000 mg/l coming in and non-detect on the discharge.

“We are putting out drinking water quality water,” said Al Goodman,

P.E., Principal CDM Smith. “In fact, it’s better than drinking water.”

After treatment through the RO system, staff add sodium bisulf te

to stabilize the water and sodium hypochlorite to provide a chlorine

residual. It then f ows to a 210,000 gallon reclaimed water tank.

The LPRO recovers 75% of the water, while the 25% reject water

goes to the city sewer. City makeup water is piped into the reclaimed

water tank and blended with the recycled water. Water from the re-

claimed tank is eventually pumped back to the head of the plant to

meet production requirements.

The Process Water Recovery Treatment Plant started up in May

2010 and has performed as expected, meeting all water quality test-

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The LPRO system provides f nal salts and dissolved organics removal.

The system has redundant capacity with three trains available to the

operators, including one fully redundant train for standby availability.



ing requirements. The Casa Grande facility was the f rst snack food

manufacturing facility in the United States to be awarded LEED Exist-

ing Building Gold Certif cation from the U.S. Green Building Coun-

cil, thanks to educational elements, enhanced process layout and

energy-eff cient motors.

With 80% of construction debris recycled for benef cial reuse, de-

watered potato peelings and corn kernels sent to local farms for feed-

stock, and recovered potato starch sold for other manufacturing uses,

the facility now sends less than 1% of its overall waste to landf ll.

The facility has a 5-megawatt photovoltaic solar system that pro-

duces almost all of the plant’s daytime electricity needs. CDM Smith

completed the entire photovoltaic solar installation, including 36 acres

of photovoltaic panels on dual-axis ground-mount systems, single-

axis concentrated photovoltaic collectors, and dish collectors with

Stirling engine generators.

Goodman said the Casa Grande facility demonstrates that the

technology exists to recycle water to the highest standards.

“We are quoting and proposing on other systems and other food

and beverage companies that have seen this system,” Goodman

said. “We def nitely see this as the path of the future.” WWi

Author’s note: Part of this article originally appeared in WWi’s

US sister publication, Industrial Waterworld. For more informa-

tion on industrial water processes and technologies, please visit:

www.waterworld.com/industrial-water.html..

Enquiry No. 109

Q: How water intensive is the production of Pepsi the soft drink?

A: For our beverage portfolio overall in 2011 we used just a little over 2 litres per

litre in manufacturing operations. It includes what ends up in the bottle, it in-

cludes what we use for cleaning, the water that goes into the boiler, the wa-

ter that we use – these are the big users right – cleaning the plant, cleaning

the containers if they need rinsing, heating and cooling.

Q: The company conserved nearly 16 billion litres of water in 2011, from a

2006 baseline. How?

A: : That inclues both snack and beverage plants around the world. This is done

first of all through a programme called ReCon, which is short for Resource

Conservation. It is a PepsiCo wide process and ReCon covers energy and

waste, as well as water. You first start by building awareness and under-

standing where your opportunities are. So for ReCon water we would look at

where are we using water in the plant and where money is spent on water

in the plant. You use that information to figure out where your opportunities

are to become more efficient.

Q; So money is really the key driver for PepsiCo when it comes to water

savings?

A: It’s all important. An interesting example of how finance playsa a part is most

of our plants have a steam boiler to make steam for cleaning and steam for

heat transfer. So the water that you put into the boiler isn’t just water that

comes in. You have to soften it and then you heat it up and that adds to the

inherent value of that water. Even though the volume of water used for steam

is quite small, the cost is quite high. So when you’re prioritisng you’re looking

at both. You look at whether I’m using a lot of water to do this specific function

and am I spending a lot of money to use this water. So the two tie together.

Q: How are regulatory drivers really impacting PepsiCo operations? Is it a

challenge because guidelines for reuse are mainly focused on the mu-

nicipal markets?

A: Certainly we are in line and strive always to be in line with local discharge re-

quirements. We actually have a PepsiCo global responsible effluent standard

and our policy is that when you discharge you need to meet local regulations

or the global standard.

The Case Grande plant is well within the EPA standards for the small amount

that they do discharge. In some cases the global standard is stricter than

local rules. We are in many places all over the world and we need to make

sure that we are being responsible local citizens in respect of water and in

respect of everything else.

Q: How do PepsiCo water saving operations compare to Coca Cola?

A: We have a broader portfolio to what they do – we are a beverage and food com-

pany while they are just a beverage company.

So that actually gives us a difference basis.

Our business is not exactly but roughly 50%

food and 50% beverage.

We actually work with Coca Cola in some in-

stances - both corporations are members of

the Beverage Industry Environmental Round-

table (BIER). So the recognition in both orga-

nizations is that we can benefit from each

other’s knowledge and of course we don’t

share sensitive information about processing.

Q: What opportunities can water technology providers expect from PepsiCo

in the future?

As we build and refurbish plants it’s much easier to think how can I lay the plant

out so I can achieve a local reuse, rather than unfortunately having something

that’s too far away for reuse to be practical. An idea that we’re looking at is

how can we match the initial use with the potential reuse so that a minimal

treatment is needed.

So I would say going forward it would be great to be able to have very localised

solutions, within plants. This would be minimal treatment rather than looking

at a plant level, big treatment systems. This is not something that is easy to

do in an existing operation but I think as we add a line when we build a plant

we can start to think like that. This is something that we’re working towards.

WWi Q&A with Liese Dallbauman, director of water stewardship for PepsiCo


Regional Spotlight: Groundwater

New York is recovering from a state of shock caused

by storm Sandy, ripping across the East Coast of the

US. Costs for clearing up the damage have been esti-

mated at $30-40 billion, with the city’s subway system

sustaining the worst damage in its 108-year history.

Reports cite that Sandy brought a record storm surge of almost 14ft

to central Manhattan, with Maryland reported to have suffered the

worst rain and snow - 12.5 inches and 28 inches, respectively.

While climate change and global warming will be inevitably

blamed, another environmental concern in the region has come un-

der scrutiny by a recent report: increasing methane in groundwater as

a result of hydraulic fracking activity.

New York State is underlain by numerous bedrock formations of

Cambrian to Devonian age that produce natural gas and to a lesser

extent oil. The f rst commercial gas well in the US was dug in the

early 1820s in Fredonia, south of Buffalo, New York and produced

methane from Devonian-age black shale.

Methane occurs locally in the groundwater of New York. As a re-

sult, it may be present in drinking-water wells, in the water produced

from those wells, and in the associated water-supply systems.

The natural gas in low-permeability bedrock formations has not

been accessible by traditional extraction techniques, which have

been used to tap more permeable sandstone and carbonate bed-

rock reservoirs. However, newly developed techniques involving

horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing have made

it possible to extract previously inaccessible natural gas from low-

permeability bedrock, such as the Marcellus and Utica Shales.

Methane reaches saturation in water at 28 milligrams per liter

(mg/L) at atmospheric pressure and becomes f ammable in air at

about 5% by volume. The Off ce of Surface Mining recommends that

methane concentrations greater than 28 mg/L in well water should

be addressed immediately by removing any potential ignition source

and venting the gas away from conf ned spaces.

DISSOLVED METHANE CONCENTRATION DATA IN NEW YORK - RESULTS Since 2002, the US Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS-

DEC), has conducted groundwater-quality monitoring assessments

in major river basins in New York. Since 2009, these assessments

have included sampling for dissolved gases, including methane

By 2011, methane had been sampled in eight of the 14 major

river basins in the State, says USGS. This data, combined with those

from groundwater age-dating analyses, yielded dissolved methane

concentrations from water wells at 239 locations in New York from

1999 to 2011. Samples collected through 2011 indicate that con-

centrations of methane in groundwater from most wells measured

(91%) were at or below the Off ce of Surface Mining action level of 10

mg/L and a large number of wells (47%) had no detectable methane.

However, methane concentrations from several wells exceeded

10 mg/L (9%); in f ve cases, the measured concentrations were

greater than 28 mg/L (2%). Methane was detected in both uncon-

solidated and bedrock aquifers across New York. In unconsolidated

aquifers, 93% of the wells had non-detect to low-level methane con-

centrations (methane concentrations <1 mg/L), and less than 1% of

the wells (one well) was greater than the saturation value of 28 mg/L.

The greater methane concentrations are most likely associated

with conf ned glacial aquifers over black shale bedrock. In bedrock

formation aquifers, 73% of the methane concentrations were less

than 1 mg/L, while nearly 4% had concentrations greater than 28

mg/L across the State. Three of the four highest methane values in

bedrock wells were associated with Devonian-aged black shale bed-

rock. In total, many of the greater methane concentrations were most

likely associated with wells drilled into these shales.

The 1999–2011 analysis of dissolved methane in groundwater in

New York is meant to document the natural occurrence of methane

in the State’s aquifers. While many of the greater concentrations of

dissolved methane appear to be associated with wells drilled in black

shale bedrock or in unconsolidated deposits overlying black shale

bedrock, the limited set of existing data does not allow a more con-

cise analysis at this time, according to USGS.

The organization added that the study does indicate the need for

continued collection of methane data and analysis for individual and

public water-supply wells to document methane concentrations for

water wells in New York State. WWi

Author’s note: This article was taken from the USGS report analysis

of dissolved methane in groundwater in New York. It was prepared

in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental

Conservation. More information and the report from the U.S. Geolog-

ical Survey (USGS) can be found at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis.

Enquiry No. 110

New York, New York’s Dissolved Methane ConcernsThe use of hydraulic fracturing in the US to release natural gas from shale formations has

raised concerns with water-well owners and water-resource managers across the

Marcellus and Utica Shale regions. A new from report from the USGS documents data on

dissolved methane concentrations in New York’s groundwater.


Wastewater Treatment – Energy


There is a major concern about en-

ergy use and greenhouse gas emis-

sions as a result of not just climate

change but activity in the water, as

well as other sectors. Ambitiously,

the Danish water sector branch organisation,

DANVA has a vision that this sector should be-

come carbon neutral before 2025. Already in

2007 they setup a target for 2013 stating that the

water sector should reduce the energy consump-

tion by 25%. The water sector uses in all around

2.4% of the total electric energy consumed in

Denmark, which corresponds to around 800

GWh and a resulting CO2 emission of around

470,000 ton CO2/year.

Of the intended savings in the water sector

most should be found within wastewater treat-

ment as this consumes around 65% of the total

energy used in this sector in Denmark. This corre-

sponds to approximately 1% of the total amount

of electric energy used in Denmark per year.

Of the 65% of electricity consumed at the

treatment plants in Denmark around 10% of this

is used for mixing in the process tanks (see f gure

below). This amounts to around 50 GWh used for mixing in process

tanks in Denmark. In some cases it will be possible with simple mea-

sures to save as much as 50% of the energy just by replacing existing

small diameter medium speed mixers with large diameter slow speed

mixers. This will be revealed in the following study of a Danish waste-

water treatment plant.

MIXING IN THE PROCESS TANK OF DRØSBRO

Drøsbro is a small wastewater treatment plant located in Denmark.

It is a biological plant with both nitrogen and phosphorous removal,

but without other kinds of sludge treatment than pre-dewatering. The

plant consists of a single process line with a total capacity of 10,000

PE (population equivalent). Of this capacity around 7,000 PE is cur-

rently used with 388,395 m3 of wastewater treated in 2010.

The wastewater treatment plant uses 274,426 kWh per year

which corresponds to 0.7 kWh/m3 or approximately 39 kWh/PE. All

process zones are equipped with medium speed Grundfos AMG

mixers that ensure that solids are kept in suspension. The central

SCADA system controls the four mixers with a timer controlled op-

eration schedule of 20 minutes working time followed by f ve minutes

of pause. For this work, it is only the mixer in the aerobic tank that has

been studied further.

The aerobic zone in the process tank at Drøsbro is designed to

have a constant circulating f ow. For mixing in these kinds of tanks

basically two types of equipment can be used: mixers with medium

rotational speed and a small propeller diameter (AMG) and f owmak-

ers with low rotational speed and a large propeller diameter (AFG). It

is investigated how increasing the propeller diameter and lowering

the rotational speed will inf uence the f ow f eld. To make this com-

Energy Saving Potential for Mixing of Horizontal Flow Systems In a study of a Danish wastewater treatment plant a computer simulation shows how a

potential energy saving of more than 50% can be achieved. Bruno Kiilerich and Eddy Yang

discuss how these savings could be made by changing from a medium speed small diam-

eter propeller to a slow speed, large diameter propeller f owmaker.

Energy consumption at a wastewater treatment plantdistributed on processes. Based on data from six Danishplants using the activated sludge process.

Inlet

6% Pre-treatment6%

Aeration-process tank

42%

Mixing-process tank

10%

Clarifcation19%

Sludge treatment6%

Other11%

p p

The biological process tank at Drøsbro is constructed as an annular shaped tank. Inf ow to the

tank takes place in the innermost ring to the anaerobic zone. From here wastewater f ows to the

anoxic zone via an overf ow weir before it via another overf ow weir enters the aerobic zone in the

outermost ring. Recirculation between the aerobic and anoxic zones is handled with a horizontal

low head propeller pump.



parison, two different two-bladed f owmakers were chosen. The

rotational speed of the two f owmakers was adjusted to provide ap-

proximately the same mass f ow rate as for the mixer.

CFD SIMULATIONS

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) a computational model

can be built that represents a system that can be studied in more

detail. As a result we can analyse the results and see what impacts

there are from changing the operation conditions and agitation meth-

od. In general, CFD provides the possibility to simulate turbulent f uid

f ow, multiphase f ows, heat and mass transfer, chemical reactions,

acoustics and f uid-structure interaction.

The tank at Drøsbro wastewater treatment plant is built of pre-

fabricated concrete elements from Perstrup Beton Industri A/S and

the 3D model is constructed based on appropriate detail drawings

of these elements.

During operation of the process tank two different f ow condi-

tions can be considered. One is where the f uid is just agitated in the

tank and the other one is where compressed air is added to the f uid

through rows of diffuser discs at the bottom. In the f rst case the f ow

conditions will develop into a steady state open channel f ow.Howev-

er, as is evident that in open channels smaller f uctuations in the f ow

f eld will occur but the overall f ow will be more or less uniform over

time. A steady state CFD simulation, which has been used in this

study, will therefore capture the overall picture of the f ow f eld and

the result will resemble the general f ow conditions found in the tank.

In the other case where air is supplied through the diffuser f elds

the f ow will be heavily dominated by this and the f ow has to be

considered as fully transient. Comparing the f ow f elds in this case

can only be captured by transient CFD simulations which will not be

treated in this paper. For the steady state simulations a turbulence

model has been used to capture the turbulent diffusion of the f ow.

For each of the simulations performed a horizontal velocity contour

plot in a position 0.3 m over the tank bottom plate has been visual-

ised together with two vertical cross sections of the raceway.

Our universal process controller eCONTROL is uncomplicated. That’s why it works

extremely well with all Bürkert valves and sensors (but also gets along very well with

others). Also, thanks to preset parameters for our sensors and process control valves,

it is especially easy to configure. Controlling pressure, flow, temperature, conductivity,

pH or level are no problem at all, and even complicated processes such as ratio control

of two different flows become child’s play.

No Diva.

Want to know more? Give us a call: +49 (0) 7940/10-91 111 or visit us at www.burkert.com.


Machine Propeller

diameter [cm]

Revolution

speed [rpm]

Mass f ow

[kg/s]

AMG.55.73.342 73 342 8028

AFG.22.130.77 130 76 8053

AFG.60.260.43 260 27 7923

Table 1. Technical data of mixers and flowmakers

The 3D model of the aerobic tank used for CFD analysis. The green

planes show where cross sections for further analysis has been visu-

alised. The black disc shows where the mixer is placed and the black

rectangles indicate diffuser f elds



One cross section is placed before the mixer (left) and another

is placed after the air f eld (right) (see 3D model for positions). For

visualising the difference in propeller diameter between the three ma-

chines, the propellers have been highlighted with black on the CFD

simulations.

Depending on the proceeding primary treatment it is accepted

practice to keep an average velocity between 0.2-0.3 m/s over the

bottom plate of the tank as an indirect measure of when suspended

solids in the tank will not settle. The f ow velocity magnitudes have

been visualised based on the colour bar, where velocities above 0.3

m/s are coloured with red.

When comparing the results of the three different machines hav-

ing a similar mass f ow we observe a more or less equal f ow f eld

with only smaller variations 0.3 meters above the bottom plate. As

expected the velocity will be lower at the centre of the tank due to the

centrifugal forces of the circulating water.

Low velocity zones shaded in blue are located in approximately

the same positions and having almost the same areas and magni-

tudes as are high velocity zones marked with orange and red for the

three different machines.

Only the AFG.60.260.43 deviates a bit from this picture as can be

seen when the velocity differences are visualised. However, this devia-

tion might be due to the fact that the mass f ow of the AFG.60.260.43

is around 1.5% lower compared to the two other machines in this

study.

Yet when looking at the bulk f ow in the tank

judged by the cross sections below, it seems that

at the right cross sections, the low velocity zone

coloured in blue towards the centre of the tank is

reduced as the propeller diameter is increased,

which is further supported when looking at the plot

of the velocity differences.

At the cross sections to left there are on the

contrary only minor differences in the f ow f elds

between the three different machines. However

the AFG.60.260.43 again deviates a bit from the

velocity f elds of the two other machines.

Based on the CFD analysis doubling propeller

diameter, keeping an equal mass f ow, does there-

fore have neither a signif cantly positive nor a nega-

tive effect on the f ow f eld.

As the f ow f elds are approximately equal, in-

dependent of the propeller diameter, and thus the

possibility and position of sedimentation in all three

cases will possible be the same. The determining

factor for which equipment to install in the tank

should purely be based on lifecycle cost of the ma-

chine or accumulated cost over a given period of

time.

SAVINGS AND LIFECYCLE

COST EVALUATION

Above velocity f ow f elds of the AFG.22.130.77

was based on an adjusted revolution speed of

76 rpm in contrary to the nominal rpm of 77. For

the following calculations, data corresponding

to nominal speed of the AFG.22.130.77 has

been used, which to a small extend will favour

the AMG.55.73.342 in below comparison as the

energy consumption at 77 rpm is marginal higher

that at 76 rpm.

To estimate the saving potential, the line power,

P1, according to the data sheets of the products are

used for the calculations when possible. Here it is evi-

dent that the AMG.55.73.342 uses 5.7 kW and that

the AFG.22.130.77 uses 2.5 kW during operation.

For the AFG.60.260.43 with adjusted rotation-

al speed, it is not possible to read out P1 directly

from the product data sheet. But as the eff ciency

is almost steady in the allowed operating range

between 30-50 Hz and the turn down to 27 rpm

corresponds to a frequency of 31.5 Hz, P1 for the

adjusted AFG.60.260.43 can be calculated using

Figure 6. Velocity contour flow fields 0.3 m above the bottom of the tank

Figure 7. Velocity contour flow in two different vertical cross sections of the tank.



the aff nity laws.

Based calculations, the use of the AMG mixer in the aerobic zone

of the tank consumes around 14.6% of the total energy at the plant.

If in contrary an AFG.22.130.77 was installed, mixing in the aerobic

zone will only consume around 7% of the total energy at the plant

whereas installation of an AFG.60.260.43 with reduced revolution

speed will reduce this even further to around 4.8%.

Besides the energy and thus the capital that is being saved by

installing one of the AFG slow speed f owmakers compared to the

current installed AMG medium speed mixer, the emission of CO2 cor-

responding to 0.55 kg CO2/kWh (based on Danish conditions) will

also be a saved.

Without having performed a thorough CFD analysis of the anoxic pro-

cess zone at Drøsbro, which also has an unrestricted circular f ow, it can

be speculated whether a 50% reduction in energy also can be achieved

here, thus reducing the overall energy consumption even more.

PAYBACK TIME FOR REPLACEMENT

OF AN AMG WITH AN AFG

When calculating the payback time for replacing the AMG with one

of the AFG’s it is besides the price of the specif c equipment, price

of energy and cost of capital also necessary to account for the cost

of additional needed installation accessories, cost of a frequency

converter as well as cost of the actual installation/replacement.

With a price for electricity of 0.08 Euro/kWh having an assumed

steady increase of energy prices of 5% per year and a rate of interest

of 5% the calculated payback times are shown in below table.

With an expected lifetime for the f owmakers of 20-25 years the

savings implemented by changing to an AFG.22.130.77 will contrib-

ute positively on the accounts plenty of years after the payback time

which makes this investment quit attractive. With the AFG.60.260.43

a further energy saving can be achieved but the payback time is not

as attractive when the alternative with the AFG.22.130.77 exists.

This is due to the fact that only part of the capacity of the machine

is utilised and the energy savings are not suff cient to compensate

for the higher cost of the f owmaker itself, the price of the frequency

converter as well as the need for more sturdy installation accessories

compared to what is needed for the AFG.22.130.77.

PAYBACK TIME FOR INSTALLING AN AFG

COMPARED TO AN AMG

For new installations and upgrade projects it is another situation. A

comparison has been made by looking at the accumulated cost per

month (f gure 8), thus the initial cost of equipment and installation

accessories plus the operational cost, where the energy prices are

expected to increase with 5% per year.

From this calculation it can be observed that signif cant savings

can be achieved by installing an AFG.22.130.77 compared to the

AMG.55.73.342. In less than 12 months, the higher investment of the

AFG.22.130.77 will be justif ed due to the lower energy consumption

during operation.

Even with the investment and need for a frequency converter the

payback time of the AFG.66.260.43, will in this case only be around

44 months. However, considering the radial f ow that will arrive at the

propeller, due to the circular tank shape and the resulting f ow veloc-

ity gradient that arise over the propeller, it makes a f owmaker with a

diameter of 2.6 meter a less attractive alternative than a f owmaker

with a diameter of 1.3 meter as there is no extra improvement in the

f ow velocity distribution in the tank.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on analysis of velocity f ow f elds using Computational Fluid

Dynamics it has been shown that for Drøsbro wastewater treatment

plant a replacement of the AMG.55.73.342 to an AFG.22.130.77 in

the aerobic zone can reduce the total energy used for mixing at the

plant from 14.5 % to 7 % without altering the f ow f eld and thus the

mixing of the tank. The payback time for implementing this exchange

of equipment in the aerobic zone of the plant will be around four

years. For Drøsbro this will lower the key performance f gures from

39 kWh/PE to 36 kWh/PE. Furthermore it will reduce the emission

of CO2 with around 11,200 kg/year which minimises the burden on

the environment.

Based on f ndings in this study, process tanks with unrestricted

f ow could potential f nd easy and economical justif ed energy sav-

ings by using low speed large diameter propeller f owmakers com-

pared to medium speed small diameter propeller mixers despite the

higher initial cost of a f owmaker. WWi

Author’s note: Bruno Kiilerich is application specialist in the applica-

tion utility and Eddy Yang is development engineer, structural f uid

mechanics for Grundfos Management. The authors would like to

thank Favrskov Forsyning for granting access to Drøsbro wastewater

treatment plant as a vital part of this work.

Enquiry No. 111

Flowmaker type Energy savings

[kWh/yr]

Capital savings*

[Euro/yr]

CO2 reductions

AFG.22.130.77 22,426 1794 11213

AFG.60.260.43 27,822 2226 13911

* Based on a price of 0.08 Euro/kWh

Table 2. Obtainable savings and reductions per year

Flowmaker type Payback time

AFG.22.130.77 4.3 years

AFG.60.260.43 9.2 years

Table 3. Obtainable savings and reductions pr. year.

Figure 8. Accumulated cost as a function of time.


Technology Round-up: Pumps, Motors & Drive Systems

Sulzer Pumps has increased its range of

pump impellers available. The single-vane

Contrablock Plus impeller was launched with

the ABS submersible sewage pump XFP in

2009. Now, both 2-vane and 3-vane impellers

have been added to the series. Contrablock

Plus impellers are designed for handling and

blockage resistance, providing free solids

passage of at least 75 mm (3 inches) through

the impeller.

With the addition of multi-vane impellers,

the Contrablock Plus series extends from

1.3 kW (1.8 HP) / DN80 (3 inch) up to 400 kW

(536 HP) / DN400 (16 inch) models of the ABS

submersible sewage pump XFP. All of the

impellers are open and all feature an adjust-

able bottom plate that lets the operator easily

maintain efficiency and reliability throughout

the pump lifetime, according to Sulzer.

www.sulzer.com Enquiry No. 113

Multi-vane Contrablock Plus pump impellers

The portable, non-metallic Flex-I-Liner ro-

tary peristaltic pump from Vanton Pump and

Equipment Corp. evacuates drums and totes

containing acids, caustics, salts, chlorides and

reagent grade chemicals, without corrosion of

the pump or contamination of the f uid.

The self-priming design has no seals to leak

or valves to clog, and is designed to run dry for

extended periods without damage.

Compact in size with integral handle, it f ts on

drum lids without protruding, and has suff cient

lift characteristics to operate from the f oor, skid,

or stand.

Only two non-metallic parts contact f uid: a

thermoplastic body block and an elastomeric

f exible liner that can be replaced in the f eld

without special tools. The rigid body block is

of solid polypropylene, UHMW polyethylene,

or PTFE, and the molded f exible liner of natu-

ral rubber, Neoprene, Buna-N, Hypalon, Viton

or Nordel elastomers,

eliminating corrosion

or contamination as-

sociated with metal

pumps.

A rotor mounted

on an eccentric shaft

oscillates within the

f exible liner, imparting

a progressive squee-

gee action on the f uid trapped in the channel

between the liner and the body block. Flanges

on the f exible liner are pressed to the side of

the body block by concentric grooves on the

bracket assembly and the cover plate, isolat-

ing the f uid to the channel. The pump is suitable

for f ows from .33 gpm to 40 gpm (1.25 to 151

liters/h) and pressures to 45 psig (310 kPa) at

temperatures to 250°F (121°C).

www.vanton.com Enquiry No. 115

Drum pump handles acids, caustics and slurries

Submersible and conventional pumps manu-

facturer Bedford Pumps has just completed a

contract in excess of £1.25 million with York-

shire Water for the refurbishment of the Don Val-

ley Sewage Pumping Station, UK.

Don Valley SPS is part of a £78

million investment from Yorkshire

Water for Blackburn Meadows

Wastewater Treatment Works. The

Don Valley Pumping Station site

originally housed f ve A P E Allen

mixed f ow vertical spindle units

to lift sewage 21.4m to the inlet

works. These pumps were at the

end of their working life and no lon-

ger able to cope with the demands

of the pumping station. As a result

sewage debris often entered the

River Don during heavy rainfall.

Bedford Pumps replaced the

original units with six conventional

shaft driven volute pumpsets.

The pumps are of a centrifugal, mixed-f ow

design and the largest of the six pumps can

handle up to 215mm spheres of untreated raw

sewage.

The station has been designed within a wet

well sump that is divided into two halves. Each

half is a mirror image of the other and is designed

to function with one half operational and one half

isolated. Bedford Pumps units must therefore

provide suff cient total pumping to achieve full

FFT from one half of the wet well only.

Bedford Pumps said it achieved this criteria

by suggesting that each half of the sump hous-

es an identical set of three pumps, of varying

sizes. The pumps are installed in a vertical con-

f guration.

The largest pump has a duty of 2 m3/second

at 26m head driven by 645kW 6.6kV motors.

The next size down operates at 1.5 m3/s at

27.4m head powered by 505kW 6.6kV motors.

The smallest pumps run at 0.85 l/s at a head of

28.4m from 300kW 6.6 kV motors.

www.bedfordpumps.co.uk Enquiry No. 116

Centrifugal pumps part of £1.25m wastewater facility refurbGrundfos has now released its S-tube impel-

ler to the American market following a launch

at the recent WEFTEC 2012 exhibition.

Grundfos said its channel impeller, the S-

tube, offers greater hydraulic efficiency than its

peers without compromising free passage. The

impeller has been designed to meet

the challenges of handling

wastewater, including dif-

ficulties with sealing, vi-

brations, abrasive wear

and clogging.

Its design eliminates

edges, dead zones and

cutting functions that

wear over time, relying

instead on a patented

labyrinth and sealing

system that will provide

years of trouble-free operation. The impeller’s

tube shape has been designed to eliminate the

need for “advanced and costly add-on assem-

blies that are designed to cut, shred or treat

the wastewater as it flows from the pump”.

Meanwhile, a new balancing method re-

sults in less vibration and noise, said the

manufacturer. Smooth, quiet operation is

indicative of greater reliability and a longer

lifespan for bearings, shaft seals and other

components. The S-tube’s hydraulic design

ensures less abrasive wear, enhances anti-

clogging capabilities and reduces costs over

time. www.grundfos.us Enquiry No. 114

Grundfos says don’t compromise with its S-tube impeller


Technology Round-up: Pumps, Motors & Drive Systems

Xylem said it has expanded its range of sur-

face-mounted and submersible pumps through

its Flygt and Godwin pump brands for mine de-

watering capabilities in Brazil, Australia, Vietnam

and Panama this year

The company said this expansion will in-

clude its slurry pumps, MSHA and CSA certif ed

pumps and starters, portable high-head drain-

age pumps as well as pump system engineer-

ing, contingency planning and turn-key water

management.www.f ygt.com

www.godwinpumps.com Enquiry No. 117

Xylem expands Flygt and Godwin mine dewatering pumps business

Peristaltic pumps manu-

facturer Watson-Marlow is

now offering its 620 series

pump for Sodium Hypo-

chlorite, combining power

and control for wastewater

treatment applications. The

620 hypochlorite pump can

run dry so off-gassing chemicals will not cause

the pump to vapor lock, the company said.

By maintaining +/- 0.1% ac-

curacy in hypo metering the

pumps yield increased savings on

chemical usage. Watson-Marlow

claimed that with its extended

performance, it can reliably deliv-

er 50% more f ow with one tube

compared to other peristaltics.

The 620 reliably handles harsh chemicals in

the water and wastewater treatment industry,

including sodium hypochlorite, ferric chloride,

sodium bisulfate, aluminum, f uoride, carbon

and lime slurries, polymers, aqueous ammonia,

potassium permanganate and caustic slurries.

With no valves or seals to clog, it requires

minimal maintenance, resulting in reduced

downtime, providing a cost-effective alternative

to other pump technologies.www.wmpg.com

Enquiry No. 118

Sodium hypochlorite pump for wastewater applications

NOV Mono has expanded its range of

maintain-in-place pumps. The largest EZstrip

transfer pump now has a 225m3/h capacity, de-

signed for an even wider range of wastewater

applications.

The EZstrip transfer pumps were designed to

incorporate all the best aspects of NOV Mono’s

Compact C Range pumps.

According to the company, the EZstrip

technology on which they are based provides

a quick and easy way to disassemble, de-rag

and maintain the pump in-situ, according to the

company.

This is designed to dramatically reduce the

time needed to replace a rotor, stator, coupling

rod and drive train by up to 95%, cutting the

typical day-long maintenance operation down

to just 30 minutes.

“Before we designed and launched the origi-

nal EZstrip pumps we listened very carefully as

our wastewater industry customers described

the typical problems they faced,” explains NOV

Mono’s group sales and marketing director, Si-

mon Lambert.

“They told us that ragging was becoming a

serious problem because of an increasing vol-

ume of unsuitable items f nding their way into

the sewers. They wanted a pump that would

minimise downtime in a signif cant way and the

new EZstrip range was our response.

“Those customers then went on to tell us

that they needed EZstrip pumps with a greater

handling capacity, and once again we have re-

sponded with a proven and highly effective an-

swer to their requirements.”

The three new models added to the EZ-

stripTM range offer handling capacities of

94m3/h, 140m3/h and 225m3/h. (The previous

largest capacity pump in

the range was able to han-

dle 165m3/h).

“Many of our customers

can’t believe that it is pos-

sible to de-rag and main-

tain a pump as quickly as

the EZstrip range allows,”

added Lambert.

The pumps can be in-

stalled in new plants or ret-

rof tted into existing Com-

pact C applications.

Electrical disconnection

is not required, while suc-

tion and discharge pipes remain untouched. No

special tools or skills are required for normal de-

ragging operations.

All pumps provide dry run protection, dur-

ing which operational parameters remain unaf-

fected. Both cast iron and stainless steel ver-

sions are offered, plus an option to incorporate

WRAS-compliant elastomers, a pre-assembled

drive train and a two-year warranty.

www.mono-pumps.com

Enquiry No. 119

Maintain-in-place pump range expansion by NOV Mono

Patent awarded for peristaltic pump safety switch

Blue-White has been awarded a patent, U.S. 8,215,931, for the

new Peristaltic Pump Safety Switch. The Safety Switch stops the

pump when the front cover is removed and the pump will only

operate in maintenance mode (a set RPM) while the front cover

remains off, protecting the operator while routine pump head

maintenance is performed.

The Patented Safety Feature will be included on all Blue-White

Flex-Pro and ProSeries-M Peristaltic Metering Pumps.

Additional Flex-Pro features include: Blue-White’s Exclusive

built-in, Patented Tube Failure Detection System; Continuous

Duty; NEMA 4X/lp 66; brushless Variable Speed Motor.

www.blue-white.com Enquiry No. 120


Product Review: Ion Exchange & Filtration Systems

October/November | 2012

STAINLESS SEPARATOR FILTER

TLV has introduced the SF1, Stainless Steel Separator-Filter

model, which is designed to improve heating ef-

ficiency and product quality by removing conden-

sate and particulates such as dirt and scale. Typical

uses include food processing, brewer-

ies, hospital sterilization, cosmetic,

pharmaceutical, or chemical indus-

tries. The SF1 is available in 0.5, 2, &

5 micron sizes up to 2” NPT.

According to the manufacturer,

the built-in cyclone separator’s one

piece design reduces installation

space requirements. It also eliminates

condensate, dirt, and scale before filter-

ing; reducing load on filter; thus requiring

less maintenance and reducing operating

costs.

Five-layer sintered wire mesh filter facili-

tates the cleaning process by trapping dirt on

the outside surface. In-line backwash cleaning

function significantly reduces the need for replace-

ment filter elements or the need to disassemble for cleaning. Furthermore,

the body is made from CF8 stainless steel and the filter is made of 304/316

stainless steel for excellent strength and corrosion resistance.

www.tlv.com Enquiry No. 122

Hybrid Deionization systemPentair has launched its Hybrid Deionization (Hybrid DI) system

with Pentair’s CrossCharge technology, an electronic water purif ca-

tion system that the f rm said offers the benef ts of a reverse osmosis

(RO) system and those of a water softener without requiring salt.

The new technology uses capacitive electrodes to remove hard-

ness and purify water without employing salt. The core of the system

is Voltea’s patented “stack” conf guration of electrodes combined

with ion-selective membranes. The treatment sequence begins with

the purif cation step.

This occurs as untreated water f ows through the cell where ions

are drawn through the membranes and absorbed in the charged

electrodes, producing high quality treated water. The electrodes au-

tomatically regenerate when the system reverses its polarity. This

drives the ions out of the electrodes and f ushes them from the stack.

The polarity is then reset to normal to start purif cation again.

The CrossCharge technology within Pentair’s Hybrid DI system was

developed through a partnership with the Dutch f rm Voltea. The com-

pany has licensed the technology exclusively to Pentair in residential

and light commercial applications for point-of-entry products.

Pentair said the technology continuously assesses the inlet and

treated water quality, controls the power supplied to the stack, and

adjusts operating cycles and system f ows to continuously optimize

performance. The controller includes self-diagnostics and auto clean

cycles. It also features a full-color touch screen user interface with

animated “User” displays that are intuitive for the everyday user/

homeowner and interactive “Technical” screens for system.

Alok Maskara, president of Pentair’s Residential Filtration busi-

ness, said: “Since it treats water without salt, there is no net increase

in discharged total dissolved solids. It also produces 90% less waste

water than a conventional whole house reverse osmosis system.”

www.pentair.com Enquiry No. 121

Microf ber Pile Cloth MediaAqua-Aerobic Systems’s OptiFiber PES-14® Microf ber pile cloth

f ltration media is especially engineered to remove suspended solids,

turbidity and f ne particles up to 50% better than other f lters or mi-

croscreens.

OptiFiber PES-14 Microf ber cloth media is ideal for f ne polishing

applications, proven to reduce total phosphorus to 0.1 mg/l or less.

Its ability to maintain high f ltrate quality, even during backwashing,

provides assurance for meeting even the most stringent eff uent re-

quirements.

OptiFiber PES-14 Microf ber cloth media is

designed for use with AquaDisk, Aqua MiniDisk

and AquaDiamond f lters for retrof ts or new plant

construction.

www.aqua-aerobic.com Enquiry No. 123

UF, MBR, RO and Electrodialysis Reversal services boosted by GE

GE announced that its new technologically advanced remote moni-

toring and diagnostics (RMD) services now are available to custom-

ers using GE’s ultraf ltration (UF), membrane bioreactor (MBR), re-

verse osmosis (RO) and electrodialysis reversal (EDR) products.

GE said the RMD software measures critical process variables and

helps detect and prevent problems by collecting data from GE water

systems and presenting the data in easy-to-read graphs. Customers

operating UF, MBR, RO and EDR facilities can archive plant data

and receive important information on trends that assist operators to

troubleshoot issues, run their facilities more eff ciently, avoid opera-

tional interruptions and most importantly, reduce operational costs.

Customers have the option of choosing a monitor package with

their RMD software that provides them with a GE process expert as-

signed to their site. The process expert will monitor the customer’s

site frequently using the new RMD software and will provide the cus-

tomer with bi-weekly process reports to highlight plant performance

and opportunities for optimization. www.ge.com Enquiry No. 125

Sensor technology optimizes water f lter backwash monitoring

Electro-Chemical Devices (ECD) said its Triton TR8 Turbidity Ana-

lyzer can optimize drinking water facility eff ciency by monitoring tur-

bidity in f lter backwashing systems.

The analyzer operates over wide measure-

ment range with output available in multiple

units: 0.000 to 9999 FNU, or 0.00 to 3000

ppm, or 0.0 to 3.0 g/l, or 0 to 20%. The TR8

TA sensor features an error rate of less than

5% of reading with repeatability greater than

1% percent of reading.

Featuring a multi-path optical assembly, the f rst pathway is inside

the sensor to a reference detector that compensates for changes in

the LED light source caused by aging or other variables. The second

pathway has a short path length through the sample, which is best

for high concentration measurements. The third pathway has a lon-

ger path length, which is best for lower concentrations.

The Triton TR8 sensor electronics constantly adjusts suspended

solids and turbidity signal readings versus the reference detector for

superior measurement accuracy. A built-in digital f lter helps to sup-

press potentially interfering signals while self-monitoring diagnostics

assure high reliability. www.ecdi.com Enquiry No. 124

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October/November | 2012

Currently online at www.wwinternational.com Water and wastewater treatment in Pacif c Islands to be a priority at GHD seminar

Watts Water Technologies announces appointment of new CFO

Smart water software adopted by City of Toledo

In other news:

■ National watershed education programs to be funded by NOAA grants

■ Spain water product exports expanded with LDOR and NSF International partnership

■ HaloSource receives investment funds to improve operations

■ Membrane technology emerging at viable water and wastewater treatment solution

■ Water and wastewater services in Columbo to be improved with ADB funding

■ BioTector wins Product Leadership Award in water analysis

■ Clean water projects in Puerto Rico improved by EPA grants

Community - www.wwinternational.com Video: Taste the Waste of Water

Video: Bringing Change - Global Sanitation Fund

Award-winning documentary Rock the Boat to premier in Los Angeles

Algae and Biof lm control project for a drinking water treatment plant in Cyprus

Seawater Intake for Desalination

MRWA Creates and Distributes FREE Phone Apps for Water and Wastewater Specialists

Webcasts When AMR is AMI - Bridging the GAP

with a Migratable System

Declining water consumption. Shrinking

revenues. Rising energy costs. As utility

managers look to operate more eff ciently

in the face of these challenges, they won-

der which they should choose – walk-by/

mobile AMR or full f xed network AMI?

Introduction to Wireless

Open Channel

Learn how unique wireless f ow monitor-

ing solutions allow you to easily manage

your f ow data. Site visits to collect f ow

data or adjust meter settings are eliminat-

ed, decreasing maintenance costs and

increasing f ow monitoring crew safely.

How to Prepare for the Reduction of

Lead in Drinking Water Act

In this session attendees will learn about

impeding regulation in the US and zero

lead materials available today.

Online - www.wwinternational.com

ABB S.P.A. 9

Analytical Technology, Inc. 29

ANDalyze, Inc. 17

ATG UV Technology 25

AUMA Riester GmbH & Co. KG 11

Australian Water Association 10

Burkert Fluid Control Systems 45

ContiTech Schlauch GmbH 31

Costacurta S.P.A-VICO 2

Degremont 15

Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH 7

Flygt, a xylem brand 33

GEFCO (The George E. Failing Company) 19

Gorman-Rupp Company C4

Grundfos Management A/S C2

Membrana 21

Shimadzu Dtl GmbH 37

Sulzer Pump Solutions AB 5

Swan Analytische Instrumente Ag 41

Verder Ltd. 39

Wedeco, a xylem brand 3

WWME 2013 51

Xypex Chemical Corp. 27

Zoeller Waste Systems Ltd. C3

Calendar of EventsDiary

A selection of events related to the water and wastewater industry in 2012 can be found here.

For a full list, visit: www.wwinternational.com and click on the Events tab at the top of the page.

November 4 - 8, 2012 – International Water

Conference, San Antonio, Texas. www.eswp.

com/water

November 12-15, 2012 – AEDyR IX Interna-

tional Congress, Madrid, Spain. www.aedyr.eu/

congresomadrid/index.html

November 19 - 20, 2012 – ENVICON Inter-

national Environmental Protection Congress,

Poznan, Poland

November 27-28, 2012 – Water & Wastewater

Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE. www.meed.com/

sectors/water/middle-east-water-and-wastewa-

ter-conference-2012/3151632.article

November 27 - 30, 2012 – Pollutec 2012,

Lyon, France. www.pollutec.com/GB.htm

November 27- 29, 2012 – Valve World Expo

2012, Dusseldorf, Germany. www.valveworld-

expo.com

November 28 - 30 – 2012 VIth World Aqua

Congress, New Delhi, India

www.worldaquacongress.org

December 2-4, 2012 – Saudi Water & Power

Forum, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. www.ksawpf.com

December 3-6, 2012 – IWA 3rd Regional Con-

ference in Membrane Technology, Buenos Aires,

Argentina. www.membrane2012.com

December 4-7, 2012 – ACWA Fall Conference

and Exhibition, San Diego, CA.

December 6 - 9, 2012 – 1st International

Industrial Water Technologies Symposium and

Fair, www.ensutek.org

January 22 - 24, 2013 – 3W Expo 2013:

International Exhibition on Water, Wastewater

and Waste Treatment, Bangkok, Thailand.

www.3w-expo.com

January 27-31, 2013 – Arab Water Week, Am-

man, Jordan. www.arabwaterweek.org

February 1 - 3, 2013 – India Water Expo,

Gujarat, India. www.waterworld.com/

events/2013/02/india-water-expo.html

February 4-6, 2013 – WaterWorld Middle East

conference and exhibition, Doha, Qatar. www.

waterworldmiddleeast.com/index.html

February 19-21, 2013 – Madrid, Spain, WEX

Global 2013, www.w-e-x.com

February 25-28, 2013 – San Antonio, Texas.

AMTA/AWWA 2013 Membrane Technology

Conference & Exposition. www.amtaorg.com/

calendar.html#conference

Mary 12-14, 2013 – Desalination and Water

Reuse for the Oil & Gas Industry, Banff, Alberta,

Canada. www.idadesal.org

March 17-22 – Pittcon 2013 Conference &

Expo, New Orleans, LA. http://pittcon.org/

about-pittcon/

March 19-22, 2013 – IDA Desalination Acad-

emy at Santa Margherita, Italy. www.idadesal.org

May 7- 9, 2013 – Ozwater, Perth, Australia.

www.ozwater.org/

June 9-13, 2013 – AWWA ACE’13, Denver, CO.

www.awwa.org/ACE13/index.cfm?ItemNumber

=59012&navItemNumber=58997

DEWATERING APPLICATIONS - QUARRIES, STREAMS, FOUNDATIONS, MINING, COFFER DAMS

� SEWAGE BYPASS OPERATIONS

GORMAN-RUPP INTERNATIONAL

P.O. Box 1217 � Mansfield, Ohio 44901-1217 � USA

PH: +1 419.755.1011 � FX: +1 419.755.1266 � [email protected]

491 © Copyright, The Gorman-Rupp Company, 2012

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