Ion Exchange Supplies Drinking Water Treatment Systems In Rural Punjab

Ion Exchange (India) Ltd., specialists in water and environment solutions, has supplied drinking water treatment systems for rural communities in Chotian and Mahsinghwala villages (Sangrur district) and Jamdha village (Ferozepur district) in Punjab, as well as point-of-use drinking water purifiers to around 336 rural schools, under the Punjab government’s drinking water treatment programme.

The Punjab government, in its efforts to ensure clean and clear drinking water to various rural areas including schools as a part of its scheme for eradication of drinking water related issues, selected Ion Exchange to partner their efforts in this area. Two major activities that the company implemented were for provision of community drinking water systems for rural areas and point-of-use water purifiers for rural schools.

Community Drinking Water Systems:
Since the raw water source in various areas in the state has different contaminants, the choice of technology was a crucial deciding factor in the government choosing to partner with Ion Exchange for these solutions. The state-of-art fluoride removal systems from Ion Exchange are being used to treat water containing harmful fluoride ions, making it suitable for drinking in the Chotian & Mahsinghwala villages.  In Jamdha village, Ferozepur where the canal water source has turbidity and suspended impurities, the company’s state-of-art continuous sand filters provided an effective solution. These filters by virtue of their unique design are ideally suited for rural areas because they require no operator attention/stoppage for backwash and can also withstand spikes and higher levels of turbidity and suspended solids.

POU Drinking Water Purifiers For Rural Schools:
Under the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Dept. of Drinking Water Supply launched the Jalmani project, to provide non-electric systems for schools in rural India. Ion Exchange has supplied and installed its Eco+Purline point-of-use drinking water purifiers, for disinfection and removal of microbial impurities from water, at 336 schools in  rural districts  in central, north and south Punjab including  Sangrur, Barnala, Patiala, Rajpura,  Bhatinda, Mansa, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar, Mohali, Jalandar, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarntaran, Nawanshehar, Hoshiarpur, Faridkot, Muktsar, Malout, Moga, Ferozepur, Abohar, Fazilka.

Ion Exchange was selected for its proven track record and range of solutions for different water problems. Moreover, the company has undertaken considerable technology development to successfully adapt its treatment systems to make them suitable for rural conditions particularly with respect to sturdiness, ease of operation and maintenance.

For more information:
Nishant Thakre
Ion Exchange (India) Ltd.
Tel: 022 3047 2034

ABS & ATE Launch World’s First Submersible Waste Water Pumps With Premium Efficiency Motors In India

ABS Pumps and A.T.E. Enterprises Limited recently launched the new ABS EffeX range of pumps in India. Customer meets and seminars were organized at New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai to introduce the world’s first premium efficiency motors on submersible pumps. These seminars were attended by prominent consultants, senior personnel from municipal corporations, water treatment OEMs and major industry users.

ABS seminars were addressed by Mr. Richard TÖnhardt, Director ABS Asia Pacific Singapore and Mr. Peter Bonn, Global Marketing & Product Manager Engineered Pumps from ABS Germany.

Through these seminars, ABS Pumps, who are global leaders in offering wastewater solutions for more than 140 years, introduced ABS EffeX Pumps – a comprehensive range of submersible sewage pumps driven by premium-efficiency motors that has reduced energy consumption & lower carbon foot-prints. These unique and outstanding pumps range scores high on the demanding requirement of fast changing wastewater management globally. The advanced technology of the ABS EffeX range not only provides higher pump efficiency and energy savings but also ensures greater reliability with fewer blockages and lower operational costs.

The new ABS EffeX range is a world first because the pumps are driven by premium-efficiency motors. The new pump range also perfectly matches anticipated forthcoming legislation in many countries regarding higher motor efficiency for submersible pumping.

Completely New Concept:
The new ABS EffeX range is not a modification to an existing design but a completely new concept in submersible wastewater pumping equipment. The new range pushes available technology to the limit. It focuses on delivering the utmost in reliable operation, including advanced designs with greater safety margins and blockage resistance free solids passage. As it incorporates the first premium-efficiency IE3 motor designed and tested in accordance with IEC 60034-30* together with optimised hydraulics, the new ABS EffeX range gives the best total efficiency available on the market today.
(* International Electrotechnical Commission Standard introduced in 2008 defining three IE classes for single-speed, three-phase, cage induction motors.)

Major Benefits:
In addition to compliance with forthcoming motor legislation, the ABS EffeX range offers customers the major performance benefits of long-term reliability, greater energy saving, excellent rag handling, future-proof design, and sustainable in manufacturing and operation.

ABS Seminar also covered an integrated approach towards sustainability by giving emphasis on pumps, pumping stations designs, model testing, and controls. Mr. Bonn through his vast experience in this domain addressed problems faced by municipal corporations and how to avoid them through proper designing of pumping stations.

ABS products are exclusively marketed and serviced by A.T.E. Enterprises’ Clean Technology Group (CTG).  CTG offers complete support to customers on pre and post sales services. Our qualified and dedicated sales and service teams support our customers on product recommendation, application engineering, as well as installation & commissioning. With the help of ABS Germany’s Sump design Engineering department, we support our customers in sump design layout for optimum and trouble free performance. A.T.E. with its India-wide network of 10 regional offices is always close to its customers.

For more details on our water and wastewater products and services pl. visit our website on http://www.ateindia.com

MWH Soft Releases H2ONET MSX: Advanced Distribution Systems Water Quality and Particulate Material Modeling Software for AutoCAD 2010

MWH Soft, a leading global innovator of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and technologies, has announced the worldwide availability of H2ONET MSX, a state-of-the-art software for simulating and designing reaction systems at any level of complexity. The product is an extension for H2ONET, the standard in AutoCAD 2010-integrated water distribution modeling and management software.

There are a number of commercial programs for modeling the hydraulic and water quality behavior of drinking water distribution systems. However, their water quality components are limited to a certain number of fixed kinetic models, and can only track the transport and fate of a single chemical species such as fluoride or free chlorine. H20NET MSX equips utilities with unprecedented power to model multi-source, multi-quality systems and accurately assess the fate and transport of contaminant threats within them to best safeguard public health.

This breakthrough software enables engineers to accurately model very complex reaction schemes between multiple chemical and biological species in water distribution piping systems, both in the bulk flow and at the pipe wall. This gives users the flexibility to model a wide range of important chemical reactions, including free chlorine loss, formation of disinfection byproducts, nitrification dynamics, disinfectant residuals, pathogen inactivation, chloramine decomposition and adsorption on pipe walls.

H20NET MSX can be effectively used to track the movement, fate and buildup of particulate material in the distribution system. It considers both settling of particles under gravity and deposition of particles on the pipe walls due to particle/pipe surface attractive forces. This feature can greatly assist water utilities in improving distribution design to minimize dirty water, thus enhancing positive relationships with their customers.

In addition, the program allows users to input any mathematical models of physical, chemical, and biological reactions in the bulk water and on pipe surfaces. It also accepts any number of user-specified parameters and cross-dependent or independent formulas for process models. These capabilities give users unprecedented flexibility in accurately modeling individual or combined kinetics in drinking water distribution systems, resulting in improved water quality maintenance and management.

“This latest evolution in our AutoCAD-based product line brings a host of new, highly advanced capabilities for modeling distribution systems’ water quality and sediment transport directly to the AutoCAD environment,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., Hon.D.WRE, F.ASCE, President of MWH Soft. “By giving water utility engineers easy access to comprehensive, leading edge water quality research through products like H20NET MSX, we continue to enhance their ability to consistently design and operate safe and reliable drinking water infrastructures and effectively protect public health.”

Availability:
H2ONet MSX is available immediately by subscription worldwide. Existing H2ONet users can upgrade at a discounted price. For the latest information on the MWH Soft Subscription Program, including availability and purchase requirements, visit www.mwhsoft.com

A Drinking Water Plant Supplies Energy in Chiasso, Switzerland

The drinking water treatment plant in the district of Chiasso in the canton of Tessin in Switzerland not only produces clean water from the Sorgente Rovagina spring, which is located 70m above it, but since November 2009, also environment-friendly electrical energy generated by a turbine. This hydropower emanates from the kinetic energy of the water flow derived both from the difference in altitude between the plant and the spring, and pressure equalisation.

In 2007, WABAG Wasser Technology Ltd. refurbished and enlarged the San Giorgio drinking water treatment plant in the district of Chiasso. Since then 8,640 m3/d of raw water have been conducted to the plant from the Sorgente Rovagina spring along a 1,880 m pipeline and then turned into clean drinking water.

The pressure created during this descent is proportional to the geodetic altitude difference between the spring and the filter plant.  Moreover, as the pressure is several times that required for plant operation, a pressure reduction valve was previously needed to decrease it.  This meant that every hour 50 kW of kinetic energy was transformed into sound. This cannot be used, which meant that considerable energy potential was lost.

The use of renewable energy is funded in Switzerland:
With the introduction, as part of the Power Supply Act from January 1, 2008, of a decree regarding the provision of full cost coverage for the feeding of renewable energy into the grid, the use of such energy potential is being funded by the state. In view of this fact, during the autumn of 2008, the operator of the water treatment plant commissioned WABAG with the planning of a small-scale hydropower plant.

A pump turbine was selected from the three standard types of turbine (Pelton turbine with free outflow, counter-pressure Pelton turbine with closed outflow and reverse running pump turbine) on the basis of the natural and specific, plant-related conditions. This turbine is a modified centrifugal pump, which instead of a motor, is equipped with a generator that converts the kinetic energy of the water flow into electrical energy.  The resultant power is fed into the public grid on the spot and paid for in line with the new Power Supply Act.

Using this technology, the drinking water treatment plant has been expanded to include power generation, which not only represents an intelligent contribution to environmental protection, but also reduces plant operating costs.

The turbine at the Chiasso drinking water plant produces 250,000 kW of energy yearly, which is sufficient to supply some fifty 4-person households. The turbine does not cause any deterioration in water quality as the raw water is both cleaned and treated in the downstream filter system.

Arnold Gmünder, Managing Director of WABAG Water Technology Ltd., is optimistic that in line with the Chiasso model, in the near future numerous water treatment plant operators will start to utilise available energy potential, not just in Switzerland, but also other European countries: “This is because using small-scale power plants, the energy costs relating to water treatment  facilities can be reduced, and as the feeding of electricity into the grid is paid for, the ROI on the overall investment can be quickly shortened by an average of three years.”

Va Tech Wabag Bags Rs 1,033 cr Order for Desalination Project

VA Tech Wabag has been awarded the contract for execution of the country’s largest sea water desalination project by Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Chennai Metro Water.

The DBO-based (design, build and operate) plant, with a capacity of 100 million litres a day (MLD), is to come up on 40 acres at Nemmeli, near Chennai, at a cost of Rs 1,033 crore. The plant is expected to be commissioned in the next 24 months.

The construction cost for the reverse osmosis (RO) technology-based project works out to Rs 533 crore, which would be funded by a grant from the Centre. The scope of the project includes a seven-year-contract for operations and maintenance that is estimated to cost an additional Rs 500 crore. From the state side, Chennai Metro would be allocating the fund for the O&M contract.

The plant, being undertaken along with IDE Technologies of Israel, would convert sea water into fresh potable water, which would be supplied to the southern suburbs of Chennai. This includes the entire stretch of the IT corridor, Thiruvanmiyur, Pallipattu, Velachery, MRC Nagar and Kelambakkam.

Based on the scope of the project, IDE and VA Tech Wabag would be involved in a 30:70 joint venture.

The construction work is expected to start within a month’s time. Though VA Tech Wabag has capability to use multi-effect distillation, mechanical vapour compression, thermal vapour compression and multi-stage flash technologies, it found the RO system suitable for the Nemmeli plant. From the present water supply of 650 MLD @ 100 LPCD, the desalination plant would help to improve the per capita consumption to 140 LPCD.

Leveraging its partnership with Chennai Metrowater, VA Tech Wabag is claimed to be supplying 30% of the city’s drinking water and treating 50% of the city’s sewage.

New Recycling Plant in Delhi to Boost Supply by 11 MGD

The second water recycling plant was recently launched by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) at Wazirabad to improve the supply system by feeding two underground reservoirs in the area. The 11-million-gallons-per-day project is in addition to a 16-MGD recycling plant that was commissioned at Haiderpur last year.

The plant will be the first in the country to recycle water used in the initial stages of treatment so that there is no wastage. About 8% of water goes waste in various stages of treatment. At Haiderpur, it is this eight per cent that is recycled. Only sludge will remain as a byproduct and that too will be transported to Sonia Vihar for use in landfilling.

‘‘The Wazirabad treatment plant was built at a cost of Rs 27.8 crore, a sum that will be recovered within three years of operation. The water will feed two underground reservoirs at Burari and benefit about 2.5 to 5 lakh consumers in their command areas.

DJB’s old plants will now be equipped with recycling units. ‘‘The new plants, including Sonia Vihar, will have an in-built recycling unit. By the time all the four old treatment plants become functional, Delhi will have an additional 45 MGD water at its disposal.

Water from the two already-commissioned recycling plants will benefit about 7-8 lakh residents. A 10-MGD recycling plant at Bhagirathi is undergoing trial runs, while another 8-MGD plant at Chandrawal is likely to be commissioned by March this year.

Delhi Jal Board is setting up two more recycle water treatment plants, the first of their kind in the country, in Bhagirathi and Chandrawal complexes. It already commissioned one in Haiderpur last year. By March 2010, these plants will collectively add a total of 45 MGD to the city’s water supply.

The new recycling plant at Wazirabad complex, which gets 80 per cent of its raw water from river Yamuna, recycles “once treated water” and not raw water. So, the water is more potable.

McNally Bharat Inks Pact with Hiflux, Singapore

McNally Bharat Engineering has signed an exclusive technical partnership agreement with Hiflux, Singapore for constructing sea water desalination, water and waste water plant in industrial, municipal and agricultural Sector in India.

According to a release issued by the company to the BSE Hiflux is a leading Technology Company pioneering in water desalination across the world with a market capitalisation of Singapore $1.7 billion and having employee strength of over 1,000 in Singapore and 1,500 in China. It has a strong presence in water desalination projects across the world.

With this tie-up McNally Bharat will be able to service the demand in sea water desalination project particularly in municipal, agricultural and other industrial usage.

BGR Energy Wins Contract for Total Water System

The Environment Division of BGR Energy Systems Limited (BGR Energy), the EPC Company for Power projects, has been awarded a contract for a large `Total Water System’ by Adhunik Power & Natural Resources Limited for its 2 x 270 MW Super Thermal Power Plant in Jharkhand. The contract is valued at Rs 15.60 Crore and it will be completed over 10 months.

The scope of the contract includes Design, Engineering, Procurement, Manufacture, Assembly, Testing at manufacture’s works, Packing and Forwarding, Supply, and Delivery including transportation for site and Erection, Testing and Commissioning of Water Treatment Plant for the Power Plant at Padampur in Jharkhand. The works comprising of Pre- Treatment of water with two Clarifiers, 2 streams of De-Mineralization (DM) Plant, a Potable Water System for Plant and a Cooling Water Chemical Treatment Plant.

The contract was awarded to BGR Energy through competitive bidding. Ion Exchange India, Triveni Engineering, Wipro Water, Doshion Veolia Water Solutions, Thermax , VA Tech Wabag were the other competing bidders. Environmental Engineering Division of BGR Energy has successfully executed several similar contracts in the past including a Water Treatment Plant for Thermal Power projects.

Dresser Roots Helps to Meet Urgent Need for Clean Drinking Water in Rural Egyptian Villages

HOUSTON –ROOTS™ blowers, manufactured by Dresser, Inc., a leader in providing highly engineered products for global infrastructure projects, have been specified for a project that is making potable water available to villages in Upper Egypt where it is desperately needed.

The project deploys portable, turnkey water treatment plants to rural villages to purify local water and prevent outbreaks of waterborne illnesses. Typically these plants produce 100 m3 (approximately 26,500 gallons) of clean water per hour.

The Dresser Roots Egyptian distributor, Tartoussieh Engineering of Cairo, supplied 249 of the small ROOTS Universal RAI® blower packages to the three contractors – Veolia, Pharoahs Engineering and Aircraft Factory Helwan – who were selected to provide the water treatment plants. ROOTS blowers were chosen for the project because of their rugged construction and flexible configuration to meet a wide variety of installation specifications.

“ROOTS blowers are very durable and dependable, which makes them ideal for a project when around-the-clock effort is required to supply people with a basic necessity such as clean water,” said Mohyi Tartoussieh, sales manager for Tartoussieh Engineering.

Supplying clean water to its citizenry is a high priority and an ongoing challenge for the Egyptian government. The Nile River provides an estimated 97 percent of the renewable water resources in Egypt. Yet it is subject to pollution by run-off from industrial waste and sewage, the latter because sanitary sewage treatment capacity has not kept pace with the country’s population growth. Conventional water purification processes have sometimes proved inadequate when chlorination treatment has interacted with some of the pollutants and created additional health hazards.

The portable water treatment plants are part of a larger, E£1.3 billion (US $240 million) initiative by the Egyptian government, with support from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the National Organization for Potable Water & Sanitary Drainage. The goal of this environmental initiative is to provide safe drinking water and expand the capacity of the country’s sanitary sewage treatment infrastructure.

Dutch Water Treatment Systems for Haiti

PWN in partnership with Norit X-Flow is supplying seven advanced Perfector-E compact water treatment systems to the Haiti region.

PWN is a water company located in the northern part of The Netherlands and is a world-wide trendsetter in new water treatment technologies. The Norit Group is a world leader in the supply of activated carbon and membrane ultrafiltration.

PWN and Norit X-Flow developed and deployed the Perfector-E immediately after the 2004 tsunami tragedy in Asia. The Perfector-E is a self-contained, easy to use, portable water treatment plant that addresses the needs of people desperate for a reliable source of drinking water.

Each Perfector-E unit has its own unique filtration system, a combination of membrane filtration with UVlight sterilization, based on Norit X-Flow technology. The Perfector-E is completed with a power generator to produce the required electricity and a pump with a floating hose to feed the unit with polluted water. The seven Perfector-E units to be utilized in Haiti will produce a total of 336,000 liters of reliable drinking water per day.

Six PWN engineers, who were extensively trained by Norit, are accompanying the units to assure that they will run properly and assist with the dispensing of water to the Haiti victims.

WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition Chooses Las Vegas as Host Venue Through 2012

Organizers of the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition, the world’s largest conference dedicated to urban water efficiency have announced that the show will remain in Las Vegas at least through 2012.

Officials with the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), which presents WSI in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection agency’s WaterSense Program and other public- and private-sector organizations, gave the conference the green light to continue for at least three more years.

“WaterSmart Innovations provides a platform for professionals from a broad spectrum of disciplines to come together to share their knowledge,” said WSI Program Chairman Doug Bennett. “There is no greater informational resource for communities facing water supply challenges.”

The third WSI is slated for October 6-8, 2010, at the South Point Hotel and Conference Center in Las Vegas. Event organizers hope to build upon the success of the first two WSI conferences, created to broaden the knowledge of innovations in water conservation including products, programs and outreach.

In October 2009, the second WSI drew nearly 1,200 participants from 43 states and 13 nations. WSI ’09 features more than 130 professional sessions and an expo hall with 100 exhibitors; keynote speakers were Dan Bena, Director of Sustainability, Health, Safety, and Environment for PepsiCo, and Dr. Jim Gill, inaugural chairman of Water Australia.

White Paper Encourages Improvements to Climate Change Modeling for the Water Industry

Responding to water industry concerns about potential impacts of climate change on drinking water supply, the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) has released a white paper that outlines potential improvements to scientific models used to project how greenhouse gas emissions will affect the earth’s climate over time.

The report, titled Options for Improving Climate Modeling to Assist Water Utility Planning for Climate Change, identifies seven initial improvements to global climate modeling. These enhancements will help make climate models more useful to the water sector in identifying the affects of climate change on water resources and developing subsequent adaptation strategies.

“We expect this white paper to spur dialogue with the climate research and funding communities on what improvements can be made in climate data collection and monitoring, climate models and downscaling techniques so that they can be applied in a manner that is more useful for the water sector,” said Paul Fleming, Chair of WUCA’s Science and Research Committee.

“We also recognize that significant uncertainties will remain about how climate will change even if these improvements are pursued,” Fleming said. “As a result, WUCA also will examine different decision-making methods in light of these uncertainties, and will release a companion white paper on this topic in the near future.”

For more information about WUCA, or to access a copy of Options for Improving Climate Modeling to Assist Water Utility Planning for Climate Change, log on to http://www.wucaonline.org

Advanced High Load FlooBed® MBBR Wastewater Technology Deployed to Australia

An advanced biological treatment for highly loaded industrial process or waste waters is being deployed in Australia by Eimco Water Technologies-AJM Environmental Services (EWT-AJM).

The FlooBed® Moving Bed Bioreactor (MBBR) technology tolerates higher variations in water quality and flow compared with conventional wastewater technologies, yet still maintains its high treatment efficiency.

MBBR biological treatment – which consists of micro-organisms both attached to the carriers and suspended in the water – has become the technology of choice internationally for several types of waste water, such as effluent from process industries, landfill leachate and municipal waste waters, says AJM-EWT National Sales Manager, Industrial/Municipal, Mr John Koumoukelis.

“This is a reliable and easy to operate technology that has been employed extensively with great success by the global Eimco Water Technologies Group, for which it is a key technology,” says Mr Koumoukelis.

“The success, originally founded on the pulp and paper industry, has now been extended to cover applications across the industrial spectrum, including food and beverage, manufacturing, resources and municipal. Already its potential has been demonstrated in Australia with the first projects here involving treatment of highly loaded waste water in the food and beverage sector,” he said.

FlooBed® processes are used to significantly increase the capacity of existing activated sludge systems, and FlooBed® Bioreactor technology is also suitable for covering the total effluent treatment of an industrial plant.

In contrast to traditional activated sludge processes, most of the microbes grow as biofilm on surface of the freely moving carriers. The plastic carrier elements inside FlooBed® Bioreactor have a large surface area and a structure which is optimized to protect the biofilm from abrasion. This allows a high amount of biomass inside the reactor and the needed reactor size can be kept small.

Savings in civil work costs are remarkable with the FlooBed® process, says Mr Koumoukelis.

Carriers are made of plastic, and their density is slightly lower than that of water. Because of this, carriers can be easily mixed through the EWT aeration system, which covers the entire reactor bottom. The process does not require backwashes, which are typical for conventional biofilm processes and consume a lot of energy, in addition to interfering with functioning of the process.

FlooBed® Bioreactor and Activated Sludge System as an Upgrade

The combination of a high-load FlooBed® Bioreactor and a low-load activated sludge plant is an efficient and stable solution for improved industrial effluent treatment. With FlooBed® Bioreactor the loading of a treatment process is reduced and peak loads are efficiently managed. This enables stable functioning of the following activated sludge stage and gives good quality discharge as a final result.

Industrial effluents typically have high concentration of organics and there are significant variations in both flow and concentration. FlooBed® BAS utilizes the advantages of conventional biofilm processes and combines them with the best features of activated sludge plants.

The compact FlooBed® BAS process can easily be installed both in greenfield factories or embedded into existing treatment systems, which are then modified to modern FlooBed® BAS processes.

Benefits of FlooBed® Bioreactor Based Processes:
1. Good treatment efficiency => low residual concentrations
2. Stable discharge water quality
3. A short start-up in the beginning and also after accidental or planned shutdowns
4. Excellent capacity for handling toxic compounds and load variations
5. Low sludge production
6. Small construction costs

MWH Soft Technology to Assist City of Los Angeles in Efforts to Save Billions of Gallons of Water Annually

MWH Soft, a leading global innovator of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and technologies, has announced that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Recycled Water Division has chosen MWH Soft’s industry-leading InfoWater Suite software as its advanced water network modeling solution. The suite enhances the enterprise’s comprehensive ArcGIS-centric (ESRI, Redlands, CA) strategy for managing its water distribution system. The selection further substantiates MWH Soft’s continued dominance of the geospatial hydraulic infrastructure modeling and management market.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was established more than 100 years ago to provide a reliable and safe water and electricity to City residents and businesses. In May 2008, LADWP officials unveiled the City of Los Angeles Water Supply Action Plan, “Securing L.A.’s Water Supply,” which pledged to meet all new demand for water – about 100,000 acre-feet per year (123 million m3/yr) by 2030 – through water conservation and recycling rather than by importing of additional water. Since then, the City’s total use of recycled water is up to 7,200 acre-feet per year (8.9 million m3/yr). The water is used for irrigation and industrial purposes, and for environmental uses, including serving as a barrier to seawater intrusion.

All recycled wastewater in Los Angeles undergoes treatment and disinfection to the tertiary level and meets stringent water quality standards set by the California State Department of Public Health. The treated water travels to the end user through a network of pipes that are painted purple to differentiate them from those that carry potable water.

“LADWP’s use of our software to help manage its recycled water system sends a message that our products are not only powerful and easy-to-implement, but help drive sustainability in our industry,” said MWH Soft Vice President-Director of Americas Operations J. Erick Heath, P.E. “Our products are known for delivering consistent, high quality engineering GIS modeling data; enhanced efficiency; and reliable, cost-effective planning options. These powerful advantages are sparking measurable improvements in productivity, system performance, return on investment, and customer satisfaction around the world.”

Built atop ArcGIS using the latest Microsoft.NET and ESRI ArcObjects component technologies, InfoWater seamlessly integrates advanced water network modeling and optimization functionality with the latest generation of ArcGIS. It not only addresses all the operations of a typical water distribution system, but allows engineers to accurately perform the most difficult hydraulic analyses – including multi-point and extended period fire flow simulations, variable speed pumps, and advanced water quality calculations – and showcase the results using the rich presentations tools native to the ArcGIS environment.

The software delivers world-record performance, scalability, reliability, functionality and flexibility directly within the GIS setting, completely eliminating the need for inefficient, unreliable data synchronization, synching schemes, or middlelink interfaces required by other software. These factors and more translate to increased productivity, reduced costs, greater efficiency, and improved designs.

Water Treatment Equipment Critical for Drought Ridden Australia, Finds Frost & Sullivan

Population pressure and a severe drought, since 2002, has constrained Australia to husband its existing water supplies. This demand for water will only increase with continued economic growth. Therefore, the country is heavily reliant on water treatment equipment, such as the advanced membrane bioreactor, to alleviate its water scarcity.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Water and Wastewater Treatment Markets in Australia – Market Outlook and Growth Opportunities, finds that the market is expected to earn revenues of $1.12 billion by 2015.

“The markets for municipal water and wastewater treatment in Australia have experienced significant technology trends based on improved solution reliability, greater treatment efficiency, and ability to meet regulatory requirements,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Swathy Rajasekaran. “Replacing older conventional clarifier systems with modern systems have become increasingly attractive, although it is slightly more expensive.”

As the water and wastewater treatment market is at the maturity phase, opportunities will have to be created through upgrades, improvements, and retrofits in existing plants, with more advanced technologies and competitively priced products.

Prices will be a significant purchase factor considering the economic downturn has tightened the purse strings of consumers and narrowed manufacturers’ profit margins. However, the market will gain some respite from these conditions due to long-term commitments from both local and international participants, creating a very competitive scenario in Australia.

“Participants will be pleased by the significant investments toward the refurbishment of aged water and wastewater treatment plants,” adds fellow Consultant Melvin Leong. “Furthermore, regulatory requirements are demanding technological advancements, giving a boost to market development.”

Even so, some companies may not have the financial or technical capability to meet such regulatory demands, given the current economic scenario. The market is likely to dip in the latter half of 2009 to early 2010, but as the Australian economy is more resilient than its western counterparts, it is expected to rebound.

“When companies are not able to capitalize on opportunities, strategic changes need to be brought about to enable equipment suppliers to partner with key water users and thus, enhance sales,” observes Leong. “The abundant availability of semi-skilled labor in this labor-intensive market will further promote its development.”

Water and Wastewater Treatment Markets in Australia – Market Outlook and Growth Opportunities is part of the Environmental Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: bottled water markets in Vietnam, water and wastewater market in Thailand, Indonesian building construction market, and South Korean building construction market. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

Toray Wins Two Large Orders to Supply RO Membranes for Desalination Plants

Toray Industries, Inc. has announced that it has won a series of orders to supply reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for desalination plants in Bahrain and Spain. The combined water production capacity of the two plants will be 316,600 cubic meters per day (84 MGD). In particular, the order for the desalination plant in Al Dur, Bahrain ([1] below) is a major project for Toray, following the order it won for the desalination plant in Magtaa, Algeria, which boasts a water production capacity of 500,000 cubic meters per day (132 MGD) per day.

Al Dur Desalination Plant – Bahrain, 218,000m3/day (58 MGD), expected start-up 2011:
The Al Dur Desalination Plant is an RO membrane-based seawater desalination plant being developed as part of the Al-Dur Independent Water and Power Producer project (power generation capacity of 1,234 MW). This is the largest project of its kind in Bahrain under a 20 year-contract between GDF Suez S.A. of France and the Electricity and Water Authority of Bahrain to supply water and power.. Degrémont a subsidiary of Suez Environment won the order to build the plant. This is the first time that Toray is supplying its RO membranes to a large-scale desalination plant in Bahrain. The Al Dur Desalination Plant is second only to the recently announced Magtaa Seawater Desalination Plant in Algeria in terms of size, and the biggest in the Middle East using Toray membranes.

Campo de Dalías Desalination Plant – Spain, 98,600 m3/day (26 MGD), expected start-up 2010:
The Campo de Dalías Desalination Plant is a large-scale RO membrane-based desalination plant located in Almeria, southern Spain, for which a consortium (UTE) consisting of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Ibérica, Veolia Agua, Sando Construcciones, Inypsa and Montajes Eléctricos Crescencio Pérez have signed a 15 year DBO (design, build and operate) contract. Toray has an established track record of supplying RO membranes to seawater desalination plants in Spain and this project is the biggest ever for the company.

The RO membrane market has been expanding at an annual rate exceeding 12%, fueled by worsening global water shortages and the need for conservation of water resources in response to environmental considerations. Specifically, demand is expected to grow at an annual rate of 30% in seawater and brine desalination applications as plant capacities expand. The demand is expected to keep growing steadily, primarily in regions including the Americas, Europe, Middle East, North Africa and China. Further growth in demand for RO membranes is anticipated as new markets such as urban sewage and wastewater reuse plants are expanding in addition to the growth in demand for seawater and brine desalination applications and industrial applications, such as production of water for use in boilers.

The RO membranes Toray has supplied so far now produce 3.8 million cubic meters of water per day (1003 MGD) in seawater desalination, making Toray the top supplier in the field. The amount of water produced by the plants using Toray’s RO membranes is equivalent to the daily consumption of water used by about 15 million people. With the size of plants getting larger, the competition between global suppliers for market share is expected to further intensify. Toray has supplied RO membranes to the world’s largest urban sewage reuse plant in Sulaibiya, Kuwait (with a capacity of producing 320,000 cubic meters of water per day (85 MGD)) and is the top manufacturer in the world of RO membranes in the two growth fields of seawater desalination and sewage reuse, with its membranes used to process 1.2 million cubic meters per day (317 MGD) in sewage reuse.

Toray enhanced the production capacity of RO membrane elements at its existing facilities – Ehime Plant in Japan and Toray Membrane USA, Inc. (TMUS) in the U.S – to address this growing demand. Moreover, Toray together with China National BlueStar (Group) Co., Ltd. established a joint venture company Toray BlueStar Membrane Co., Ltd. (TBMC) in Beijing, China in July of this year to produce RO membranes. The facility under this joint venture is scheduled to start operations in April 2010. With these expansions and the new facility, Toray’s RO membrane element production capacity will quadruple compared to the capacity level in March 2007. Toray will continue to actively pursue RO membrane orders not only in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean region, but also in the Americas, China and Oceania.

Infiltrator® Systems Acquires E-Z Set

Infiltrator^® Systems continues its septic industry leadership with the acquisition of the E-Z Set Company, a manufacturer of septic tank risers and lids. E-Z Set risers and lids are compatible with all septic tanks and have a reputation within the decentralized wastewater industry for strength and durability. E-Z Set will be rebranded as EZset™ by Infiltrator.

“We are pleased to have EZset risers and lids as part of our product line and look forward to offering through our distribution network the quality Infiltrator customer service and technical support,” says Roy Moore, president of Infiltrator Systems Inc.

EZset by Infiltrator risers and lids are offered in 20”, 24”, and 30” diameters and a variety of heights to accommodate any new or retrofit installation. They feature a slip resistant, lockable lid, which provides secure tank access while blending into the landscape. Stackable to any height, the risers support a 1500 lb wheel load.

Infiltrator is the largest septic products company in the onsite industry with its foundation built on the 2.5 million Infiltrator drainfield systems installed across North America. Based in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Infiltrator has continually introduced innovative products that meet increasingly stringent environmental and regulatory requirements. The company’s integrated solutions continue to be a benchmark for superior performance in products and service within the onsite wastewater treatment industry. The company’s full line of environmentally conscious products include Infiltrator plastic septic leachfield chambers, TW™ -Series septic tanks, EZflow™ by Infiltrator Drainfield System, and Aquaworx™ by Infiltrator advanced treatment technologies.

Arkal Announces Appointment Of Agent/Distributor In India

Arkal Filtration Systems has announced the appointment of M/S Filfab Corporation (SMD) as our exclusive agent/distributor in India, taking effect as of October 1st, 2009. This appointment shall further strengthen Arkal’s worldwide distribution network by adding local support and service to our existing and future customers in India. Managing Partner of the company, Mr. Sreelesh.S, is very enthusiastic about this new challenge and is expecting a bright future for Arkal in India. He said that with Arkal manufacturing some of the world’s most effective filtration solutions, Filfab is confident in building a strong position in this country over the coming months and years.

Alfa Laval Expands Service Setup

Alfa Laval officially inaugurated its new Vizag Service Centre on December 17, 2009. The event was attended by many customers and business associates. The new Servicing facility at C6, Industrial Estate, Marripalem, Kancherapallem, Vizag will primarily serve as service centre for company’s large Southern and Eastern customer-bases.

The Service Centre will provide reconditioning and repair service offers for both heat exchangers and separators, ranging from equipment tune-up and minor repair to comprehensive reconditioning to restore equipment to its original condition. This proves advantageous to customers for long-term cost savings in reduced downtime, more efficient operation and hours of work eliminated for the customer’s maintenance staff. Apart from service and support, Alfa Laval’s service engineers will share professional advice about parts, maintenance and diagnostics.

The company already has a dedicated Parts & Service Centre at New Mumbai built in 1993. Setting up a new centre is company’s strategic move to be at the nearest point of convenience for its customers in South and Eastern part of India.

“Together with a new sales outlet in the premises, this service centre means a major leap for Alfa Laval’s service network in India. Through this we can keep our promise of faster response and being closer to the customer” said Nish Patel, Managing Director Alfa Laval India.

Ion Exchange Conferred Frost & Sullivan Environment Excellence 2009 Award

Water & environment major Ion Exchange (India) Ltd. emerged as the winner of the Frost & Sullivan 2009 Environmental Excellence Awards for the Best Company of the Year in the Indian Water & Waste Water Treatment segment. The awards in the various categories were presented at their 1st Annual Environment Industry Awards Night, on Tuesday, 15th December 2009 at Hotel Intercontinental – The Lalit, Mumbai, which brought together a galaxy of eminent industry experts and leaders across market segments.

Receiving the award, Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Ion Exchange said” It is our company’s continuous endeavour to use technology innovatively to offer solutions to improve the quality of life and protect our earth’s most vital resources for a sustainable future. This has led us to develop products and technologies to create a capability to provide integrated, cost-effective solutions for all sectors – industrial, institutional, municipal, homes and communities. It has led us to extend our capabilities to encompass water, air, waste and renewable energy. We have pioneered solutions for recycle of industrial effluent and domestic sewage, to conserve water and natural resources. Our Zero B purifiers provide safe drinking water to all consumer segments at every price point and include innovative solutions to treat water contaminated with fluoride, iron, arsenic and nitrates. We are grateful to our customers, stakeholders and vendors for their continued support and to our employees for their valuable contribution.”

The Frost & Sullivan Environment Excellence Awards recognises the exemplary achievements, business winning strategies and innovative best practices of companies operating in the highly dynamic and competitive environment industry. These recognitions culminate in Frost & Sullivan Awards and are regarded as benchmarks for excellence in the given industry segment.