WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp., a Pennington, New Jersey, USA-based developer and marketer of high-power solar systems, received an order to produce 10 Mobile MaxPure™ units for use in Darfur, Sudan. The proprietary portable solar-driven water pumping and purifying units, purchased for $775,000, will provide about 30,000 gallons of safe drinking water daily at each of 10 sites across the ravaged desert region.
With thousands dying each month in Darfur, mainly women and children, the WorldWater Mobile Max systems will supply freshwater for an estimated 60,000 persons per day. Deliveries are scheduled for late September/October with installation in October/November.
The units are built in tough, sturdy 7-foot cubes which unfold automatically to deliver some 3.5 Kilowatts of electrical power. They can produce water from wells or surface sources 24 hours a day, directly from the sun during the day and from a bank of batteries at night, said company chairman and CEO Quentin T. Kelly.
Spanish lab, NSF strategic partnership to benefit global beverage industry
In the Barcelona suburb of El Prat de Llobregat, Laboratorio Dr. Oliver Rodés (LDOR), Spain’s pre0mier water testing laboratory for over 100 years, has signed an agreement with NSF International making it an official NSF laboratory partner.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA-based NSF International is a not-for-profit organization with over 60 years of experience. As a WHO Collaborating Centre for Food and Water Safety and Indoor Environment, it independently tests and certifies food and water products worldwide. Going forward, NSF customers may elect to have their bottled water and beverage products tested against European Union requirements by LDOR. The partnership offers many benefits to NSF customers located across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
“The LDOR relationship will streamline certification for bottlers across the European region,” said Koen Bontinck, NSF vice president of international operations. “Not only will the NSF Certification Mark differentiate a bottler’s product in the marketplace, but it will also indicate that their products meet rigorous EU safety and quality requirements.”
Available immediately, noted Jordi Oliver Rodés, general manager of the Spanish firm founded in 1902, LDOR and NSF will offer testing against EU requirements for bottled waters and natural mineral waters for chemical, microbiological, and radiological aspects.
In other news, NSF announced July 30 it reached agreement on terms of a cash offer to acquire CMi plc, a leading European food safety and assurance company based in Long Hanborough, Oxford, England.
Earth Tech lauded, feted and applauded for efforts worldwide
Global engineering firm Earth Tech was busy in July. It started the month picked for the Gold Award for Public Facilities at the Green Apple awards over 420 entries worldwide. The honor was given for its work on Ireland’s first underground water treatment works in Fofanny, County Down, Northern Ireland. The £18 million project, undertaken with Farrans Ltd., blends in with the local landscape by using over 10,000 species of heather to cover its exterior.
The Tyco unit also won two contracts by Yorkshire Water to upgrade UK wastewater treatment plants: 1) a £25 million project to the Earth Tech/Morrison Construction joint venture to upgrade the Mitchell Laithes Wastewater Treatment Plant to enable the facility to increase its capacity of 1,380 to 2,315 L/s; and, 2) a £6.7 million project at its Lundwood near Barnsley plant to build an activated sludge plant, two final settlement tanks, sludge treatment facilities and storage tanks. Both are efforts to improve final effluent to meet the Freshwater Fish Directive and increase the life of existing facilities.
In other news, it won the following contracts:
- A CAD$4.5 million deal from the city of Toronto, Canada for engineering design and construction verification for upgrades to the Waste Activated Sludge Thickening and Sludge Dewatering Facility at the Highland Creek Treatment Plant.
- A AU$6 million deal from Australia’s Western Water Authority to design, build and manage a new Surbiton Park Recycled Water Plant near the township of Melton west of Melbourne that’s capable of producing 1.3 million gallons of Class A recycled water per day.
- A £7.6 million deal to design, build and operate the New Ross Wastewater Treatment Plant for the historic town of New Ross, located in County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland. Earth Tech and its joint venture partner, Fleming Construction, will design and build a new wastewater treatment facility, main pumping station, interceptor sewer and new accommodation building for the 16,000 population equivalent sewage treatment plant.
- Indianapolis’ Department of Public Works will pay US$9.1 million for design support and other services on a new US$162 million interplant pipeline and pumping station to reduce CSOs.
The company also donated $35,000 at the AWWA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Toronto in June to Water For People, which just named Colleen Stiles as its new CEO.
Field Notes
USA: Highlighting a commitment to economic growth and environmental progress in the Americas, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Alberto Moreno signed a Letter of Intent in Washington, DC, to protect the environment while promoting economic growth. EPA and IDB are already exploring ways to cooperate on cleaner fuels, methane reduction and improved environmental governance in the region.
BRAZIL: Intrusion detection specialist Yahud, Israel-based Magal Security Systems Ltd. entered a strategic partnership in Brazil with Senstar-Stellar Sistemas de Segurança Ltda., which will provide local consultants and integrators with complete perimeter solutions, technical support and a local service center. The new operations, based in São Paulo, will be headed by Eduardo Fazzio, formerly the Magal Group’s Brazilian master dealer.
USA: The Indianapolis Board of Public Works recommended that SUEZ’s United Water unit operate the city’s wastewater treatment facilities for the next contract period starting Jan. 1. The city county council is expected to offer final approval on the matter in September. United Water has operated the Indiana capital’s facilities through a public-private partnership since 1994. As well as running the advanced Belmont and Southport wastewater treatment plants, with a combined capacity of 250 million gpd, it also maintains 3,000 miles of sewage collection system, operates the Eagle Creek Dam and provides lab services and industrial pretreatment monitoring.
CANADA: In June, representatives from the U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program attended the 1st Meeting of the International Working Group on Environmental Performance Verification, hosted by Environment Canada in Montreal, Canada. One objective of the meeting was to identify technology areas of mutual interest between the two countries for joint or co-verification of technologies such as stormwater management, membrane bioreactors, manure management, ballast water treatment, etc.
USA: Tony Frost, technical director of the UK Water Treatment Association, has been invited to become International Director to the board of the Water Quality Association (WQA) in the USA. Based in Lisle, Illinois, near Chicago, with over 2,500 member firms, WQA represents water treatment company interests across the entire water industry. Tony’s appointment will help ongoing collaboration of the WQA and UKWTA, now with over 100 members in the UK.
JAMAICA: Ventyx, a leading Service Delivery Management (SDM) solution provider, won a new contract with the National Water Commission (NWC) of Jamaica. The NWC is deploying the Ventyx Customer Suite management solution to facilitate delivery of constantly improving service to its valued customers islandwide. UK utility Yorkshire Water also signed a contract for extension and upgrade of its Ventyx mobile workforce management solution - a key component of its award-winning Integrated Customer and Operations Management (ICOM) system.
