EPA Administrator Jackson to leave cabinet
The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Lisa Jackson is stepping down after nearly four years with the organization. President Obama said: "Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, including implementing the first national standard for harmful mercury pollution, taking important action to combat climate change under the Clean Air Act and playing a key role in establishing historic fuel economy standards that will save the average American family thousands of dollars at the pump, while also slashing carbon pollution."
Alaska protects groundwater from fracking
New rules proposed by state regulators in Alaska for hydraulic fracturing are "quite comprehensive," on protecting local groundwater, the Ground Water Protection Council told Platts news service. Energy companies operating in Alaska under the proposed rules would have to notify land owners of exploration plans, conduct before-and-after water sampling and disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid. Estimate suggest the North Slope of Alaska could hold as much as 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Up to $400,000 in grants available for low energy desalination
New technologies that reduce the cost, improve operation and reliability and develop innovations in desalination and water purification technologies could be awarded up to $400,000 in grants. The US Government's Bureau of Reclamation's Desalination and Water Purification Research Program is currently soliciting for pre-proposals from private industry, universities, water utilities and others to help meet these needs.The available finance will either fund four to five research and laboratory studies and one to two pilot scale projects. Reclamation said it will provide up to $150,000 for the research and laboratory studies and $400,000 for the pilot scale projects.
Those eligible to apply include individuals, institutions of higher education, commercial or industrial organizations, private entities, public entities or Indian Tribal governments. Entities, except institutions of higher learning, must cost-share at least 75% of the project cost.
The purpose of the Desalination and Water Purification Research Program is to develop more environmentally sensitive, cost-effective and technologically efficient means to desalinate water.The funding opportunity announcement is available on www.grants.gov by searching for announcement number R13SF80004.
Closed circuit desalination RO provider chooses US for HQ
Desalitech, a provider of Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD), will be establishing its U.S. headquarters in Massachusetts. The company will use this location as its operations in U.S. industrial water treatment markets.
Desalitech was founded by Professor Avi Efraty and has been under the business leadership of Nadav Efraty. Over 75 patents have been granted on the firm's technology. Desalitech said its CCD reverse osmosis products can lower water treatment costs by 20 – 60%.
CIS system to help Texan city address drought
The City of Kennedale, Texas, has contracted Global Water's FATHOMplatform to provide the City with a fully integrated, end-to-end Customer Information System (CIS), including utility billing, customer care, and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).
According to the company, the platform will help the city address the area's ongoing drought with effective water conservation plans, powerful customer services tools, upgraded infrastructure, and real-time data.
Ultraviolet treatment to make South Korean drinking water processing debut
As part of multi-billion dollar K-Water municipality development, Xylem has won a major contract to treat municipal drinking water for a new high-tech industrial zone in Korea. The contract will see ultraviolet (UV) advanced oxidation process (AOP) technology utilised for the first time in a municipal drinking water system in South Korea. The 101,000 m3/day water treatment facility will be the first step in the development of a new USD$3 billion 'Sihwa Multi-Tech Valley' project; a Government-backed regional industrial development initiative being implemented by the K-Water municipality.
The first phase of the project will use UV advanced oxidation process technology to treat over 101,000 m3 of water per day and is due to be completed by July 2014. The second phase will involve upgrading infrastructure to treat 28,000 m3 of water per day. Technology installation on site in the Gyeong-gi province in South Korea is set for early 2014. Xylem's Wedeco UV K-reactors and Wedeco AOP technology will be used in the existing Siheung wastewater treatment plant - the first UV AOP application for a municipal drinking water system in South Korea, according to the company.
News Briefs
Fresh Water Group boosts manufacturing in China
Water service provider in China, Fresh Water Group, has raised additional capital to build a new manufacturing facility in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The new factory will triple Fresh Water's existing production capacity of its patented Ozner-branded water purification systems. In this round of financing, Goldman Sachs joins an investor group that already includes SAIF Partners and Ares Management. The management team of Fresh Water, including founder Shu Xiao, will continue to be the largest stakeholder of the company.
Vietnam's Red River Delta attracts $200m grant for clean up
The Vietnam government's National Target Program (NTP) for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation has received backing of $200 million from the World Bank to help provide safe sanitation and improved sanitation for 650,000 people.
Access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services in rural areas of Vietnam is low, and water quality is a problem in the Red River Delta region. Improved sanitation and better access to safe water brings important health benefits as well.
Wellington upgrades network management system
Following a tender process, Wellington City Council (WCC) in New Zealand has opted for the network management system from Innovyze. Home to over 200,000 people, Wellington's sewer collection system is composed of over 1,000 km of pipe, 62 pump stations, three treatment plants, one dewatering plant, treats 24 million liters of sewage annually and is valued at over half a billion dollars. Phase 1 of the project for stormwater and wastewater data and has been completed. Phase 2 for the water supply data started at the end of 2012. The supplied InfoNet asset management system uses advanced analysis and data validation tools to allow engineers and managers analyze the network life cycle.
