WaterBriefs: SecureWave passes 2 million license mark on security system installs

Also in this report: SIONIX opens Irvine, CA, corporate office; UK's Defra renews nearly $4M in environmental grants; Biggest threat to U.S. drinking water is rust; World Bank puts $500M in Indian water body restoration; NCVER, Water Works Industry Solutions team on Nevada training; Canadian rural infrastructure fund invests US$8M into water, sewers; Earth Tech wins US$26.3M Nova Scotia design contract; Severn Trent cites benefits in switch to onsite-generated sodium hypochlorite...
Jan. 24, 2007
13 min read

In other news below:
-- SIONIX Corp. opens new corporate offices in Irvine, Calif.
-- UK's Defra renews nearly $4 million in Environmental Action Fund project grants
-- Scientific American reports biggest threat to U.S. drinking water is rust
-- World Bank to invest nearly $500 million in water bodies restoration in India
-- NCVER, Water Works Industry Solutions team up for Nevada training effort
-- Canadian rural infrastructure fund puts US$8 million into water, sewer improvements
-- Earth Tech awarded US$26.3 million design contract for major cleanup in Nova Scotia
-- Severn Trent cites multiple benefits in switch to onsite-generated sodium hypochlorite
-- Emerging markets infrastructure spend to hit $1 trillion - Merrill Lynch

SecureWave passes 2 million license mark as Sanctuary install base increases by 38% -- Rising demand for sanctuary endpoint security software to protect against data leakage and malware results in robust revenue spikes in the financial services, healthcare, education and other industries -- HERNDON, VA, Jan. 24, 2007 -- SecureWave, a worldwide leader in endpoint security software, today announced that the company passed the 1,500 customer and 2 million license mark in 2006 as a result of continued demand for its Sanctuary® endpoint security software. SecureWave's customer base increased by 38% in 2006 as a result of rapid revenue growth in industries such as financial services, healthcare, education, energy, manufacturing and government.

The company's security systems also have been employed for critical infrastructure such as water and wastewater treatment services.

"SecureWave's rapid growth in all market segments demonstrates a fundamental shift in the way that organizations are approaching today's endpoint security threats," said Bob Johnson, CEO of SecureWave. "Malicious code writers are finding ways to bypass traditional solutions, and the proliferation of removable storage media creates an entirely new set of security challenges that administrators are forced to address. SecureWave's Sanctuary neutralizes these threats by focusing on what is allowed instead of what is not. It is far easier to whitelist those applications and removable storage media that you know belong in the enterprise than to create a blacklist of all malware, unwanted software and unauthorized devices -- including those that are unknown. We are pleased to see an increasing number of businesses adopting Sanctuary's whitelist approach and look forward to continued success in 2007."

SecureWave's Sanctuary is the industry's only solution that enables organizations to create a whitelist of both applications and removable media that are allowed for use on corporate PCs, laptops, network servers, terminal services servers and thin clients. All forms of malware, unwanted software and unauthorized devices are denied access by default, preventing data leakage and protecting system integrity. Organizations across all industries have integrated Sanctuary into their infrastructures as a security and compliance best-practices measure. Highlights of revenue growth within individual market segments include:

Financial Services -- In 2006, the number of financial services institutions using SecureWave's Sanctuary increased by more than 117% worldwide and the number of licenses increased by more than 73%, accounting for a robust revenue increase of more than 89% from 2005.

Healthcare -- The number of healthcare organizations using SecureWave's Sanctuary increased more than 100% from 2005 to 2006, and the number of licenses grew by more than 470%. This rapid expansion within the healthcare industry resulted in a revenue increase of nearly 200%.

Education -- From 2005 to 2006, the number of schools using SecureWave's Sanctuary increased by 163% worldwide and the number of licenses grew by 500%. As a result, SecureWave's revenue within the education industry increased nearly 200%.

With SecureWave's Sanctuary, organizations set and enforce policies for device and application use that overcome tomorrow's security and operational challenges today. Over 1,500 enterprises worldwide in the financial, government, military, manufacturing and healthcare sectors, including Lockheed Martin, CSC/Anglian Water Services, MTU, Barclays Bank PLC and Norwich Union, utilize Sanctuary. SecureWave, named a Red Herring Top 100 Innovator, is headquartered in Luxembourg and services its global customer base via offices in the U.K. and Herndon, VA, as well as through a network of reseller and service provider partners worldwide. For more, see: www.securewave.com

Also see: "SecureWave, SafeBoot partner to provide total data protection solution: Combines award-winning policy enforcement, encryption technologies used by 4,500 customers worldwide"

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Among other recent headlines:

SIONIX Corp. opens new corporate offices in Irvine, Calif. -- IRVINE, CA, Jan. 24, 2007 -- James J. Houtz, president of SIONIX Corp., today announced that under their new Board of Directors, Officers and advisory team, the corporation has moved into its new corporate offices at the Airport Tower Plaza; 2082 Michelson Drive, Suite 304; Irvine, California 92612; Tel: 949-752-7980; Fax: 949-752-7998; Email; [email protected]. The office offers a strategic location geographically centralized in the heart of Orange County with easy access to the entire Southern California manufacturing sector and a block from the main entrance and exit of John Wayne Airport and immediately accessible to all freeways. It is also adjacent to the Irvine Spectrum, which is well known for its diversity in manufacturing and technology. SIONIX develops new concepts in "Modular Packaged Water Treatment Systems" using dissolved air flotation (DAF) and membrane technology for drinking water and wastewater treatment systems for municipalities and industrial use...
Also see: "SIONIX Corp. announces appointment of three new board members"

UK's Defra renews grants to Environmental Action Fund projects for sustainable living LONDON, Jan. 24, 2007 -- Thirty four projects promoting sustainable development across England are to receive more than GBP 2 million [US$3.93 million] of funding from Environmental Action Fund (EAF) of the United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (Defra). The funding for the third year of the EAF projects (2007/8) is designed to help change people's behaviour at a grass-roots level so that consumers live more sustainably. Announcing the grant aid, Climate Change and Environment Minister Ian Pearson said sustainable consumption and production was a key priority for Defra as part of the Government's drive towards the concept of "One Planet Living"...
Also see:
-- "Welcome National Audit Office verdict spells out potential for improving water resources"
-- "Two new members appointed to Ofwat Board: Michael Brooker, Gillian Owen join as non-executive directors"
-- "United Utilities gives legally binding undertaking to change trading arrangements"

Biggest threat to U.S. drinking water? Rust -- CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2007 -- From an attack by militants to a decline in snow melt caused by global warming, public fears about the water supply have heightened in the United States. So who would have thought the top worry among water experts turns out to be rusty pipes? Scientific American reports that U.S. towns and cities spend more than $50 billion each year cleaning water sourced from rivers, lakes and underground aquifers. Over 170,000 public water systems are at work to keep tap water flowing into American homes and meeting the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. But after the extensive purifying process, water ends up in your glass after traveling through pipes laid under city streets 50, 60 or 100 years ago. Those pipes -- made mostly from iron until plastic was introduced 30 years ago -- span almost one million miles in the United States. As the iron pipes corrode and break, not only does water escape, but also diseases get in, experts say...

World Bank project to restore water bodies, improve irrigated agriculture and water management in India's Tamil Nadu state -- WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 23, 2007 -- The World Bank today approved an assistance package of US$485 million to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to increase agriculture productivity by modernizing the state's irrigation infrastructure. The Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water-Bodies Restoration and Management Project is designed to modernize irrigation systems covering over 600,000 hectares in 63 selected sub-basins throughout the State. It proposes an integrated sub-basin approach to synergize the activities of multiple agencies involved with irrigation, on-farm development, agriculture, horticulture, marketing, livestock, fisheries, and applied research. Tamil Nadu state is home to about 62 million people living in 17 river basins. Many of these basins are water stressed, as supplies are limited and increasingly polluted, and competing demands are growing. The majority of the population is rural and dependent on agriculture. The agricultural sector faces major constraints due to poor state of irrigation infrastructure, water scarcity, groundwater overdraft, and pollution of surface and ground waters. To assist in the effort, a US$335 million loan was granted from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). And another US$150 million credit line is provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary lending arm...
Also see:
-- "Brazil: World Bank Approves US$50 Million for Water Resources Management in the Northeast"
-- "Spain and UNDP launch new $700 million fund to advance progress towards MDGs"
-- "India: World Bank Supports Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector in Punjab"
-- "Environment reforms must accelerate to reach 2015 poverty goals, says UN report"

Nevada Center for Vocational Education and Research teams with Water Works Industry Solutions for training effort -- RENO, NV, Jan. 22, 2007 -- The Nevada Center for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) and Water Works Industry Solutions (WWIS) have teamed up to help residents in Western Nevada. WWIS has donated over $15,000.00 in a complete DVD training series for the water works industry titles "Training & Education, The Basics" that NCVER will use to create its own internal water infrastructure training program to aid future residential development throughout Western Nevada. NCVER provides training for construction workers to become more successful in their craft. Development of the water infrastructure program was showcased in a media event Jan. 23 in Gardnerville, NV...

Canada Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund invests US$250,000 to improve L'Islet drinking water quality -- L'ISLET, QB, Canada, Jan. 15, 2007 -- Acting on behalf of Nathalie Normandeau, Quebec's Ministre des Affaires municipales et des Regions, Norbert Morin, Member of the National Assembly for Montmagny-L'Islet and Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministre des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, today joined Steven Blaney, Member of Parliament for Levis-Bellechasse, acting on behalf of the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister of Canada Economic Development, in announcing that the Municipality of L'Islet will receive CDN $142,956 [US$121,266] in combined government funding under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF) to improve the quality of its drinking water. The project involves connecting the Societe d'aqueduc du Haut de l'Anse private water supply system to the municipal water system. This will require the laying of approximately 540 metres of water mains and the installation of a pressure reducing station. These upgrades will help improve drinking water quality for the 100 or so residents of the municipality's Petite-Gaspesie district. Completion of this work will necessitate a total eligible investment of CDN $285,913 [US$242,622] under component 1 of the MRIF...
Also see:
-- "Canada's MRIF to invest CDN$3,193,291 in Chelsea for sewage collection and treatment upgrades"
-- "Government co-operation leads to over CDN$5 million in infrastructure investments for Dalhousie"
-- "Town of Hampton to benefit from Canada-New Brunswick MRIF investment of over CDN$1 million"

Earth Tech awarded US$26.3 million design contract for major cleanup in Nova Scotia -- LONG BEACH, CA, Jan. 10, 2007 -- Earth Tech's Canadian operations have won a US$26.3 million (CDN$30 million) contract with the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency (STPA) to design and oversee construction of a major contaminated waste cleanup at a former coke oven site in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Earth Tech, a business unit of Tyco International Ltd., and a global provider of consulting, engineering and construction services, will partner with local subconsultant CBCL, Ltd. on the project.
The project will clean up the site of a former coke ovens plant and a tidal estuary known as the Sydney Tar Ponds, which were contaminated by runoff from the coke ovens.
This contract continues a relationship Earth Tech built with the agency over the last year while preparing the preliminary engineering design for the US$354 million (CDN$400 million) project. Earth Tech also assisted in the preparation of the project's environmental impact statement and took part in hearings last year by a joint, federal-provincial environmental review panel. Byproducts of coke production for an adjacent steel plant contaminated about 700,000 tons of marine sediments in a nearby estuary, and five million tons of soil underlying the coke plant. The coke ovens operated from 1901 to 1988. The affiliated steel plant closed in 2001...

Severn Trent cites multiple benefits in switch to onsite-generated sodium hypochlorite -- PORT WASHINGTON, PA, Jan. 12, 2007 -- The use of gaseous chlorine at water treatment plants has, for many years, been an effective method of disinfection. It is still the most commonly used disinfectant in plants throughout the United States. However, the safety of chlorine gas has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. At low levels, chlorine gas can cause eye, skin and respiratory irritation, while exposure in high enough doses can be fatal. In addition to the side effects related to chlorine gas exposure, the nature of the gas allows migration to distances well beyond the point of release. An article on this subject by Jonathan Hunt, a project manager at Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern Inc., is among the offerings in the latest Water & Wastewater Solutions e-newsletter from Severn Trent Services...
Also see:
-- "Strategic Planning is Key to Reducing Non-revenue Water"
-- "Is the United Kingdom Ready for Smart Metering?"
-- "Chesapeake Cleanup Update: Reductions in nutrient, sediment loads need to be accelerated"

Emerging markets infrastructure spend to hit $1 trillion -- RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 10, 2007 -- Infrastructure spending in emerging markets could reach $1 trillion (EUR760 billion) in the next three years as investment banks boost their activity in the sector, according to Merrill Lynch in a report from the Financial Times posted Dec. 22, 2006. In March, Merrill analysts estimated that emerging markets would spend $700 billion in the next three years on infrastructure. They have now increased their forecasts, due to the big accumulation of savings in emerging markets and plans announced by governments and international bodies, such as The World Bank. China is forecast to become the biggest spender, making up just over a third of the total, followed by Russia, the Gulf states and India. The increased estimate comes as investment banks put more resources into the sector. The Royal Bank of Scotland has reshuffled the management team of its project and export finance group in a bid to build market share in European infrastructure financing. BNP Paribas has created a specialist financing group to win more business in the infrastructure, energy and commodities sectors...
Also see: "Persian Gulf countries may face water-power shortage"

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