Xylem sticks to $3.7bn forecast

Global water treatment firm Xylem has reported a 6% growth on first quarter 2016 net income compared to the same time last year.

Net income was reported at $66 million from the quarter, with $847 million in revenue. The company attributed the growth to the US public utility and “commercial building markets”.

The company said it is keeping its forecast to generate full-year 2016 revenue of approximately $3.7 billion, including approximately 1% growth from completed acquisitions and the unfavorable impacts of foreign exchange.

From the $3.7 billion, Xylem has a projected income of between $493 million to $515 million.

Patrick Decker, president and CEO of Xylem, said “ teams delivered double-digit revenue growth in India and the Middle”.

Calgon Carbon buys filtration firm

Calgon Carbon is set to acquire the wood-based activated carbon, reactivation and mineral-based filtration media business of CECA (the Activated Carbon and Filter Aid Business).

The transaction is valued at €145.5 million ($160.1 million), which includes a cash purchase price of €137.7 million ($151.5 million).

For the 12 months ended December 31, 2015, the CECA business generated EBITDA of approximately €15.2 million ($16.7 million) on revenues of approximately €93.2 million ($102.5 million).

Randy Dearth, Calgon Carbon’s chairman, president and CEO, said that the business is a natural fit “with its complementary wood-based activated carbon and reactivation services businesses, similar customer base and end markets”.

Last orders called on water waste

Brewer Greene King has managed to save nearly a million pounds in water cost savings by using an online water management system.

The company has been working with water management consultancy Waterscan and to date has achieved a £900,000 water cost saving with consumption savings equivalent to 304 million pints. Waterscan used its online water management system, Waterline, to establish the brewer’s performance across multiple sites. In total, 149 audits of high-consuming pubs were conducted by Waterscan technicians.

Overall, Greene King’s water consumption was reduced by 173,000 m3 (12.13%) over a three year period versus a 2012 baseline across this part of its estate.

ZLD for China coal-to-chemical plant

To help meet new regulations governing wastewater treatment at Chinese coal-to-chemical plants, a facility in Yulin City will install GE’s advanced zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology.

The evaporator and crystallizer system will eliminate liquid discharge of waste and enable water reuse at the Shaanxi Future Energy Chemical Co., coal-to-chemical plant in Shaanxi Province, China. The Hongdun facility is a coal-to-liquid project where Shaanxi Future Energy Chemical converts coal into a variety of oil products.

The equipment is expected to be delivered in mid-2016, with commissioning in March 2017. Once operational, the wastewater treatment facility is expected to treat wastewater feed at a rate of 40 m3/hr.

Sludge can remove PAHs, finds study in mexico

Wastewater sludge is widely used to remove toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from soil, and yet the mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear.

A new study reveals the extent of PAH removal following different treatments, and could provide a useful resource for those looking to diminish the effects that these pollutants have both on people and on the environment.

In Europe, environmental concentrations of PAHs are strictly regulated. As part of its REACH (EC 1907/2006) programme, the EU has restricted the use of these chemicals in consumer products. Despite such efforts at mitigation, and owing to the time they take to break down, PAHs tend to accumulate in the environment, and notably in soil.

In response to this, much investigation has been done into dealing with unwanted PAHs in soil, and a novel solution has emerged: wastewater sludge. It turns out that this by-product of sewage treatment is capable of at least partially eradicating PAHs when it is used to treat contaminated soil.

The new study by a Mexican research team assessed why wastewater sludge possesses this capacity to stimulate PAH removal, as well as the extent to which this removal occurs. The team tested the effects of sterilised and unsterilised wastewater sludge using soil samples from the former Lake Texcoco and agricultural soil from another site.

Samples from both sites were contaminated with the PAHs phenanthrene and anthracene. After 112 days, the team opened up the jars containing their treatments to assess PAH removal. The lowest rates of removal were seen in the sludge-PAH solution with no soil, and the soils treated with sterilised wastewater - that is, wastewater possessing depleted microbe populations. Overall the addition of wastewater sludge was deemed to increase PAH removal.