HICKORY, N.C., May 23, 2002 -- The city of Hickory, N.C., in conjunction with the city of Conover and Catawba County have awarded USFilter Operating Services, Inc. a 10-year contract renewal for continued operations, maintenance, management and marketing services at the Regional Compost Facility (RCF) located in Hickory.
The new contract will save the sludge consortium more than $1 million in operating costs.
The $13-million renewal also includes a one-year design-build component that will enable the consortium to increase the RCF's capacity by 35 percent. USFilter will install a new USFilter J-SPIN® solid bowl decanter centrifuge system. This new dewatering technology will substantially increase composting capacity and also extend the RCF's capacity life by seven to eight years, enabling the facility to meet future projected biosolids growth from the consortium communities.
"We are pleased to offer and install the upgraded dewatering technology that will result in critical technical benefits at very high capital cost recovery from operational savings," said Tim Muirhead, USFilter's vice president of biosolids market development. "These facility improvements will stabilize biosolids management for the consortium and enable us to continue providing high-quality services for years to come."
USFilter has partnered with the consortium since 1994, when it designed and built odor control systems at the RCF. The company has been awarded renewal contracts since the original four-year agreement, and the project staff is celebrating more than seven years with no lost-time accidents.
United States Filter Corporation, a Vivendi Environnement company, is North America's largest water company providing comprehensive water and wastewater systems and services to commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers.
Vivendi Environnement (Paris Bourse: VIE and NYSE:VE), comprised of Vivendi Water (worldwide water products and services), Onyx (solid waste and industrial services), Dalkia (energy management), Connex (transportation and logistics) and FCC (Spanish company engaged in environmental and construction related industries), is the largest environmental services company in the world with more than 295,000 employees, including FCC, in about 100 countries and annual revenues of more than $25.6 billion.
Visit the company's Web sites at www.usfilter.com or www.vivendienvironnement-finance.com.
